Remembering Cooler Weather

We have been in a scorching hot dry season which dried up the land and rivers in the area. Looking back on last summer in Southern Africa, I remembered fondly the cool, even COLD weather we sometimes went through. Here are some photos of the icy, Lesotho mountains, as well as the most southern tip of South Africa, the Cape of Good Hope.

Follow Up From Lori....and pray for Lorelle

{Pictures to be posted soon.}

All home again,

Val is back in Karamoja, and what a spectacular welcome back it was. They were ever grateful for the Land rover and the potential work it will be doing. They have welcomed Dr. Vaal and Landy well. And actually she is currently in Britain attending a conference and giving an ethno vet paper presentation.

Lorelle is back in Seattle, trying to catch up and prepare for another year at Seattle Pacific University. Unfortunately she is also fighting off malaria, very sick, pray for her recovery.

And I/Lori am back in Lebanon, mostly caught up, back at the clinic, and trying to keep up with the boys (husband, son, and 3 grandchildren).

We saw a lot of Africa, high places, sea scapes, mountain tops, flowered meadows, deep canyons, desert views, and incredible animals, but the people............

Allow me to share just a few stories about the people and drop a few names. First, the people here in the US were fantastically generous to donate the funds to buy the truck, thanks to all who played a part.

Wendell Cantrell, while in South Africa helped in the location process of the truck. Pastor Tim Cantrell( Wendell's son) and wife Michelle and the Honeyridge Baptist church helped organize our stay in Jo'berg. Lorelle and Ian Stewart of Honeyridge graciously let us stay at their house while they were away on vacation, the house with the "magic carpet". What a blessing to have a house in Jo'berg while trying to get the truck ready to head out. Stephen and Clifford helped get the Landy ready for travels. Johann helped equip us with the Armadillo to cover the back of pick up. Then Lorelle Stewarts parents Roy and Lyn Langford put us up in the most incredible bed and breakfast near Lesotho. Here's a photo of us all at breakfast.


Lesotho is a beautiful mountain kingdom. We had one day to see and get through the country, but we wanted to find a specific church and with God's help we did. We found Ntate and Ma’tsolo Mosoang in Mokhotlong,along with their son Tsolo and daughter Joy. A pastor position doesn't pay much so he has a coffin making business. Perhaps being a pastor and coffin maker seems like an odd job combo, but he is able to share the hope of Jesus and help families during difficult times when they lose a loved one. We sang, prayed and worshipped with them, again a blessing.


The Youth With a Mission(YWAM) People were also such a blessing to us. Graham Vermooten has spent many years building a "Media Village" in Cape Town, this is a place where Christians from around the world are empowered via media/communication education. While in Cape Town were able to attend church with them. South Africa has deep struggles with racial issues, and most churches are not integrated, so when I saw Joan and Zelda (see photo below), singing, dancing, worshipping together it brought joy to my heart. This was a church radically devoted to God, totally committed to each other and relentlessly sharing the gospel, and our favorite song they sung was our "G" "O" "D" is "B" "I" "G".


Zambia was especially YWAM filled. At YWAM Livingstone, Fred and Dorine took care of us. It was there we met the newlyweds Thomas and Boswa. They needed a ride to Lusaka so we cozily took them with us. At YWAM Lusaka we met Stanley and Priscilla. And what a pleasant surprise when we discovered that Kate was also in Lusaka staying at the same place as us. Another unplanned blessing. Kate works with AIDS education and used to live in Uganda near Val. They had a lovely vegetable garden, and blessed us with lettuce, carrots, & tomatoes. Jesse, a young boy needed a ride to Chipata, and we were going that way so we headed to Chipata. Dick and Anita the YWAM'er at Chipata were happy when we arrived with their son. Dick and Anita are just
feeling the waters of what God desires of them in Chipata, as Elizabeth the previous person at the base recently died of malaria. They are currently educating, feeding 76 orphans in the area. Pray for their direction.



The Herero women of Botswana were beautiful.

Mokoro (canoe) poler, Letohonho (Tony), shared with us about the people of the Okavango Delta, and made us necklaces out of water lilies (see photo below). There were so many people behind the scenes that made our trip possible, many thanks to all.


God provided and protected in many ways. Thanks for your prayers. They were greatly felt.

God bless you all, Lori

Lorelle now back in the Northwest

Just a quick note to let you all know that, after 32 hours on planes and in airports, I have also safely arrived back in the states. I talked with Val on the phone this morning --she and Moses are fine in Entebbe. She’s working on getting the vehicle registered for Uganda (the South African license plates create quite a stir everywhere she goes in Uganda – they don’t see many SA plates there!).

Thank you to all who have kept us in your prayers over this memorable summer. God has so graciously kept us safe and secure for the whole trip – what a gift! The vehicle worked well and will be a wonderful asset for Val’s ministry and to all of the people with whom she works. I had the privilege of being with her as she showed off the new vehicle in Soroti, Karamoja and Kapchorwa. Everywhere she went, people were impressed, amazed, thrilled and delighted with the new vehicle. It has already been used to deliver sewing machines to the church in Lotome, provide transportation to an outreach in Karamoja (where 2 women got saved!), provide rides to numerous people, etc. etc. I thank and praise God for His good gift and all your prayers that helped us safely reach Uganda.

For the whole summer, we only had one small tragedy in terms of our things – my brand new digital camera (gift from my brother and twin the day before I left) disappeared from Val’s hut in Soroti. I’m disappointed that I won’t be able to share my digital memories from the trip, but I trust and pray that it will bless some lives in Kangole.

My final week in Kangole was fantastic. Life there is not easy, but I love that place and people. The day before I left Kangole, a party was thrown to celebrate the new vehicle. Two goats were slaughtered (my first time to watch the life blood pump out of an animal – makes the descriptions of sacrifices in the Bible much more vivid), much food was prepared and people from all aspects of Val’s work and ministry showed up to share in the feast. The celebration began with two hours worth of speeches. Garifanzio was the master of ceremonies as the pastor, the sub county chief, Helen of BOZIDEP, Dr. Vaal, another pastor, and I (as the flattered, “guest of honor”) spoke to thank God for His gift of the new vehicle. Val used Psalm 121 to sum up our trip. “The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.” All praise be to Him!

Photos of the trip north

Land of contrasts!

"The main road across southern Mozambique was surprisingly
deep sand for many hours. We were thankful for the GPS to
assure us we were still on the road."


"Sani Pass -- a frozen waterfall -- en route to Lesotho"


"A goat herder in Lesotho"

Praising God with the believers in Lesotho


Locals enjoying themselves




Not quite the end of the world, but close!

"Val and Lorelle at the southern tip of Africa -- Cape of Good Hope."

Not exactly steak for dinner in Malawi


(Blogger: Is it my imagination or does that little boy look like he's wondering if Val is really going to eat the mouse sandwich?)

"Victoria Falls: Reminding us of God's
Many Promises" Lori

Made it to Uganda

Hey there everybody! Well, we have finally reached Uganda, our final destination. 13,300 kilometers, 12 countries, and 35 days of travelling! It has been a wonderful trip, with amazing sites. We will be posting pictures shortly.

Lorelle will be here for one more week, then will head back to the US. I'll continue with my ministry here in NE Uganda, with the Karamojong and surrounding tribes. The Land Rover did great on the way, and we passed through border after border with God's blessing and mercy! Thanks for praying! More later, love, Val

Tanzania Update from Val

Hi everybody! Tanzania was a country of wildlife and wonderful sites. We tearfully dropped off our travelling partner, Lori Walker at the airport in the capital, Dar es Salam, as she was heading back to the states at that point. 10,000 kilometers along the way, the vehicle seemed so quiet without our jolly friend! It has been wonderful to have her with us, as she added a great comic relief at times, as well as her fun excitement about the animal life. She took the best pictures, with her wide angle and zoom, and shared my love for fresh seafood! Have a good trip back home, Lori, say hi to everybody there!

We passed through Ngorongoro Crater National Park, seeing an amazing assortment of wildlife. Thousands of animals grazing side by side in the circular savanna center, brimmed by lush tropical forest along the 800 foot crater wall. As the sun rose, two huge lions took down a lone male wildebeast, and were in the midst of shredding it between them as we arrived.

From Ngorongoro to the Serengeti, where herds of impala, wildebeast, Thompson Gazelle roam freely on the plane and in the rolling hills. Travelling along one of the trickling riverbeds we were unpleasantly surprised by a cloud of Tsetse Flies! These aggressive, biting flies dove into the vehicle windows and immediately started working on our bare arms and legs. Squealing behind the steering wheel, I tried to shoo them out the window, only to see 10 more dashing through the open space!

Maasai herdsmen were herding their cattle on the perimeter of the crater. We stopped for a break at a small maasai village and talked to some of the women as they brought their sheep and goats in for the night. They have a new church they are opening shortly, so we praise the Lord for His work in that place, The Shepherd of Shepherds!

From the Serengeti, we proceeded to Kenya and the Maasai Mara. Lorelle will cover that part for us. More later! Love, Val

Most Welcome and Mice Sandwiches in Malawi - Update from Lorelle

We had only two short, but wonderful, days in Malawi. The thing that struck me most about Malawi is how welcoming the people are. We crossed the border from Zambia into Malawi just as it was closing at 6 pm and asked about a place to camp. In Malawi, it seems that there aren't really camp grounds – just places to camp where an Inn or lodge or whatever has some open space and one is welcome to set up a tent. We found the Inn to which we were directed and “you are most welcome” was the greeting from everyone there. We were shown the grounds next to the inn filled with trees and a few flat places between them and we were “most welcome” to set up our tent there. We had some hippo meet (that's a story from Zambia) that we needed to cook so we were looking for a fire or firewood. I went to the porch at the back of the grounds to ask about a fire and again, I was “most welcome” by a woman who had nothing to do with the inn or anything – she was making chapati and described their gathering as “we are just women having a good time” but I was welcome to ask at the inn about firewood and we were “most welcome.” Everywhere we went, we were “most welcome.”

I had read in the tourguide books that Malawi is described as the “warm heart of Africa” and that was certainly true. The owner of the inn came over after a bit because he heard that we were looking for a fire (we were just hoping to use someone elses fire to cook our meat), but he arranged to have a brai pit brought to us at the vehicle. What a blessings == we had a feast of hippo, maize and vegies (carrots, cabbage and onions). We had purchased the maize that afternoon from a man on a bicycle – it looks a lot like the sweetcorn we know in the states. But if you are expecting sweetcorn, you will be dissappointed. Instead, if you expect something starchy and Extremely filling – more like field corn, then the maize is quite good in it's own starchy way.

The next morning we were on our way to Lilongwe – Malawi's capital and then headed to the Lake. Lake Malawi is known for the many brilliantly colored fish that swim in Monkey Bay. But Monkey Bay was over a hundered kilometers out of our way so we decided to snorkel at Senga Bay instead. The wonderful part was that Senga Bay was much less touristed than Monkey Bay and the Lake was gorgeous. We stopped at a hotel to see if we could rent snorkel equipment and they loaned it to us for free – we were “most welcome” :-). The less wonderful part is that the famed fish of Monkey Bay have apparently not heard of Senga Bay and there were very few fish to view. We swam over to some reeds and finally found a few fingerling fish – with white stripes down their side – not quite the sights we had anticipated, but we did find some clams and had a great time swimming in a magnicent lake.

Back on the road – we were rather hungry after our swim and found the perfect opportunity to try one of the delicacies Malawi is know for – boiled mice. Little boys sell them on the side of the road – stacks of mice between two sticks – 20 or more in a stack. They apparently sell them by the stack, but we convinced them to sell us just two and there we had them – the 3 inch long little dead mice in our laps – their jaws open with their tiny teach sticking out, their front paws curled, their tiny eyes squeezed shut. Val was the first to taste one – our fearless leader setting the example – the tail and paws are crispy – not bad. The rest of the mouse was harder to approach so we created a bit of a mice sandwich – lettuce a bit of croisant (left over from a bakery stop that morning – a chocolate croissant – what a treat!!!) – and Val bit it's little head off – we all had a go at the mouse sandwich – Val's bite got the brains, Lori the lungs and I went for the liver. The middle parts were soft, squishy and, well, really “mousy” (none of us could quite describe the taste). The bones though (and the tiny little mouse incisors for Val) get stuck in your teeth, the hair is a bit slick and the whole thing is a bit wet and not quite as delicately delicious as had been described -- nonetheless – a memorable experience.

Then we headed north -- I was dissappointed that we didn't make it to Mzuzu to stay at the YWAM there, but we found a magnificent place to camp right on the beach of Lake Malawi – it was a nearly full moon, the beach was covered with white sand stretching out for miles. I took a short walk down the beach to see several dugout canoes – the handywork of the Malawians is rough, but servicable and beautiful in its own way.

That night we had our leftover hippo meat (fixed nicely by Val with Taco seasoning, tomatoes and onions) and we had Hippo taco salad. Another treat! Lori made fried bread, I made lemonade – another feast.

The next day we drove North again, and decided we didn't really have time to stop by Niyika National Park (long time on dirt roads just to reach the park) so we stopped by a local market instead. Fun to try the local foods -- like little bananas cooked in a tomato and onion sauce, curdled milk that makes a sort of soft cheese, and little cornbread-like squares. We each noticed little colored flecks in the cornbread – I had red and green flecks, Val had black ones, Lori had multiple colors – they were really crunchy – not that nice really – kind of gritty. We looked closer and discovered that we were eating beads! The cornbread maker's necklace apparently broke while she was baking and What to do? We also had our first taste of lake flies – the insects hatch out the by billions at the season we were there. They shake the trees they're in, make them fall on a piece of cloth or plastic on the ground. Then they scoop them up by the handful, squish them into four inch squares and smoke them. The squares look like charcoal, but the consistency is a bit softer – they are rather salty – another indescribable flavor.

We found other wonderful treasures at the market as well. We needed a funnel for pouring the kerosene and we got some rope for strapping things in the vehicle. I found some beautiful lesos (the cloth that women wrap around their waste as a skirt) and some prettily painted tin bowls. There's much more to say, but that's all for now – I thoroughly enjoyed our brief time in Malawi.

More about Zambia

Aug 1,2006 Arrived in Livingstone, Zambia.

Again, Youth With a Mission takes great care of us. We meet Fred and Dorine who show us around their base and blessed us with their hospitality.

Victoria Falls/Mosi au tunyo (The smoke that Thunders) is 15 minutes away from the base. I have always wanted to see Victoria Falls; waterfalls somehow represent a part of what God is to me. They are extravagantly beautiful, ever moving yet always present, and especially powerfully peaceful. We took lunch to the falls. Incredible doesn't do it justice. The falls are a mile long and drop 500 feet. We viewed a part of the falls from the Zambia side, but the falls are shared with Zimbabwe. The spray from the falls can be viewed miles away and appears as a rising fog. The walk way is very near the falls and soaking wet is what you get as you walk. We stayed until the sun went down, beautiful as the sun set over the falls. The next day we played in the Zambezi River. Interestingly it hadn't ever been rafted until 1983 when a group of Americans took on the Zambezi River. We made it thru 23 rapids and are here to talk about it.

The next morning we were off to Lusaka. We had met Thomas and Boswa in Livingstone, they were newly weds headed to Lusaka, heading E across Zambia. We had to repack and cozy up, but it was a delight to be able to take them to the YWAM base in Lusaka, where we met Stanley and Priscilla. They prepared us a fine dinner and let us stay in the dorm area there. They had an incredible garden which they shared some of their vegetables with us. Again we were blessed by being able to help. Jesse, the son of the Chipata YWAM base couple, needed a ride home from boarding school and we were headed that way. Got in late, but received a warm welcome from YWAM Chipata. Dick and Anita were glad to see their son. The ministry there is new and trying to find its calling, but in the meantime they have a ministry to 76 children/orphans. Elizabeth, the previous person at YWAM Chipata had recently died of malaria. Pray for the YWAM ministries/people in Zambia.

Sat Aug, 5, 2006 The road to South Luangwa Park was quite bad, but it couldn't discourage our Landy. Spent the night in a tree house, woke up at 3:30 am wondering what all the racket was. Hippos are not quiet eaters. There beneath the tree was a huge hungry hippo. Interesting night, a little worried about falling off the platform in the tree, it wasn't quite long enough that my thermarest didn't hang off the edge a bit. Then in the morning had to divert around the ablution block/toilet because there was an elephant there. Went on a walking safari in the am, got up close and personal with the giraffes. By 10 am we were back on that indifferent road, and that is when we encountered our first flat tire. A little struggle, but got it changed and were headed to Malawi. Thanks for praying.

(Because of unwanted anonymous posts by private companies, we've disabled the "comments" for this particular blog entry. MEE)

An Update from Lori ("Three doctors in Livingstone, I presume"*)

Traveling at a pretty good clip and trying to make up the five days we got behind in South Africa as we tried to get LandRover repairs and paperwork done made it hard to keep our blog updated properly, so we apologize for our deficiency. Blogging properly takes time, but we do hope you have found it interesting as we have found the land and people to be quite intriguing.

Changing money from one currency to another did cause us a little bit of struggle. After traveling thru Namibia and preparing to enter Botswana, we spent our Namibian money, and we had cleaned out our South African Rand. We arrived at the Botswana border with American dollars which couldn't get us thru customs, they required Botswana Pula. It was late Friday night, no banks open, not a pula to our name, stuck at the border, took some money trading, but got enough pula to cross into Botswana. It was late, dark and the roads were not safe to drive at night, mostly due to the large numbers of donkeys on the roads. We stopped at a gas station, explained our situation and they allowed us to camp out back, nice place except for the 24 hour music that played. At least we were safe for another night, thanks for your prayers.

Early morning headed into Ghanzi, which happened to having their yearly fair. We attended the "Ghanzi show", Herero district fair. The Herero women dress beautifully and are adorned with ornate head dressings. We saw the championship goats, sheep and cattle and of course had to try some of their fair foods. We had shredded donkey. Good thing it was shredded because it was a bit tough.

Headed towards Maun a town at the end of the Okavango Delta. The delta is a unique and dynamic network of waterways, crystal clear channels, palm tree-covered islands and full of birds, fish, hippos, crocs, and elephants. The head waters for the delta start in Angola as the Cubango River, go into Namibia as the Kavango River and end in Botswana as the Okavango and because of the flat nature of the land it forms the delta which eventually flows into the Kalahari desert. This area is home to five separate ethnic groups.

We took a short ride into the delta on a mokoro/dug out canoe and learned a little bit about the people, fishing and living on the delta. The people that run the mokoros are called polers, because the channels are shallow and poles are used to move the mokoros. Learned of the healthy respect for the hippos that these people have.

We drove to our next camp site. One site left, thanks for praying, but the lady said it is a bit remote and the road is deep sand. We had driven thru Mozambique, so knew the road would be no problem for Landy. Remote it was, but much quieter than the gas station stay. Set up the tent, started a fire, preparing for dinner, and it was a fight for the dinner. The rats came out of no where and were aggressive towards our dinner. It was us with firewood in hand going after the rats, the word got out we would defend our dinner, we won and the rats retreated.

Early morning rise again, driving thru the sand toward the road, big cat foot prints in the sand, just glad it was only the rats and not the lion that wanted our food. Quick drive thru Chobe and arrive at border to Zambia in the afternoon. Who knew the border crossing was going to require a ferry ride across the Chobe river? We loaded up the Landy onto the ferry and across we went. It was a small ferry, it could carry one big truck and a couple small ones. Excitement on ferry was the big snake that tried to cross, but I think it didn't end up making it across.

Posted from Livingstone, Zambia

* Note: In 1871, Henry Morton Stanley was sent to East Africa to find the Scottish missionary and explorer, Dr. David Livingstone. After an 8 month search, upon finding him, he famously greeted him with, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume."

(Click on this map to enlarge it.)

New Photos from our Intrepid* Travelers

(Click on these photos to enlarge.)
Unexpected Weather - Snow near Capetown, South Africa

Huddled on the magic warm carpet in Johannesburg, South Africa

"Landy" and Val at warthog crossing in Namibia (or, "This isn't Oregon anymore, Toto.")

Treehouse camping in Zambia to stay clear of hippos and elephants

Fishriver Canyon, Namibia

Sunrise over Lake Malawi

*Note from blog-master: While they may not refer to themselves as 'intrepid', I think it's appropriately descriptive. Definition: "Intrepid" -- characterized by resolute fearlessness, fortitude, and endurance

Val: Cave Drawings, Armadillos and Sea Anemones

Greetings Friends! This is Val. Here are some journal entries from last week.
All is well and we are enjoying this great adventure! Keep up the prayers!

From Mokhotlong, Lesotho, we got onto a paved road and proceeded up one more escarpment, then down a series of hairpin switchbacks that slowed us to an average of 9mph for the 2,500 foot descent. Our final stop in Lesotho was at a cave where the prehistoric San bushmen drew pictographs on the walls, depicting their lives and their spiritual journeys. The medicine men of the San are known for going into deep trances, then telling the future and giving visions of the future or past which are then recorded as Rock Art on the cave walls. We saw pictures that had been drawn more than 6,000 years ago! Some of them were people, who were given body parts of animals, such as hooves or horns. The bodies of the people are elongated, and often they carry weapons or sticks with them. Eland, which are sacred, yet tragic animals for the San, are often drawn with wounds or blood coming from their mouths, and lines which go into their shoulder-blade area, the area that the San believe the strength of an animal or person enters. Standing in the large amphitheater of the cave, I enjoyed imagining the short-statured cave dwellers with their red and orange paint on the tip of a bristled stick, telling the stories of their lives in artistic images to one another. The historic past brings alive the present, as we pass on the traditions of previous generations. Often in our Westernerizing World, we negate the past, striving only for the modern, that which is “in”, looking at the trends, while forgetting the womb we were born out of.

The bushmen today are a disenfranchised people, misunderstood and disrespected because of their desire to maintain their previous livelihood. As hunter-gatherers, they find that today’s society relegates them to the margin, where they are excluded from both economic and political opportunities. They live in poverty and isolation from the rest of society. Please pray for the marginalized people of the world. Those who are forgotten, the exploited, those left behind in the race towards materialistic nirvana.

Pray for the San Bushmen.
Pray for the Karamojong Warrior Herdsmen.

Out the border at 6pm, then on to the Wynford Holiday Farm. This is a wonderful oasis of hospitality just outside the border of Lesotho. It is owned by my friend, Lorelle Stewart’s parents (Roy and Lyn Langford). They treated us to a 5 course meal, including crab puffs, mashed potatoes, pumpkin, peas, “beef olives”, and spinach soup with feta cheese sprinkled on top, with a cream puff desert followed by 7 types of cheese and crackers with tea. We were in the lap of luxury for a night, but with sorrow, could not help thinking about the bosom of poverty we had left behind from the days before.

Free State of South Africa. We’re taking a loop down to the southern tip of South Africa for a short tour of the area, to get a feel for the people of South Africa and the lives that they have lived. There are many cultural groupings here, including 2 groups of white people who have settled here, and many indigenous black African groups, as well as those who have mixed ancestry of white and black (these are called the Coloured People here). This is a land of brokenness and racial tension, that is felt in every cross-cultural interaction. I long for the relaxing friendships of the East African communities; the easy smiles, the welcoming arms, the sense of family and belonging in the villages. Here, there is distrust, fear, suspicion. It is, of course, much better than the past, but scabbed wounds still smart.

The first whites to arrive here were the Boers, from Dutch descendency. They are also called the Afrikaans. They first arrived in the 1600, doing trading with the local people. Eventually, they settled into farming the land and lived among the people. The British later arrived, but began to dominate all peoples, even to the point were they put the white Afrikaans into concentration camps. The Boer-Anglo War, or the White War, resulted in the formation of the Free State, where the Afrikaans people could finally live in peace. We drove through this area, which is an open dryland, similar to the vast unpopulated areas of Utah; a few cows, an old, paint-peeling homestead, or some broken farming machinery dotting the barrenness. After Apartheid Regime fell, the white supremacy faded, and the previously disenfranchised, black majority came into power through democracy. Those middle class whites who had previously relied on their skin color to gain advantage, found themselves competing with blacks and coloureds for jobs, land and power. In order to compensate for previous discrimination, the government has set up a quota system, to ensure balanced racial representation in employment and politics. This has left many whites struggling to survive on the tilted playing board.

Pray for the destitute and homeless, white, Afrikaans men who can find no work or purpose in a land of racial quotas.
Pray for wisdom for the presently, dominant black Africans in leadership of South Africa, who withstood centuries of abuse and pain, and are now trying to create a fair and just society out of torn and broken people; abusers and abused living side by side in peace.

Spent an overnight at Steenbokie campgrounds. Steenbok are small reddish antelope with short, straight spiky horns. We have seen them often bounding into the forest as we drive by. We were the only campers at Steenbokie. It was a very chilly night with crisp wind blowing through the empty land. As we unpacked our dusty camping gear in the darkness and the howling winds increasing, we considered camping in the bathrooms, as it is much warmer in there, but the “somewhat clean” linoleum was not quite an ideal place to rest our heads! Lori and I ended up sleeping in the tiled camp kitchen, and Lorelle joined us at 1am when the pouring rain got too much for her!

Cape Province, South Africa. The next day was cold and blustery. We were trying to crank up the heat on the way to Cape Town. We haven’t quite figured out all the knobs on this new vehicle! Perhaps there is some mechanical problem, as the defroster is not defrosting and the heater is certainly not heating! Fifty miles down the road, SNOW began to fall as we descended from the highlands!!! As the flurries began accumulating on the road, and it got a bit slippery and icy, we stopped at a wayside for a break to play in this unexpected winter-wonderland, amazed at the July weather!

Arrived at Cape Town, and landed at the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base in Kalk Bay. The people there are amazing. God is really using them in an excellent media ministry. They train people to do videos, radio broadcast programmes and other types of multi-media, especially for Christian ministries. Their leader, Graham, kindly allowed us to stay with them for a few days, while we regrouped ourselves, washed our clothes, and took a day off from driving to hike around the area. A little fresh seafood was much welcomed, as the snacking on nuts and craisins was getting a little old, even for us!. We went out to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. Clambering down the rock faces, ladders and trails, we arrive at Cape Point, the southern most tip of the African Continent. Enjoyed viewing albatross, jack-ass penguins, rock hyrax, cormorants, beautiful blue agama lizards. Steep climb to the lighthouses, the one old is from the 1860s, one new 1920s. Climbed up on the old battlements from WWI on the cliffs and tried to remember our history lessons. What was the Marching to Pretoria all about?

Took some time to work on the truck a bit. We had ordered a truck bed cover (bakkie cover) so that our belongings can be save as we travel. They call the cover an “Armadillo” because it has folding plates that roll up into a tube in the front of the bed when it is opened up. They installed it from Cape Town. Johann was our Armadillo man who helped us so much, meeting us on the highway so that he could direct us to his place. Also fixed the cigarette lighter, which we need for charging our camera, satellite phone and GPS. The fuse installed is smaller than that which runs the normal cigarette lighter, so when we tested it with the lighter, it blew the fuse every time. We also discovered that the fan for the heater and air is also on the same fuse, so we now have heat again if we get into any more snow storms!

Lamberts Bay. Stayed on the bay with great view of the crashing waves. Went down to the tidal pools in am. Saw beautiful lavender and baby blue sea anemones wafting in the shallow waves. Many mussel shells on shore, eaten by waterbirds. Touched anemones gently, felt tiny stinging tentacles clinging to fingers as their bellies squirmed. African skimmers stretched their wet wings to dry in the rising sun after diving for their morning feeding. Hop back in the Landy and onto Namibia from here.

Lorelle: About Namibia

Blog 8 2 06 Namibia

Hello all – we have been on the road so much that it has been difficult to make time to do e-mails. We mostly stay at campgrounds that don't have Internet access. And then camping – getting set up for sleeping in the dark, cooking over kerosene or a wood fire ---taking care of all of the inevitable little things that happen (the jerry can sprung a leak and so many clothes, books, sleeping bags, pillows got wet; the top to the kerosene stove got lost in the dark and we spent a long time searching for it; we purchased this or that item and need to pack it and find a place for it in the vehicle – each of these things takes time and it seems that we are always just doing life stuff late into the evening until it's time to fall into our sleeping bags and get some rest).

Tonight, though, we are staying at the YWAM base in Livingstone – just outside Victoria Falls – we have a room to stay in and the power just came back on so we have a bit of time to write. It has been such a blessing to stay at the YWAM in Cape Town and now in Livingstone – we plan to stay at a few more bases in the next few weeks.



But I am supposed to be telling about Namibia – a dry, dusty, wide-open-spaces place. We crossed the border into Namibia without much trouble on July 25 – praise God for having all the papers in place and things working out so smoothly with getting the vehicle across the border! We stayed in a campground just across the border – more like a luxurious parking lot – it was on the grounds for a hotel – had a nice clean concrete slab on which to set up our tent. But the luxury for me and Val that night – a bath. A nice hot bath in a long tub in a red-painted concrete room – after so many dusty roads, it felt great! It's interesting that many of the campgrounds here have bathtubs. Camping isn't cheap (they always charge per person - that place was probably $25 for the three of us) – the campgrounds are usually used by people on holiday, most often foreigners, -- but it has worked well for us.

Namibia has a population of 1.8 million people (total) in an area of 825,000 square kilometers. That works out to, on average, 2 people per square kilometer which in turn means that you rarely see people. We drove for literally hundreds of miles without seeing any people. An occasional car would drive by and that was it. Given the rather inhospitable land, it is understandable that not so many people live there. It is a very dry country – lots of kilometers of wide open spaces filled with thorny bushes and sand – you can see for miles.

The first morning in Namibia – we drove to Fish Canyon – saw all sorts of kudu, impala, steenbok on the way. Fish Canyon is one of the largest canyons in Africa – beautiful views down the gorge. Then we drove for miles through empty land, arrived at an unplanned camping opportunity just at dark. Our fellow campers were cooking up a good braai (meat cooked over an open fire) – they shared their fire with us and we enjoyed some roasted onions and even frozen burgers bought at Choppies – best of all we pulled out our s'more supplies brought from the US. Quite a feast.

Next day, we headed North to the red dunes – the name of the park is Namib Naukluft - it is one of the areas that Namibia is known for – huge red sand dunes for as far as the eye can see. The dunes are part of the Namib dessert which stretches more than 2000 km along the coast. They reach as high as 325 meters and “are part of one of the oldest and driest ecosystems on earth” (according to our guide book). The colors change with the light and the wind is forever shifting the shapes of the mounds.

After several hours on bumpy dirt roads and a final several kilometers through deep sand (way to drive, Val!) we arrived at the scenic dessert. WOW – I loved this wide-open red-sand space. We collected a few things (carrying water seemed essential) and headed up the dunes – the sand was packed lower down and we made better time. Part way up the first large dune, it changed to loose sand so we took off our sandals and dug in – a little like walking in a snow drift, but heavier. At the top of the ridge – there is a perfectly formed peak where the sand descends on either side. When we stepped down to move the sand down the other side of the ridge – it looked like moving read liquid as the sands on top shifted easily over the sands on the bottom – our little magma flows could go on for 10 or 12 feet – so cool! The shadows against the sand were intriguing as well – creating animals of all kinds to parade across the dessert. I climbed to the top of that first big dune to take a round-the world-photo – mounds of red sand that go on and on and on.


Then back to the bumpy dirt roads – we headed Northeast to Rehoboth to camp, then on through Windhoek, Gobabis and on through the border to Botswana.

Well in Botswana

Hello!!

Internet is difficult to get here, but we just wanted
to let you know that we are well in Botswana and we'll
try harder to e-mail you soon.

love

Lori,Lorelle & Val

In case you're turned around...

Here's a closer view of the travels of our adventurers. They're making a clockwise loop through the eastern part of the lower part of the continent before actually heading north to Uganda. I've circled a few of the places mentioned in the new posts from Lori, Val and Lorelle -- found below. You can click on this map to zoom in a bit. MEE

A General Update from Val

Arrive in S. Africa. We experienced a lot of cultural adjustments here in S. Africa. Although the country is well developed, their ways of doing things can be very different. There is a great cultural divide within the people groups here. The Apartheid Regime undermined all the cross-cultural relationships. Distrust, painful memories, wounds from previous hatred, fears and anger over the dominant paradigms of the past, separated people from one another. The White of British descent and Dutch descent (Afrikaners) segregate themselves from the “Coloured” people (mixed black and white) and the “Africans” (black people). Afrikaners we spoke with still feel there is a “proper separation” that should be maintained between the races. We all feel so uncomfortable with the distinctions, it is painful to be part of the “oppressive” race. Most black Africans assume we will not be friendly, but it is wonderful to see their smiles and joy when we greet them, speak with them and show an interest in their lives.

Vehicle purchasing. We found a good 2006 double cabin Land Rover Pickup, green, long bed. Pickups are called “Bakkies” here. Land Rovers are “Landies”. So mine is a Landy Bakkie. Dealer demo model. Reportedly used in a movie by Leonardo DeCaprio last year! In good shape, but with a few scratches on the paint here and there. It’s quite a truck, 5 cylinder diesel, continuous 4WD, heavy duty winch, extra fuel tank, extra spare tire, bull bar in front, secret lock box under the console, rooftop storage rack, snorkel. Installed an extra battery to run an inverter and chargers and a rubber coating in the truck bed to prevent damage. Tool box, spare parts, tow rope. The bed of the truck is covered with a rolling “Armadillo” cover which locks to keep our things safe inside. Well, I think we are ready for our expedition!



Planning for Security. Vehicle horn goes off if the doors are opened by an intruder, plan to arrive at our campsites by 6:30 or dark if possible, take reliable routes, ask advice from others who are traveling or have traveled there, be aware of our surroundings, 3 cans of chili pepper spray just in case. Use GPS to track positioning and confirm directions. We have a Satellite phone for emergencies and a South African cell phone line for general use. Avoid places of historical crime and risk. Doors locked, seat belts on. OK Mom, we’re trying the best we can out here!

Vehicle licensing. Getting to the licensing place was quite challenging. First, finding the right place, and the right form, and the right officer with the right stamp for the form. Then proving our qualifications, by producing someone’s water and electric bill to show we were staying locally! Taking the “official” photos for the forms while enclosed in the back compartment of an old VW van with a rough looking African man, parked on the side of a crumbling building, with all the windows painted black. (The resulting photo captures my startled, tense, confused look, which was permanently captured on the film and stapled onto the form for posterity).

S. Africa touring Part I.
Guateng and Mpumalanga Provinces
Wildlife Viewing was the hit of these provinces:

DeWildt Cheetah Research Centre. We learned about the balance of the grasslands ecosystem, especially the need to manage wildlife in the reserves so that there is a correct ratio of carnivores, scavengers, herbivores, and grazing lands. We saw cheetahs, who are good hunters but because of their size often get their food stolen by other carnivores before they can consume it. We learned that because cheetahs were almost wiped out in the past, their gene pool is small, leading to severe inbreeding over the centuries, and general infertility in the species. We saw yelping, leaping wild spotted dogs with a bad reputation of aggressiveness due to their persistent killing of local farmer’s sheep. We enjoyed the chuckling brown hyenas and their matriarchal packs(not quite laughing hyenas, but at least a deep-voice giggling!). My sister Holly would have enjoyed learning of and observing the inter-species interactions of the various carnivores. You’ll have to come down here to visit next time, Holly!

Krueger National Park. 700 Impalas, (plus others in impala clothes as there was a special going on last week), 3 wart hogs, 5 kudu, 2 giraffe, 1 dead warthog, 1 vulture, 1 wildebeast, hammerkop, lilac breasted rollers, hornbills, birds… We saw much fewer animals than expected, although game wardens report excess of elephants and lions. They will be doing some culling this year, allowing wealthy people to come in and hunt the animals with expensive tags. Due to the disappointment on the wildlife side, we all became ornithologists when game viewing deteriorated, then eventually became botanists when all the birds have flown away!

Camping along the way. Snacking on South African biltong (jerky), fruit and Wheat Thins with Tillamook Sharp Cheddar cheese from Art at Rolling Hills! Some fresh veggies along the way and a little of the cherished chocolate from America as well! We cook over a kerosene lantern. We had an electric 12v light for the evenings, but it broke after a couple days. We’re just using flashlights for now. The tent is working out well, although it’s been sooo cold at night! It is the dead of winter here, with nighttime temperatures in the upper 30s and 40s.

Swaziland. Entering from the North, we cruised through the mountainous kingdom of Swaziland in one counter-clockwise loop. We found them friendly, development minded, and with lots of potential. A thriving timber industry employs many, as well as gold and diamond mining. We stopped at craft tables on side of road to buy a necklace that looked like “ticks on a string”, from a little girl named Petsy. She shyly taught me some of the Swazi language. “Sowubona” means How are you? (I tried to teach her “Cowabunga”, but she wasn’t understanding well!). You answer “Ebo” meaning Fine. “Nyabonga” is Thank you. We were also entertained by children along the road dressed in traditional costumes and banana leaves, who for a few Rand would wildly dance their indigenous dances for us, in order to generate a little after-school income. At dusk, we camped on a hillside campsite called Moholojan near Piggs Peak. At dawn, a large herd of stately Blesbok grazed through the area, and across the rolling hills.

Mozambique. We had heard that getting in and out of Mozambique borders can sometimes be challenging, but we thought we’d give it a try. It seemed to be going well, but then the passports were slipped into another room, where they remained,… and remained….and remained. After a half hour of waiting, we politely enquired of the portly counterlady, but were told to just wait and be patient. A glimpse inside the door of the other room revealed a sly looking, balding man leaning back in his chair, acting busy by occasionally handling one of our precious identities, and then punching some numbers into a calculator. We waited out the corruption however, refusing to pay anything to expedite the service; eventually getting everything stamped and signed and approved, then off we went on the Mozambique adventure.

Once a Portuguese colony, Mozambique has a very unique culture and history. Seeing Africans speaking Portuguese, which sounds a bit like elaborate Spanish, was an unusual experience. Although we only passed through the southern tip of the country, we could see that they were still recovering from their civil war. The country is bleak and downtrodden. After leaving the border and entering this stark, dry impoverished land, we made a couple turns, and inquired about the quality of the roads. “Sure, it’s a good road”, we were told… 15 miles later, it changed from gravel, to dirt, to a sandy path through the brush. Occasional houses of reeds with grass roofs dotted the hills. Bombed out buildings lay crumbling in the bush. We tried to go to the small one room shops or the local restaurant, but found that they were closed due to a holiday-of-unknown-origin, so we got back in the dusty Landy and headed down the main road to the South. After passing through the dingy town of Zitundo, the road became a 1’ deep, seemingly endless sandy trail meandering through the grassy dunes. High speeds of 25mph were bringing our expedition to a crawl. Our thought of, “let’s just swing through Mozambique for a quick view”, became a joke, as the hours traveling across in the desolate land grew longer and longer. Searching for a distant border crossing, like an oasis across the hot sands, we finally saw a flag flying on the horizon. Spinning sand in every direction, we sped to the border and back to civilization again.

Keep up your prayers for all of us here!

Yours in Christ's hands,

Val

From Lorelle: Plum-stealing monkeys and sun-bathing crocodiles

Sodwana Bay, Saint Lucia and Sanni Lodge.

We are taking different parts of the trip to describe and these are the places that have fallen to me :-). After our adventure on the sandy roads of Mozambique, we arrived in Sodwana Bay National Park. This is one of South Africa's most beautiful and warmest (in terms of water temperature in the winter) beaches. We found a lovely campsite and woke up the next day to see monkeys playing in the field across from our campsite. It was fun to watch them until things got a bit personal. After we were up, we got out our breakfast food (dried plums, granola, tea, milk, sugar) and then were doing various things around the camp. It didn't take long for the monkeys to learn that it was breakfast time at our campsite. The food was just beside the tent and Lori was inside the tent finishing up rolling up a sleeping bag -- the monkeys came by and, quick as a blink, carried it all off -- all of our breakfast. Val saw them and we all ran to chase them -- they dropped the sugar and granola (after spilling a bunch of it) but they got away with all the dried plums -- we saw monkeys everywhere eating them. After that, we were a bit more careful, but the monkeys stayed around and made themselves at home in our campsite -- cute until they became camp robbers!

Sodwana Bay is also known for it's snorkeling and scuba diving. We found a place to rent our fins, goggles etc and after a walk on the beach (waiting for the tide to turn) we dove into the (rather cold) water. Beautiful! fish in the midst of the coral reef that is just offshore. Very fun to become a part of the underwater world and dive down to swim with the fish. The only problem was that the coral was sharp and we are each still carrying our wounds to remind us of it. And though this is the warmest beach in South Africa, the fact is that it is still midwinter here and the water was rather cold for no wetsuits. We swam with the fish until we were all shivering and then got back on land, rinsed off, and settled into the Land Rover for another few hours of driving.

We stayed at St. Lucia National Park the next night. We saw some in the campground the first night and woke the next morning to explore just a bit before our drive. Hippos!! Dozens of them swimming in the water just offshore. There were several of them sleeping in a group while a others - mother and baby and others played in the water nearby. We went for a walk down a boardwalk and out to a beautiful beach. After our walk on the beach we came back by the hippos and discovered crocodiles as well sunning themselves on the spit of land that juts out into the water. A fun morning for wildlife!

We drove another 7 hours and ended up at Sanni Lodge by 5 -- enough time to go for a quick walk in the hills before it got dark. Magnificent views of the valley stretching below and majestic mountain peaks against the most incredible red, orange sky of the setting sun. I got up early enough the next morning to go for a run up to the top of the mountain behind the lodge and saw an incredible sunrise as well.

It's late -- more soon. Lorelle

Update from Lori in Lesotho

Lesotho, pronounced (Lay sue two) a small mountain country full of wonderful people and their animals. July 19 and we were enjoying ourselves at St. Lucia on the Indian Ocean in South Africa and after many hours of driving we had arrived in the Drakenburg Mts. From sunny beaches of South Africa to frozen mountains of Lesotho in the same day. We stayed at the base of Sani Pass July 20, arose early and headed up the most incredible road. Gravel road with many switchbacks, bolders as big as the LandRover, and one lane with two way traffic. Bateleurs (eagle like birds) in the air and Steenbok antelope grazing the grass. There was a sign -- Sani Pass is not for sissys -- and they were not kidding. People would ask where is your driver? I just pointed to Val -- they wished us the best. The road to Sani Pass is an extremely steep winding road. Glad we had a LandRover. We had breakfast at the top, 10,550 feet, at the highest pub in Africa. Beautiful mountains, snow, and frozen waterfalls. The people of Lesotho live in stone houses with thick grass thatched roofs. The shepherds stay warm by wrapping in thick blankets and tend their sheep and goats. They use horses as a means of transportation. They use cows to work the field, and the dung to heat and cook. We drove to the remote town of Mokhotlong to visit a church. God led us to a church where the Cassidy's, who were from Corvallis, used to be missionaries. We found the church, the pastor and his family. It was a great blessing for them and for us to share juice with them. The church is growing and has a membership of 120-150. To support the family, the pastor also has a coffin making business, and the wife is a science teacher. We prayed for them in the church, we sang songs in the church, even though it wasn't Sunday we had our own worship time. After our visit we headed back down the Mt and encountered some incredible switchbacks, then crossed the border to South Africa again. The Lesotho people are known for being a peaceful people who wear pointed hats that remind them of the mountain peaks where they live. Those people now have a place in our hearts. Lori

Lori: On robots, thunderbeans, and magic rugs

July 12 2006
This is a story of three women, Dr. Val Shean a 14 year African veterinary missionary, Dr. Lori Walker, a mom, grandmother, veterinarian, and repeat short term veterinary missionary, and Dr. Lorelle Jabs, a professor of Communication at Seattle Pacific University. This is my 7 th trip to Africa, and I can say I have never been this cold. The rug we previously mentioned is our magic rug. Aladin had a flying rug, but we have a heated rug that we huddle around in mornings and again in the evenings to keep warm. I might compare Johannesburg to a cross between Phoenix and Denver. Jo’burg is at 6000 ft and inland, so when the sun goes down it gets just about freezing. The days are beautiful and sunny. I am not sure what the adventures of we three can be most closely compared to, sometimes we feel like the three stooges, as it is hard to get things right when even the most simple directions we are given are hard to follow. I was told to follow the N1 , watch for the split, go across the bridge under the road, turn at the set of robots and the store will be right there in an unmarked house. He assured me I couldn’t miss it, it was easy to find . Well??? The road names are never the same on one side of the street as the other. The roads can go straight and change names every few blocks. Do you any idea how frustrating it can be negotiating these roads? Anyway, a set of robots are equivalent to stoplights. We struggle to move around and get things done, but we are making some progress. Tasks we have been trying for days to do include, registration, licensing, taxes, customs. Registration without a permanent S Africa address is troublesome. Now I feel a little bit more like Goldie locks and the three bears, as we are looking for a home so we can register the vehicle. We had planned on leaving yesterday, but now it’s hard to know when. Keep Praying.

We did take a few hours off to see a cultural center. It is our desire to of course get the vehicle home to Uganda, but we would also like to gain some understanding of the people. We learned some history and cultural ways of the Zulu, Basotho, Xhosa, and Pedi people. There were many facts I could share with you, but since I am a vet I will share a small piece about their animals. The Zulu live in woven beehive houses with the cattle kept in kraals/corrals in the center of their houses. The Xhosa also keep their cattle in the center of the homestead, but have stone kraals instead of the woven reeded ones of the Zulu. The Pedi also find their wealth in their cattle, but their kraals are outside the homestead, but in view. My favorite people group was Basotho of Lesotho kingdom. They are mountain people, and wear conical hats representing the mountains, wear colorful blankets to keep warm, and are skillful horseman. At the cultural center we were able to delight in the local cuisine. The food was tasty and plentiful, but somewhere between the crocodile, ostrich neck, dried insect larva, and thunderbeans I had a bit of a thunder and lightening kind of night. I was just glad we were not out camping along the road somewhere and that the bathroom was just across the hall.

We did get a chance to see the Land Rover, my first thoughts were Wow! Just wow, this is some kind of hefty, sturdy kind of truck. Not a frilly truck but a very practical vehicle. Thanks to all for making the purchase of the truck possible.

lori

Lorelle: On kilts, larvae, and flame throwers

7 11 06

These first few days in South Africa have been spent preparing for the trip. We bought a “flame thrower” (kerosene stove) to cook on while we're camping and found the “paraffin” to fuel it. We needed an electrical adapter to change the 220 plugs (of Uganda) into the three pronged triangular plugs of SA. We went to a mall to purchase other things and what struck me was how similar the mall was to one that might be in Seattle, New York, Paris etc. Yes, there are a few minor differences, but in many ways it seems that 'rich' looks the same everywhere. When people, countries, cultures gain wealth in this era, they seem to loose their cultural distinctivenss and end up looking western and modern. In the village, you know you are in South Africa. In the mall, you could be anywhere in the world and it would look similar.

We've been doing a lot of errands and making So Many phone calls. First, we make phone calls just to find the phone numbers we need to call. How will we get the vehicle across the border? What form do we need? We call the customs office who tell us to call the tax office who tell us to call this other number and eventually we learn that we need the C1AA form to fill out – only they tell us that we should have an agent to fill it out for us because if we make a mistake we'll be charged a fee at the border, etc. etc. We probably made 50 calls trying to find a canopy for the Land Rover – it's not a common vehicle and we are now convinced that a canopy for a Double Cabin Land Rover 130 does not exist in Johannesburg. We found another kind of cover for the bed of the truck (called an Armadillo) that we hope to get installed once we finally have the vehicle in our possession. Africa is like that – things take time – patience and a sense of humor are essential qualities.

I'm realizing that camping is going to be very cold. Sun up at 6am and down by 6 pm. During the day it can be warm – sun makes it feel great in short sleeves, but after 6 pm, it goes down to the 40s and since the houses aren't heated, we layer on our clothes and huddle together on the heated rug in the family room. We're blessed with a wonderful place to stay here in Jo-burg. Some members of the church that Wendell's (CVM) son is pastor of have graciously allowed us to stay in their home - even while they are on vacation in Durban. It is safe and comfortable, has electricity and hot water – it is such a great gift to get to stay here while we prepare for the trip.

Interesting vocab – this is a tiny samplying of quite a lot of different words in use here
stoplight = 'set of robots'
old rundown vehicle = 'churio'
back of a pick-up or pick-up itself - 'bakkie'

7/12/06

Today – we were hoping to load the truck tonight – but now we are just hoping to get it by tomorrow . . . Africa. [Now it is tomorrow that I’m sending this out – Thursday – it’s difficult to get the vehicle registered now so we will still be in Jo-burg on Friday as well == yep – Africa] That will put us just 2 days behind schedule – wonder what reality will be? On the other hand, I am so thankful for the kind people who have provided this safe and comfortable house while we are still in Jo-burg.

We got to go to the Lesidi Village today – “Lesidi, place of light” – from the Basotho tribe – “King Moshoeshoe, during the great wars, gave refuge to scatterlings in his mountin fortress, in so doing he created the Basotho nation. Ever fearful of attack, he was grateful every sunrise, which he would greet with the words, 'Ke Bona Lesedi' . . . 'I thank the light' and so this place is called, Lesedi, place of light.”

It was fun to see the four different villages – I don't really like being a tourist – would so much rather be a guest and feel the reality of the people, but that's not an option here – we don't have the time to develop relationships and so to know the people and be invited into their homes. So I don't prefer to be a tourist, but in this case, I have no other option of seeing these people and their way of life. In any case learned some interesting things today.

Bride prices -- # of cows paid to the brides family by grooms family
Zulu = 11 cows for regular brides, 26 cows for daughters in the royal family and Zulu man estimated, since I was special, 27 cows for me
Xhosa = 13 cows
Pedi = 13 cows

Good, though sad, story about the Pedi. In the wars against the British, the British made an alliance with the Scottish and had the Scottish march at the front of the battle. The Brits followed behind with their long bows and guns. When the Pedi leader saw the Scottish marching toward them, he saw the Scottish kilts and thought that it was an army of women. He would not fight an army of women (a noble gesture in a way) so the Pedi were soundly defeated. The men in the clan wear kilts to this day as a rememberance of this “trickery.”

We tasted dried larvae (big black ones – inch or more long) at the Pedi village – consensus was that the larvae were a bit oily, almost tangy, a bit of sweet, an interesting flavor, rather strong. One member of group had larvae parts attractively stuck in front teeth for quite some time . . . :->

The Zulu are a warrior tribe – their dance is terrific – especially the the war dance which is extremely energetic – both men and women kick their legs up above their heads, then stamp the floor, the LOUD drums are pulsing. The whole place is filled with energy.

That's all for tonight. Thank you so much for your continued prayers. God has answered many prayers already.

All Three Now in South Africa -- post from Lori

Greeetings from South Africa.

Only took two days to get here. Flew from Eugene, to San Francisco, then to New York, had a 12 hour lay over in NY. Met my aunt Gladys and cousin Linda, toured NY city, stopped by ground zero. 24 hours later and I was still in USA.

Then off to Dakar, Senegal, and finally to South Africa. Surprised at how cold the nights are here since the houses don't have heat, but there was a heated rug that the three of us huddled on. Had a night's rest but still very tired. The vehicle is secured, but needs a few modifications, so still in shop -- haven't seen it.
Doing some shopping, figuring our truck stuff, and hopefully we will be off soon. We will check in later.

We are all well, Lori

Lorelle in Johannesburg safely

After 24 hours of flight time (3 hrs in Amsterdam) I have safely arrived in Johannesburg. All three trunks made it too (opened, but mostly still there). It's cold here!!! But terrific to see Val. All is going well -- more soon. (We're at an internet cafe and time is out.)

How Far is 7,800 miles?

Drive from Los Angeles, to New York City, back to Los Angeles again, then drive back to Chicago. That's about 7,800 miles.

And a lot of that on country roads and dirt.

Blogmaster

From Val

This is Val. I'm here in Johannesburg now, just finalized the purchase of a nice 2006, Land Rover, Double Cabin pick-up. It looks like a good one, and I know it will survive Africa better than the others I have had before. Looking forward to having my friends Lori and Lorelle here to help with the expedition to Uganda. We will be traveling through 10 countries, 7,800 miles! Quite an amazing trip. Meanwhile, I'm working on some truck modifications: extra fuel tank, extra spare tire, rubberizing the bed, bull bar and winch in front, roof rack, etc. After that, paper work time, with registering the vehicle and doing a mound customs papers. Ughh!

This is my 15th year in Africa, working as a veterinary missionary with nomadic pastoralists and settled cattle keepers. It's been an amazing life, with great challenges, and great joys along the way. The former 2 vehicles were quite good as well, but the roads eventually tore them up, with a wheel flying off at one point, the bed rotating to the side, and the hood hinging from the wrong direction! Land Rover seems to be the toughest, so we'll give it a try!

Keep us in your prayers! Val

Lorelle's First Post

Thanks for coming to this site!!! And being interested in the travels of three women in Africa. Where we are right now – Val is in Johannesburg, South Africa and she has found a vehicle – Thank You, God!!!!! She seems pleased with it and says it will do well for us. A terrific answer to prayer.

Lori is in Lebanon where there is hay to be moved and much going on – I’ll let her say her bit.

I just returned to Seattle from a Wonderful half a week in Oregon where I’ve been blessed by many terrific people. I’m in my office working away on my tenure file and all the details that need to be done before leaving my house at 10 am on Saturday morning. I’ll arrive Jo-burg at 9 pm Sunday night and Lori will arrive 5 pm Monday. Then we’ll repack our bags and hopefully head out on Wednesday, July 12.

Our planned route – from Johannesburg – East to Kruger Nat’l Park for one night – then down through Swaziland the next day (maybe a corner of Mozambique?). Along the coast for a bit then back up into the mountains of Lesotho, back down for a bit of the coast before arriving in Cape Town. Then we’ll head North through Namibia and half way up, we’ll cut East through Botswana and then into Zambia. Looking forward to seeing Victoria Falls on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. We’ll go East through Zambia and into Malawi where we hope to see some of the incredible and colorful creatures of Lake Malawi, then North into Tanzania and East again to Dar es Salaam. Then we’ll head North along the coast, back West through the Serengetti and up into Kenya. A few more days and then we’ll rest in Soroti, Uganda before going up to Kangole in Karamoja. Whew! We think it is about 7,700 miles from Johannesburg to Soroti.

Please pray for our safety along the way as well as wisdom in our choices and decisions.

I need to get back to writing my tenure essays . . . . only 24 hours before turning in my file!!!

More soon,

Lorelle

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