You've been waiting for it, so here it is! I know that some of you think that I go on vacation more than anyone you've ever known before, but you have no idea how much I needed it! Aside from my faith that this is where God wants me, the only reason that I do get by here is because of the breaks that I take. Living cross-culturally is very draining, and working in the medical system adds an extra strain. Taking vacations is one of the things that I can do to stay sane and keep my love and compassion for the people around me!
The retreat
My trip to South Africa was amazing! The first week I attended a retreat for single missionaries. It was held by Missionary Encouragement Trust (MET), an organization that was started with the sole purpose of encouraging missionaries. We were 31 missionaries from all over the world and who serve with many different organizations and in many different countries around the world. It was great to be with others who go through the same types of trials that I do on a regular basis. The fellowship was very sweet and refreshing. The teachings they gave us were on God's covenant. It was amazing! I had heard God's covenant talked about a little, but never in as much detail and with such depth of insight into the Jewish culture that Jesus lived in. I made me want to learn more about Jewish culture and the roots of Christianity.
Aside from that, the location they chose was incredible. Beautiful greenery and flowers everywhere made the facility, Carmel by the Sea, like an oasis! I got 4 new birds just by sitting one afternoon on one of the many benches on one of the many walking paths! It was great! I got the speckled mouse bird, cape white eye, cape robin, and the greater double banded sunbird. Also in that area I was able to see the Knysna lourie which is a very pretty greenish bird with bright red wings and what looks like white eye-liner.
Coal in my eyes
After the retreat I took the Oteniqua Choo-Tjoe, a steam engine locomotive, from George to Mossel Bay. The trip was absolutely beautiful because it started in the country side and ended by travelling along the coast with gorgeous views of the sea. I have some great photos of the engine that you can see on Facebook. There are however, some things about steam trains that I didn't know that made it not quite as romantic of a trip as I had imagined it in my mind! Did you know that as the steam train travels that it spews small pieces of coal back towards the passengers? And that if you have your head sticking out the window to try to get a really great photo that it really hurts to be smacked in the face by these small projectiles? Or that when you have your window open that it will enter the cabin and fill your seat, hair, clothes and bags making you look somewhat like a hobo? Did you know that in the few moments when there is no coal flying that they release the steam from the engine and that then there becomes a shower of water streaming from the engine, which also doesn't feel so great when you're trying to stick your head out the window to get a good photo? I didn't know any of these things at the time, but I do now!!! J
THE SHARKS!!!
Upon my arrival in Mossel Bay, I immediately proceeded (bags and all) not to my hostel, but to Shark Africa, where I had booked to do the cage diving. I thought that I had scheduled to go that afternoon and I wanted to make sure I knew where it was so I wouldn't be late. Well, there weren't enough people signed up for the afternoon, so I had to wait until the next morning. I'm so glad I did! We got out onto the boat and took a tour of the bay including a circle around Seal Island. Seals are the Great White's natural food source so you can always find them together. We went out a ways from the island to set anchor, then they started 'chumming' the waters. This means that they had these little fish that they mashed up and mixed with sea water to make bloody fish soup. They then poured it into the water to attract the sharks. The skipper, either John or Joe (with the strong Afrikaner accent I couldn't quite tell), said that we were lucky because our first shark showed up within 10 minutes. He said sometimes you wait 2 ½ hrs until one shows up. When the first one showed up they threw the bait in, which was a 5 pound block of tuna. They didn't allow it to eat the tuna though, they were just getting it interested. It circled the boat many times each time getting closer to the bait. After it tried to actually eat the bait, they thought that it was interested enough, and they lowered the cage. The shark came back rather quickly after being scared off by the noise, I guess he was hungry!
Now, I thought we were going to be completely submerged with oxygen tanks and would have sharks swimming past us. That wasn't quite the case, but it was amazing anyways. The cage was only 2/3 under water, so that when the skipper saw a shark coming he would tell us to go under and what direction to look. We had on snorkel masks but didn't have snorkels, so we would have to hold our breath when we went under water. They would throw out the bait far from the cage, and then pull it in closer, luring the shark closer until the shark was right next to us. Overall, the skipper said that we saw 8 sharks! The smallest was just over 3 meters and the biggest was over 4 meters. Our first shark was the best. When it came to get the bait, the skipper was able to pull it in really close and the shark ended up completely body slamming the cage as it fought to get the bait off the line! WOW!!! A couple of times the sharks would turn away from the bait and end up with the tip of their noses in the cage with us! It was awesome! I asked if I could pet one, but they said that they didn't want them to get the human scent. I respected that, so I behaved, but it was so tempting!!! Once the shark passed the bait, swam around to the back of the boat, of which I had the perfect view, and tried to bite the motor! I asked the skipper what had just happened and he explained that the sharks have a sensor on their noses for electrical activity, either a heart beat or gill action can activate it, so the shark got confused by the electricity of the motor! I thought it was my own personal show and it was great!
The worst part of the whole experience was how cold it was! Even though we were in the Indian Ocean, which is supposed to be warmer, after just over 2 hours in the water I was a popsicle! I couldn't get out of the water, while standing as high up on the cage as I could get, they had to pull me over the edge of the boat. Then they had to take the wetsuit off of me because I couldn't do it! The second worst part of it was the fish parts. They kept chumming the waters, even after we were in it, so that we were floating around in fish pieces and oil. It was smelly and gross! The skipper joked about us having shiny hair and healthy kin for the rest of the week, but I didn't think it was that funny! J After we got out of the water I couldn't bring my hands near my face because I smelled so bad like fish! Even after 2 showers, when I met up with Lauren, Janeen and Fiona, Lauren's cousin who travelled with us, they still thought that I smelled a little! YUCK!!!
After Wilderness
After meeting up with the ladies, we went to Wilderness, which is just the other side of Victoria Bay where the retreat was. It was incredibly beautiful! We had several great meals, but the best was at Serendipity. It was not just a meal, it was a fine dining experience! I can't even begin to describe how good it was! When we arrived they ushered us into a fire side lounge and the owner introduced the night's menu to us. After talking to us for a while he showed us to the dining room and we started our meal of indulgence. Everything was amazing, but I think the dessert was the best. I don't usually like chocolate and mint together, but it tasted just like an Andes mint! It was so good!! One of our days we travelled to Knysna where they have this place where a few rivers come together and meet the sea. It was stunning in it's beauty! The photos absolutely do not do it justice! After Wilderness we made our way to Franschoek (French Corner in Afrikans), where we stayed with a really sweet couple that were on staff at the retreat. Johnny & Deleste have served as missionaries to the Ukraine for many years and are based out of Franshoek. When they found out that us girls were travelling through their town, they invited us to stay with them. It was so wonderful to stay in a real home and have their warm hospitality and fellowship. They treated us like princesses the whole time we were there! After that we had one night in Stellenbosch then it was time to head back home. It was too expensive to fly, so I took the bus. It was a 20 hour ride but I at least had a seat to myself, which was really nice! Then I took the 8 hour taxi ride back up to Rundu. My own bed never felt so nice!!
I hope that I didn't bore you too much with the shark information. It was just so amazing that I could go on talking about it forever! I added a few pictures to Facebook before my computer died, so here is the link.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35798&l=d8c79&id=624739114
I hope you enjoy the pictures! I was going to try to add new ones, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon! I'll let you know when that happens... I hope this finds you all doing well!
love and hugs to all,
kimmie
Praises:
• My trip went extremely well! I enjoyed the scenery, food, and the company!
• Shelley (AUS nurse) and Daryl & Sabrina (CAN pharmacist and his wife) arrived in Windhoek safely. I will travel back up with them on Monday the 26th and they will start at the hospital in early June.
Prayer needs:
• Please remember Sheena as she has her last week here. She is working with the OVC volunteers to teach them about basic first aid and with the kids about hygiene. We will head out together on Wednesday to go to Windhoek then she flies out on Thursday. Since I was gone for over half of her time here it seems like she just got here!
• Please remember Rob & Alisa as they are trying to make the decision about whether or not they will be coming back to Rundu after their home assignment. Their decision effects the future of AIM's ministry in Rundu, so it's a big decision not just for their family but for many others as well.
• Please pray for Kosta Kapewa, one of my nurses in Paediatric Ward who got arrested for beating one of her children. She doesn't have her own children, but she has 5 or 6 orphans that she cares for. One of the girls, a 10 year old, has had some very bad acting out behaviour in the last few years. A few days ago Kosta decided to punish the girl for something she did by spanking her. Kosta dropped something from her pocket and bent down to get it. When she did, the girl attacked her and started biting her. Then Kosta lost her temper and beat the girl. (I don't know how badly) The next day Kosta got arrested and spent the night in jail. She is out now with a pending court date of June 16th. She has asked me to help her write a statement. Please pray for me as I help with this because I don't want to be untruthful in the statement but I also want to help Kosta out. She is one of the most compassionate nurses that I work with and though it wasn't right for her to do that, it would be a shame for something terrible to happen from this (like her having to go to prison and the possibility of her losing her job if that happens).
_________________________________________________________________
Give to a good cause with every e-mail. Join the i'm Initiative from Microsoft.
http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Join/Default.aspx?souce=EML_WL_ GoodCause
