The trip to Dar es Salaam with Rita and Fletcher

We very much enjoyed Rita's visit to Kibidula.  For her return trip to Dar es Salaam, which is where she took her flight to return to America, the trip was broken into parts, including the safari.  The pictures for the safari were posted previously. 
We drove a new road (for us) to get to the game park.  It was a good thing we got really good directions, had plenty of time and had four-wheel drive.  It was too dark to take pictures of the road for the first few hours.  We started very early. 
We had a nice time in the game park, and we toward Dar es Salaam via Iringa about 5 pm. 
The road between the park and Iringa was tremendously rough (and a bit long.)  It took over 3 hours to get to Iringa.  The main road that we had taken on the previous trip was too flooded to pass.  The low-water bridge was impassable.  So we took the "Never Ending Road to Iringa."  That is actually the name of it.  It was actually a great road.  It was fairly smooth, but only one lane.  It then met up with the main road somewhere after the low-water bridge.
We stayed at the Veta Hostel in Iringa.  The prices there are very good (almost $10 a night for a room with toilet and shower and close to half that for the ones without.)
The next morning we started toward Morogoro and Dar es Salaam.  About an hour or so out of Iringa we start into the mountains.  We stopped just as we started the first decline to get some roasted field corn to finish up our breakfast.  Here is a picture of the place we stopped followed by the corn roasting.

Quick stop before entering the steep mountain passes.

Corn being roasted by the road. (Fast food - well, not very fast.)

As we started down the mountain, I asked if we could pull off to get a pictures of the beautiful cascading river that runs down the valley that is alongside the road.  Since we were not in a rush, I got my request.  There had been too much rain and we had seen lots of mud and flooding here and there.  The river was flowing brownish red.  It is still beautiful.

Part of the river that runs along the mountain pass

Some colorful people along the way

We saw more accidents and broken down vehicles on this trip than any previous one.  It is very dangerous when the trucks breakdown on the mountain passes.  Many places there is no shoulder to the road or pull-off place.  MANY trucks breakdown in the steep mountains.  And most of them will remain right in that place where they broke down until they are fixed.  This means that the road becomes much more dangerous. Very often you can not know if it is safe to pass the broken-down vehicle.  If you meet a very large vehicle at high-speed, it is quite unsafe.

One of many broken-down trucks on the mountain pass AND on a curve.

Often we see baboons along the road in the mountains.

There are several places along the main highway where there is now deep ruts in the road.  These ruts make for very tricky and even dangerous driving. 

Deep ruts in the road.

There are different types of traffic jams here.  This particular one was on the moooove.

Tanzanian traffic jam.

They had some SERIOUSLY big horns.

After exiting the mountains, the main highway passes through Mikumi National Park.  We actually saw more animals (in quantity) driving through this stretch of the park (50 km) than we did in our entire day in the other national park!

Cape Buffalo

African White-backed Vulture

This little one looks rather new to me.

Marabou Stork

Impala youth learning to spar and a White Stork.

Baboons

So that's why they have a long neck.

There had been so much rain, that there had also been much flooding.  One of the bridges between the park and Morogoro had been completely closed and the road was covered with water, just the day before we passed.  When we passed the water was off the road and the bridge had one lane open.  We still saw many fields, crops, and even trees badly damaged by all the flooding.

Water damaged fields

I still like to try to take pictures of large loads on bicycles and motorcycles.  In the following picture there are two people on this motorcycle (most likely a motorcycle taxi.) with the big purchase.

Two people with a new mattress.

In Morogoro a man with a cart (car wheels with a bed and handles) was pulling a huge load.  He was going downhill in this picture and he was keeping up with traffic. 

Man with cart with many white bags of cargo in front of the red Toyo.

We stopped to get fuel and use the facilities.  We saw this big lizard.  After looking at him and comparing him to the pictures in our books, we think it is a baby monitor lizard!  I don't know what he was doing IN TOWN!?!

Baby Monitor Lizard

We did the requested shopping in Morogoro (fabric), and we headed down the road for the last stretch to Dar es Salaam.  It was dark and quite late by the time we arrived at the hotel.
The following day the Masai Market was first on our list so Rita could find gifts for the people back home.  There were LOTS and LOTS of booths.  As she shopped, we looked around.  There were some very interesting things to watch, such as this man with his hand-powered lathe.  He was making candlesticks.  Joshua really enjoyed watching him for extended amounts of time.  All his tools were hand-made.  I enjoyed watching him shape the ebony wood.

hand-made and hand-powered lathe

After market things were complete, we took the trip out to the peninsula to the family hut beach.  For about $6 US we got permission to access the beach and use a primitive hut.  We all enjoyed some fresh coconut water.  Fletcher, Joshua and Rita enjoyed the water.  We all enjoyed the lack of traffic, people and "things."  The scenery was beautiful.  The water was so pretty.

Fletcher and Rita heading to the water.  (Joshua is already in)

Fletcher, Rita and Joshua enjoying the Indian Ocean.

After taking Rita to the airport and saying our goodbye's we were back in the thick of Dar es Salaam trying to get a few supplies for ourselves and others back at the mission post.  One can see all kinds of things in Dar es Salaam.

Bicycle cargo style complete with helmet

Traffic jam

Oldie but goodie? 

Almost "abnormal" but abnomal will due.

More flooding on the way home.

We saw this accident at night coming to Dar es Salaam Monday night.  Thursday evening it was still not cleared from the road.  This is what we were praying would NOT happen to our container.  We praise God for His protection.

Accident on the highway.  Container still there after four days.

bridge damaged by the flooding, only one lane open

More animals on the way back through the park!

Elands!

Mountain pass along the river

another accident

I didn't get pictures of most of the wrecks or breakdowns.  Some were so bad that I don't know if anyone could have survived.  Each day is a gift.  I am thankful for the gift of time today.

Nothing takes God by surprise

Back on the 14th of March, I was asked to take one of the students from the Sunnydale group to town with me along with one of the teachers as I purchased the needed things for the group for that day and the next. 
I had finished my to-do list and was going to find the two ladies.  I saw them coming my direction and told them I was done.  I then asked if they were ready to go.  We were just about "on-time" if we left just then, to get things back for final lunch preparation. 
They told me that they were headed to the police station.  I then saw the Conference Pastoral Director and the local pastor.
The story was as follows.
After purchasing some shoes, and placing the remaining cash in the other pocket of her bag, the student and teacher walked to get one more purchase.  They had "bumped" into a few locals on the way.  When she was ready to pay, her money was gone.  There wasn't a lot of money there, but her passport was in the same wallet. 
Now this was a HUGE concern.  The group was flying out on Sunday.  It was now Friday afternoon!
Now see how good God is.  This took all of us by surprise, but NOT GOD!
We walked to the police station with the two pastors.
We prayed again.  I asked God to bring glory to Himself through all this and to help the student to have peace.  Understandably, she was quite upset at this time.   God immediately answered that prayer and she had God's peace through the rest of ordeal.
I called the group's leader.   He told me to get the number for the US Embassy and for us to ask what we should do.  We notified the girl's father who was also part of the group.  I started asking for the phone number for the embassy.  The police station said they didn't have it.  I sent a message to my director.  He called me back and asked what was going on.  He said, "DON'T CALL THE EMBASSY!"  He said that they would immediately cancel the passport and if it was recovered, she still would not be able to leave the country.  We both agreed that the thief was after money, not the passport, and perhaps it was in a ditch somewhere close-by.
I called the others back to warn about calling the embassy.   I was too late.  I was told that the embassy had already been called.  I kept asking questions, like, "Did you give them her name or passport number?"  God is so GOOD!  The answers were negative!  The embassy said they would not do anything to help until Monday.  They didn't even ask for a name! 
Reports were filled out.  We met with the ward's leader (who happened also to be a member of the local church and friends with the pastors.)  We asked if word could be passed around that we would offer a reward for the passport.  They agreed.
To shorten the story a bit - the passport was turned in for the reward within a few hours.
NOW SOME OF GOD'S GRACE AND PROVISION THROUGH IT ALL:
#1  There was very little money left in the wallet
#2 As soon as the ladies had prayed after realizing the loss, they looked up and the two pastors they had been working with for the last two weeks were right there in the market (by another miracle.  The local church and conference had purchased thank you gifts for the group and had mixed the number of men and women.  They were back in the market to make the correction.  If the mistake had not been made - they would not have been there to help us!)
#3 The embassy would not help with the passport, so it didn't get cancelled.
#4 The local authority for that area was a member of the church
#5 The passport was returned for a fraction of the cost to replace it
#6 We got the passport back before sundown so we could all sleep well and truly enjoy God's Sabbath. 
God is so good, all the time.  Nothing takes Him by surprise and He has His way of escape prepared in every difficulty.

I hope that this incident will continue to bring God glory, but helping us remember how much He loves and cares for us.  As we depend on Him, He will guide us through the most trying of difficulties.  So a tragedy was turned into a triumph!
Praise the Lord for His love and watch-care!  He had everyone in place to bring about victory.  Even mistakes can be a way to do something marvelous down the road.

Safari Pictures - March- Experience a glimipse of God's amazing and beautiful creation

As we traveled through this national park where the animals are supposed to be protected and the plants are to be left undisturbed, I marvel at the handy-work of God.  I so look forward to seeing all the animals and plant in the earth-made-new.  Again the predators will eat grass like the bull as they did before the flood.  No animal will have to fear.  No animal or person will harm.  The landscape and plants will be magnificent without one dead leaf or branch.  My mind can't even comprehend it today, but my EYES will behold it someday. 

Why am I so confident?  Because I know and trust Jesus!  I have given my heart and life to Him.  I trust Him.  He is perfect, true, love, caring, powerful and so much more.  The devil's number one mission is to misrepresent God's true character.  To cause us to doubt, fear, even hate God because of false ideas, doctrines, theories, and more.  The devil confuses the mind to attribute to God, the devil's own character. 

Oh, what blessing and privilege to be God's child, to have complete trust in Him, to accept the pre-purchased (free to me) gift of salvation through Jesus (a true reflection of God the Father's character.)  God is Love.  Love is giving.  For God so loved He GAVE.  He has given everything for me.  Now I want to have His character and to be a giving, loving person as He lives in me through His Spirit.

I hope you will see a glimpse of God's beauty as you see some of these pictures, pictures of a few of His creature.  Even though 6000 years of sin and degradation have passed, there is still so much good and beauty to behold.  God has preserved so much beauty.

Heaven, living with GOD for eternity, beholding Jesus, face-to-face, experiencing His love and character without the blight of sin anymore - is worth EVERYTHING.  Heaven is cheap enough - even if costs EVERYTHING!

No camera can capture the magnificent beauty of the landscape!

The Ruaha National Park is the largest national park in all of East Africa (including Kenya and the other East Africa countries.)  They acquired another area in the last few years that made gave them this designation. 
Both times we went there last March, we saw elephant dung long before entering the official gates of the park and some of the wild animals in the few kilometers just before entering.  There are not fences to keep the animals in the park.

These pictures are from our second trip with Rita and Fletcher on the 30th of March.  (More pictures to follow if time and internet allows for the first trip.)

Our welcome committee at the entrance

Black-backed Jackal

This black-backed jackal is really pretty.

The Designer of this outfit is a lover of beauty!

This is one strange bird.  They run around like a kill-deer on the ground.  When I first saw them, I thought they were carrying something in their mouths.  When I zoomed in to take a picture and then looked at it, I see that it is just part of their anatomy!  They are quite fancy, indeed!

White-crowned Lapwing

There are many rivers in this park, including the Great Ruaha River.  In these rivers and along them we saw many hippos.  They are so HUGE!  They are second in weight for land mammals only to the elephant!  This one was directly below the bridge we crossed.  Joshua spotted it's back and said, "Is that a rock or a hippo?" 
I replied, "Hippo."  So we trained our cameras and waited.  Sure enough the head came up, but a lot further from the floating part that we expected.  So we re-aimed our cameras and zoomed out some and waited again to get the head and body in the photo.  WOW.  That is one big animal.  According to the books, they usually eat at night when it is cooler, but it was overcast a lot this day and we saw many a distance away eating grass along the river and into the fields.

This Fish Eagle didn't pay much attention to us.  He was very intent on watching the river for opportunities for breakfast.  He did fly a short distance up the river, but well within our view, still.  He was beautiful.  His colors are amazing.  I think he is even more beautiful than the bald eagle of North America.

African Fish Eagle

These less-than-quiet fowl are at home here in Africa.  Many people may not realize that Guinea come from Africa. 

Helmeted Guinea Fowl

As we were watching a crocodile and some hippos, we saw things floating in the water.  We realized they were weaver bird nests.  They must not have met the approval of the females, and they were quickly cut down to be replaced with higher standard workmanship.  I really enjoy the various woven nests we see throughout Tanzania.  I am unsure if this is the Black-headed Weaver or the Tanzanian Masked Weaver.  It almost appears between the two. 

Weaver bird and nests hanging over the river

We also saw many horn-bills, both perched and flying.  They are magnificent.

Horn-bill

Pied Kingfisher

These Bare-faced Go-away-birds are relatives to turacos.  The females and male resemble.  They can be noisy from what others tell me, thus their name.

Bare-faced Go-away-bird

There were many impala and grant gazelle in the park.  They are beautiful.  This buck was with his ladies, keeping an eye on them, and keeping them in line.

Impala

African Pied Wagtail

Magnificent scenery.  God is so powerful and majestic.

Long-crested Eagle

From a distance we were unsure if we were seeing nests or parasite plants in this tree (and others.)  As we approached, the sound indicated nests.  There were many, many birds.  These were indeed nests.  It was amazing to behold.  It would have been a nice place for a picnic, I think.

Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver nest colony - Huge tree, huge nests. 

These elephants from a distance looked like great huge red rocks, until they moved.  On the previous safari, we saw MANY elephants, but this trip we probably only saw about 15.

pachyderm after a mud bath

Magpie Shrike

Horn-bill

We saw many, many giraffe.  We saw groups and singles, babies and adults.  These are my favorite animal.  I have been fascinated with giraffes as long as I can remember.  When they run, it looks like they are going in slow motion.  They are so amazing to watch.

Here is a very young giraffe with an older one

We met many giraffes blocking the road at various times on our journey through the park.

Road blocked ahead AND...

The road is blocked to the right!  SHARE THE ROAD!

Another two roadblocks.  These guys are funny.

This male was a massive bull giraffe.  He was standing still as many workers attempted to relieve him of ticks and other parasites.

Do you see all the birds on the Giraffe? 

Here is a closer look - Yellow-billed oxpecker

I think this is a thick-knee.

The sandgrouse are abundant and beautiful.  They often are in the road ahead of us and prefer to walk instead of fly.  Often they will fly only a short distance.  They are beautiful.  Something about them speaks "humility" to me.  I don't know why exactly.

Black-faced Sandgrouse

We have been watching for lions since the first day of arriving in Africa, but, alas, we have yet to see one in the wild.  BUT WE DID SEE FRESH TRACKS!  So we are getting closer, perhaps.  These tracks were huge.  I am taking the picture standing up in the back of the pick-up truck.  The white you see is the truck bed edge.

Lion or leopard tracks.  BIG ONES.

These lilac-breasted rollers are more magnificent than the camera can capture.  When they fly - oh my!  They are a beautiful spectacle to behold.  They are a magnificent color blue in flight.  They are quite abundant in the national parks where they are protected.  They are easy to spot in flight and at the top of large bushes.

Lilac-breasted Roller

This monitor lizard was huge.  They can be over two meters in length, but they are also FAST.  Joshua and I spotted this one as he got off the road quickly.   We asked Doug to drive up to where we saw him leave the road.  In the tall grass close to the road, I could see there was something.  I was hoping it was him and not a big snake.  Joshua bravely (or naively) announced, "I'm not afraid of anything.  I will scare him out."  He said this as he climbed out of the back of the truck.  There was a sandy spot on the other side of the grass and Joshua went there and stomped the ground.  Nothing happened.  Then he found a small twig and threw it into the grass.  He thought that wasn't going to work, so he stooped to get the same stick and the lizard came alive.  The lizard had been facing where Joshua was standing, so that wasn't his first choice.  So he did a turnabout in such a fury that Joshua about had a heart-attack.  I think Joshua was more afraid than the lizard.  The lizard was lightening fast.  He turned his huge body around like a tornado, shot under the truck and was out and going across the road, and disappeared in seconds.  I only got ONE picture of him.  I should have been taking a video of Joshua.  It was SO FUNNY.  Joshua kept saying how much he was frightened by the lizard for the next hour!  Maybe he is afraid of some things.

The monitor lizard that scared Joshua

As beautiful as our trip was, the road was very rough in places.  There were puddles we dared not pass through.  The sun often was quite hot, and we even got stuck.  This place was dry looking until we drove into it.  We immediately sunk.  Just before this, we were following another vehicle and it stopped.  The man driving said, we should not take that road or we would sink.  He pointed to this road.  We backed up and went that direction only a few meters before we sunk.  It goes to show in this world that has been violated by sin there are many dangers and trials.  There is still much of God's character to be found in His creation, even with all the effects of sin.  So we can focus on the trials or we can focus on God and the beauty He shares with us.

Stuck in the mud

We got out, by the way.  Doug got the shovel out and we were moving in a few minutes.  Four-wheel drive is not "optional" on many roads around here.  It is necessary.  Sometimes a shovel is too!

I hope these pictures encourage those who have viewed them to see a glimpse of our Creator in that which He has created.  He is a marvelous designer.  I am amazed at His love for beauty and diversity!  We serve the mighty, awesome Creator God!