African Adventure

I've always loved words - reading, writing, etc. I love how words can be crafted together to create a perfect picture in your mind; they can take you places…whether new and exciting or old, comfortable and familiar. They can appeal to every sense making you see, taste, feel, smell or hear, all with a simple description.
Words are powerful, especially when they have real meaning and feeling behind them.

These words are not unfamiliar to me - "I am blessed to have been born in America and have the opportunities and life that I have." I used to think I knew what these words meant.
But after traveling to Africa, these words truly mean more to me than they ever have before.

In the middle of March Taylor and I, along with Taylor's brother, Jayce, traveled to Botswana, Africa for a friend's wedding.
It was a great experience. We flew into Johannesburg and then drove 10 hrs to our destination in Botswana. The wedding was held at the bride's family's wild game ranch, and we got to spend a week there. Mostly we just hung out there with everyone, helped however we could with wedding preparations and took drives around the ranch to look at wildlife. Taylor even got to go hunting one day, and I went along for the ride. He was able to shoot a red hartebeest.

Here are some tidbits we learned/experiences we had while in Africa:

• There are no need for cops in Botswana. You are risking your life if you speed because donkeys, goats, and cows are everywhere, and they frequently stand in the middle of the road. They don't move out of the way just because they hear a car coming either. You either need to have one heck of a big grill guard on the front of a big truck or you need to drive cautiously and ALWAYS pay attention.   The most stressful part of our whole trip was driving back to the airport on our way home. It had rained a little the night before and it seemed like every animal was near or on the road drinking the water out of the potholes.
• You don't need a clear stretch of road to pass someone - people there (or at least on the outskirts of Johannesburg) make their own passing lanes. If someone going faster than you came up behind you, you were expected to move over on the shoulder of the road and the car would pass, going right down the middle of the road even if there was oncoming traffic. Oncoming cars would also move over onto their shoulder leaving the middle of the road open for the passing car.
• There is a thing called "Africa Time." Basically this means that time is unimportant. There is no rush - things get done when they get done, and that's all there is to it. It's such a different concept from that of busy, rushing, time-conscious Americans.
• They cook a lot of their food, especially the meat, outside over  hot coals from a wood fire.
• We were in the Kalahari desert and there isn't really soil there, it is all fine red sand.

I could go on and on, but suffice to say it was an adventure and a very good experience for us! But one of the biggest things I felt I gained from the trip was a true appreciation for being born in America with endless opportunities available to me. The poverty and lack of economy or opportunity we saw in Botswana really made us understand how much we have and how much we take for granted.

This was someone's home. We passed a lot of places like this on our drive to the game ranch.

This is a Kudu. We got to eat some Kudu while we were there along with Impala, Red hartebeest,  and Gemsbok

The ranch was completely off the grid. The electricity ran off solar panels, and this was what they called a "donkey." It was their hot water heater. You built a fire in the hole at the bottom  and it heated your water for showers.

The wedding reception was held in a big marquee tent. They decorated it beautifully. 

Congrats Grant and Landi! Thanks for making us part of such a special experience.

Taylor and I are so grateful to Thomas and Hanlie van Zyl for inviting us into their home and taking care of us while we were at Phirima Game Ranch.

Easter marked the end of mine and Taylor's "no processed carbs/sugar" Lent. At times it was a little challenging, but for the most part Taylor and I both were really glad we did it. We measured before and after Lent and each of us took off about an inch from our waists, rear ends, and other various body parts. I lost about 3 lbs and Taylor lost about 6 lbs. The thing that really left an impression on us was that we both felt like our brains functioned better without the carbs and sugars in our diet. I also felt less tired during the day and was able to wake up more easily in the mornings. Now that Lent's over we'll allow some sugars/carbs in our diet, but we're going to try to keep it to a minimum.

This is a Scripture and lesson I really appreciated lately:
Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. Colossians 4:2
The accompanying lesson addressed this issue: we, as humans, continually seek ways to make ourselves powerful, to gain control. But what so many of us fail to recognize is the most powerful thing we can do is get on our knees and pray to God. He is Almighty. He can do anything. He can perform great miracles and change people's very hearts. Rather than seeking power ourselves, we need to open ourselves up to the power of God by seeking Him in prayer.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Lyndee