When our last update ended, Thanksgiving was drawing near and because it is an American tradition we have spent the last three Thanksgivings here with other Americans living in Maun. The turkey has to be special ordered from a local butchery long in advance and then we all pitch in for the cost and bring side dishes to share. As you can see by the next few pictures to follow, it was another great year of feasting and fellowship while remembering God's blessings.
The pictures show the gathering of our American friends from the Love Botswana Outreach Mission, which has been ministering here for over twenty years. Above, Julie is in line for the turkey and stuffing. Below shows the other side dishes on the counter top.
In addition, we had mentioned in our last blog that another upcoming event would be the wedding of Davango and Nicoline. Early on the morning of November 26, the two went to a government office to be legally married by the "council." The government will not recognize a couple as legally married by a pastor. So after the legal formalities, a small gathering of family and church friends met with the couple for a spiritual ceremony in the garden of a church member.
The small group gathered mid morning before the heat of the day. After Pastor Alex spiritually confirmed the union before God, everyone congratulated the couple.
Devango and Nicoline were so happy as you can see in this next photo.
Then it was time to serve cake and juice. Everyone there had time to relax and enjoy the festive event for an hour or so, before leaving to continue on with their day in the afternoon hours.
Later that evening, we drove the couple out of town to a secluded B&B to spend a quiet evening together. This lovely young couple has continued to grow together in their faith, and now they are also committed to each other for life.
Just a couple days after the wedding was the last Sunday School for the school term. Every week, the children are up early and waiting at the gate for church to start. Colin snapped this picture as the kids gathered by the car when he arrived on the last day of Sunday School.
It was decided that we would give out awards and Bibles to the children that have been coming faithfully through the year as part of the celebration. Before the award ceremony, Julie and some of the other teachers held a Sunday School meeting for the church to participate in. The children sang songs they had learned and Julie reviewed some key concepts from the last few months of lessons.
Everything Julie said to the children was translated into Setswana by the young man beside her. Early in the year, the teachers were struggling with the language issue until their prayers were answered through a 15 year old boy. Bobby just came out to help with the kids one day midterm without any coaxing, and is a natural teacher. Having someone to translate has made a huge difference in the growth and development of the program.
Computer generated awards were given for good attendance, and the children that had consistently been coming over the year were given a New Testament Bible with a certificate.
Then there were closing comments and a closing song. Notice the girl holding her Bible and certificate in the picture to follow.
So on November 28, the core group of 22 children that regularly attend the Sunday School program were acknowledge, and everyone one that came that day all got goodies afterward. With so many kids, we decided to have them sit outside and distribute prepacked snacks to save time and maintained order. Many of the children come from very poor situations, so they can become a bit aggressive when it comes to food and juice.
Each box that was given out had the words, "Jesus Loves You" on it, and hopefully the children will remember that this humble little church of believers loves them also.
The next day was the day Jill Chadbourne arrived in Maun. Our FMS team was there to meet and greet her after the long journey from Alaska.
The first stop after leaving the airport was to the FMS office, where we could show Jill the map of Botswana and some of the places we planned to show her. Then it was off to lunch and home to rest.
The first couple of days were spent showing Jill around Maun, and shopping for lighter weight clothes. We visited many of he local shops, and the Love Botswana Outreach Mission. The mission has a church, baby rescue house, mercy ministry, and school among other rural village projects. We tried to give her a feel for the life and people we live with here. The photo below was taken at the "Old Bridge" and Jill quickly made friends with some local children who love having their pictures taken.
The days were hot, but usually in the late afternoon the clouds would build up and rain would cool the land. After a few rainy evenings, Jill was finally able to watch a proper sunset from the new bridge by our house. Pictures never really capture the spender of the colors.
For the schools here, the end of the school year is a time of "Prize Giving" which is really an award ceremony. During the first week Jill was here, we went to the Prize Giving event with a musical play to follow that was held by the Okavango International School. Many of the students in the next two pictures are regulars at the Bible club Julie leads at the school.
After the awards and before the play, the students sang the sweetest version of "How Great Is Our God."
The play was called "Peace Child," and was based on a true story by Don Richardson. It was about two opposing tribes with different traditions and lifestyles that were at the brink of war, until the gift of a new born son brings hope and peace to the land. It was a beautiful parallel to what God did in sending His son as a baby to bring us into a loving relationship with Him.
Above, one of the tribes preparing for war. Below, the king and queen of the other tribe preparing to give their only son as a gift to save their people from war.
The next day, December 2, we left early for a day trip into the Moremi Game Reserve in the Okavango Delta.
Our summer months are the winter months in North America, and it is currently the rainy season. Most roads are sand tracks, which usually turn into mud holes when it rains. Shortly after entering the park, we encountered a nasty mud hole and almost got stuck. The car came to a stop in the thick muck, but Colin stayed calm while shifting the car backward and forward. It took a little time, but he was able to work the car out of the hole. The windshield and body of the car was covered in mud, and because the windows were down, we even ended up with mud on the inside of the car. The picture below was taken after cleaning the car up a bit.
Usually when we go on a game drive, we always seem to see lots of impala. On this trip though, these bucks were seriously sparing.
Around a marshy area we saw many male Lechwe and too many birds to add to this blog entry.
At the same marsh, we also saw a very large water monitor lizard and a hippo out of the water.
In addition to many other plains game that we have previously shared pictures of such as zebra, giraffe, and wildebeest, we saw numerous kudu and tsessebe that day. Besides seeing many beautiful male animals, the female game we encountered had lots of very cute babies.
Kudu above, tsessebe below.
Because of the rains, all day long we slowly picked our way through the wet spots and returned back to Maun after dark.
On December 3rd, Julie had been able to secure three free "bed nights" out at the bush camp FMS flies clients to called Jack's Camp. Both of the FMS planes were in Gaborone for maintenance, so the ladies flew out with another air taxi service. Below, they are preparing to depart Maun.
Julie and Jill were able to take the flight at no charge as it was transferring passengers from another camp to the one they would be staying at. It made for a longer, but pleasurable flight over the lush Okavango Delta below.
Then after picking up the two other passengers, the flight went southeast past Nxai Pan National Park pictured in the next photo.
The first evening, and a real highlight, was a walk in the Kalahari with the San Bushman. They spotted a Leopard turtle and shared the traditional uses for the plants and animals we came in contact with.
After digging up a large plant root, some of the bulb was scraped and squeezed to drink. The root was then put back in the ground to continue to grow.
A fire was made from rubbing sticks together using animal dung and dry grasses.
The San Bushman still live by their traditional ways, and it was so special to have a brief encounter with them. The vast knowledge they have of the land and how to survive in a harsh, dry environment was truly fascinating.Jack's Camp is designed to give the clients a feel of the old colonial African safari, though instead of oxen carts, people do outings in 4x4 safari vehicles like the one pictures in the distance of the next picture.
The first morning in camp was an outing to see the meerkats that live in the Kalahari grassland. As the sun was rising, the little animals were huddled together waiting for the warmth of the day.
Then they were off in search of food. We were able to follow them closely and watch them dig for scorpions. The meerkat below is chopping down a large and juicy find.
While watching the meerkats feeding in the warmth of the morning sun, our guide Chabba served us breakfast from the back of the safari truck.
When breakfast was finished, it was off to see the "Seven Sisters" baobab tree. Jill fell in love with these massive prehistoric trees found throughout Africa. Notice Jill at the base of the tree.
The tent camp accommodation was incredible, with a beautiful deck overlooking the majestic Kalahari. The bird life and solitude was so awesome and relaxing.
Inside the tent, Julie and Jill got a taste of luxury complete with and inside bathroom. Though there was a choice to shower inside or outside.
The third night of our stay, was at another camp owned by the same company called Camp Kalahari. It had a more current African feel to it with less luxurious tents and a lounge area made with materials from the bush. We enjoyed experiencing both camps and felt so pampered in both places.
These are just a few highlights from the time that was spent in the bush. There were other things to see like the brown hyenas coming out of their den just before dark, the beginning of the zebra migration, more plains game, and all the sounds and smells of the Kalahari that words cannot begin to explain. Those few days were truly a gift from God.While Julie and Jill were having an experience of a lifetime in the bush of Botswana, Colin was left in Maun to finish up some things concerning his responsibilities for FMS before taking holiday leave with Jill's visit. He also went to the monthly men's breakfast at the church, but only a few of the regular attendees could make it. Some were on vacation and some were sick with a flu going around. It ended up only being Colin, Graham, and Misheck that day but they enjoyed a good time of fellowship anyway.
On another afternoon, Colin visited with some local children fishing and swimming in the river near our house.
Watching the kids in the river always concerns us, as there are crocodiles lurking. Occasionally we hear of people drowning in the Thamalaklane River, but most of the crocodile attacks seem to be in more remote bush areas.
Once Julie and Jill returned from their adventure, there were only a couple days to regroup before we all traveled north to the village of Kasane. On our drive north, we estimated we saw over thirty elephant along the way.
We drove carefully, as the consequences of running over these road crossing elephants tends to be worse than hitting an Alaskan moose.
Most of the Botswana consists of rural villages and family settlements along the main roads. It is not uncommon at all to see people using donkey carts, but this one struck us as rather unusual as the cart had "Toxic Waste" on the side.
Turning off the main road to drive into the town of Kasane, we were reminded of the large numbers of elephants in this area and the need to be careful of them.
Kasane is much smaller than Maun, and it is not uncommon to have wild animals wondering through the streets. Notice the warthog below browsing along the main street.
It took most of a day to drive to Kasane, and we settled into the house owned by parents of good friends that we were able to use for a few nights. Early the next morning we headed off to the Zimbabwean border as we wanted to show Jill Victoria Falls. Jill is pictured in the next photo at the border and notice the Zimbabwean flag to the right.
Within an hour, we were at the falls. The next picture was of our first sight of Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwean side.
There was a nice trail to follow with wonderful views along the way.
The further along the trail we went, the more wet we got from the blowing spray.
Finally, we stopped and put on the rain jackets we had rented before entering the park. Jill gave this photo of her and Julie the name, "Smurf and turf" due to the colors of the jackets we were given to wear.
We continued the walk, until the water from the Zambia side could be seen. It had been almost two years ago since we had traveled through Zambia to help some missionary friends move. At that time, the Zambezi River was in full flood stage. We could not see much of the falls at that time, due to the large amount of spray. This time we went to the Zimbabwean side, as people told us there was hardly any water on the other side this time of year. It appears we made a good choice. The closer we walked towards the Zambia side, the less water was going over the falls.
At the end of the trail, we all took a short break before leaving the park in search of lunch and souvenirs. Then it was back across the border to Kasane, to rest for the next day's adventure.
Early the next morning, we departed for Chobe National Park. One of the first animals we saw was this pack of wild dogs stalking an impala. We watched them for a while hoping that they would be successful in the group endeavor, but the impala was too wary and gracefully bounded away.
Throughout the day, we drove by many more impala, hippo, warthogs, zebra, giraffe, and elephant. Mid day we stopped for a picnic lunch under the shade of a giant baobab tree.Everywhere we went, Jill got very good at spotting these unique giant trees far in the distance.
Later in the day, we did spot a waterbuck in the brush and then a large herd of cape buffalo.
In the evening, we went on a three hour boat tour on the Chobe River. It is always pleasant to go for a boat ride, though this was much more touristy than we had expected.
We stopped to look at numerous crocodiles sunny themselves along the river bank.
All the while we were on the river, there were many other boat operators doing the same river loop in a variety of tourist boats. Our boat driver would pull up by them to see whatever animals were in view.
At least our driver would wait until the others departed to pull our boat in for a closer look. It was fun to watch all the elephants drinking in small herds along the shore of the river.
We even watched one other boat driver get too close to a hippo and he was warned by the dangerous creature to back away.
When we arrived back at the dock, we were greeted by a local traditional dance group.
At the same location, we were able to see a Giant Kingfisher to add to the list of birds we have identified. We were able to show Jill many of the birds we have become familiar with while living here, and also spotted another half dozen during our travels that were new to us. The Giant Kingfisher was one of them.
And of course at the end of the day, there was another incredible sunset over the Chobe River.
Saturday December 11, we left Kasane to drive home to Maun. We wanted to be at church the next day as the small church we attend has become such a large part of our life in Maun, and we wanted to make sure Jill could attend a service while visiting us. Also, the Kowalski family had just returned from a five month furlough in Canada and we were anxious to see them. In the picture below, you can see Julie and Jill in the center. The Kowalski family is to the left center. With the holiday season, many people were traveling but it was still great to have Jill meet the children and people that were in attendance that Sunday.
After church the elderly woman known as Granny Gross, who rides to church with us each Sunday, came over for coffee and to view Divango and Nicoline's wedding pictures. The small reception had been held in her beautiful garden and we had been too busy to get prints made yet.
Later that day, we had the Kowalski family over for dinner and began to catch up on the last five months that they had been away. The family was still jet lagged from the long trip, and right after we ate the kids fell asleep on the couch.
Between each trip, we had just enough time to do laundry and regroup for another leg of the travels we had planned while Jill was visiting. Notice the "double tub" washing machine we use to do laundry in the background of this photo. Everything must be put in the wash tub, and after agitating a few minutes, the load is then transferred by hand into the spinner tub. After all the clothes are put through a soapy wash tub, fresh rinse water is put in the washing tub and the process is repeated to rinse the clothes. On this particular day, Julie washed the clothes and....
Jill hung all the clothes on the line. It was cloudy and muggy day, so we had to put a fan outside to help get things dry.
Mmatshimo did all the ironing, as heat must be applied to the clothes during the rainy season. If not, the tsetse flies lay eggs on the damp clothes that cannot be seen and the eggs can hatch out as maggots on a person's body. Even underwear is ironed for this reason.
Tuesday, December 14, we headed up the Okavango panhandle to see Pusetso, who returned to her home village of Sepopa to live after Robert died last April. We talk with her regularly by phone, and had promised to come see her. When we pulled off the main road into Sepopa, we called Pusetso and she ran from her house to meet us with her two girls following close behind. In the photo to follow, we are at the village bus stop where we first met with hugs after a number of months separation.
All over Botswana, people are hungry for God's word. Through Bible donations to Flying Mission, we were able to give Pusetso more Bibles to use in the growing ministry she helps with at her church.
She has done well in accepting her loss, and has become very active the local church near the small hut that is her home. Below, Jill is standing outside the village church that Pusetso attends.
This next picture is the inside of the main worship room. Connected to this room is a Sunday School area. Pusetso has been teaching approximately fifty children each week.
Despite the hardship she has experienced through the loss of Robert she has continued to have faith, which has been a tremendous testimony to others in Sepopa. We were thankful that she has a pastor and his wife, who have been an encouragement to her the last eight months. Pusetso took us to meet with them, though her pastor was in a town meeting and could only visit briefly. We did get a good visit with her pastor's wife. Later, we told Jill that she could now say she was a part of our first mission outreach team....
Due to the lack of reasonable accommodation near Sepopa, we had made plans to travel further up the Okavango panhandle and cross the border into Namibia to spend the night in the Caprivi Strip area, after our visit with Pusetso. We had heard from some friends about a lodge in that area that was reasonably priced and we were pleasantly surprised at what we found. The lodge was right on the river with a large deck area, along with cute and clean bungalows available.
Julie and Jill are out front of a bungalow and Colin is up in an observation tower taking the next photo.
Jill in the observation tower looking over the Okavango River in this photo.
That evening, we decided to try another boat ride and enjoyed the lack of other tourists on this journey.
Not only did we see many hippos and birds on our ride, but also two bushbuck in the brush. The male was too hard to get a good picture of, but we got a better snapshot of the female.
After breakfast the next day, we explored the small Mahango Game Reserve that was near the lodge. Once again we saw many of the animals seen in other parks, but we did see our first reedbucks pictured below.
Along the drive, we spotted more baobab trees and stopped to take more pictures. As we lingered around the tree just after taking this next picture, there suddenly came a loud and deep "huh,huh,huh..." from the brush behind us. We all knew exactly what that sound was. It was a hippo! None of us said a word, but rather broke into a rapid run to the car. Fortunately, the hippo did not follow after us.
Leaving the reserve, we explored a bit more of the Caprivi Strip area in search of the Popa Falls. In our search, we entered a buffalo reserve and stumbled upon a pangolin crossing the dirt road.
This prehistoric, scaled animal is uncommon to see and Colin had always hoped to see one before leaving Africa. That really made his day.
We finally found "Popa Falls", though it is really just a series of rapids as seen in the photo to follow.
It was fun to do a little exploring of a new area and the next day we departed to return to Maun. On the way home, we detoured off the main road to travel into the Tsodilo Hills. Two years ago, we had gone into the area via a back road that took us almost three hours. This time we knew there was a better road, though it had deteriorated greatly since our last visit. One of the hills is pictured below, seen as we got close to the park entrance.
The next picture is of Jill investigating one of the caves lived in by the ancient San Bushman.
One of the rock formations looked like the continent of Africa.
We only could afford a few hours in the park to look around, but there are many prehistoric paintings that can be easily seen in that time. A person really should which are covered with more paintings and stories to tell. Maybe another time....
The drive back home was much like the rest of our travels; rural village lifestyles as pictured in the next few photos.
We were back in Maun on the evening of December 16, and Christmas was less than ten days away. Jill would be flying out of Gaborone, Botswana's capital city, in only four more days. It hardly felt like Christmas as we stopped to pick up some groceries...The day was hot and there are very little for decorations around town. Almost nothing actually. Jill is pictured below by one of the few decorations we saw. It is the big, blown up Santa outside the grocery store we stopped at, though people here call Santa "Father Christmas." As Christians, we know who really is the father of Christmas. God himself, the father of Christ our Lord! 
With only one day to regroup in Maun, our time with Jill was quickly drawing to an end...The last leg of our journeys with Jill would be to drive her south to catch a flight back across the Atlantic Ocean and on home to Alaska. Since the holiday season is when there are more local robberies, we asked Mmashimo if she could stay on the property while we were away a few more days. She lives in a simple brick flat with no running water or electricity, and does her laundry in the river. To stay in the flats next door was somewhat of a holiday for her and her children, and she gladly agreed to help. The picture below was taken of Mmatshimo, her daughter Gladys to her left, her son Owen, and her two nieces on each end of the photo. The photo was taken in one of the flats next door just before we departed for Gaborone. 
The ten hour drive to Gaborone was broken into two days this trip, with a planned overnight at the Khama Rhino Sanctuary. Colin let Jill drive for a while on the highway, so she could see what it is like to drive from the right seat.
Late afternoon after a leisurely drive and picnic lunch, we checked into our simple chalet at the sanctuary. Shortly after, we went out on an evening game drive.
Some of the animals Jill got to see that we had yet to spot on out journeys, were springbok...
Gemsbok in the photo below...
And of course, the white rhinos.
There were also lots more plains game to see like giraffe, wildebeest, red hartebeest, zebra, and as always lots of impala.
With the season being early summer, there were lots of animals with their young at every park we went to. On every wildlife outing it was also pretty common for us to see ostrich, but on this trip we came across a male and female pair with a bunch of chicks. Many of the chicks ran into the brush, but a couple stayed by the mother's legs and under the protection of her large wings. She tried to look tough when we came upon them, but soon realized that we were no threat.
The next day was the final leg of our drive to Gaborone and our last full day with Jill. We left the park in the afternoon. The drive was uneventful and soon we were in the city. It took us a while to find the house Flying Mission had for us to stay at, but we finally got there and then had dinner. We spent the last evening going through all the photos we had gathered along the three weeks of Jill's visit. It was so special and such an encouragement for us to have her with us those few weeks. Hopefully the balance between the people here and our day to day activities, mixed with the beauty of God's creation she experienced while traveling all over Botswana, will lure her again or others reading this blog to make the trip to see us.It was hard to say farewell to Jill the next morning, but she had to return home....We spent two more nights in Gaborone so that we could attend the FM Christmas party, have Julie see the dentist for a root canal, and do a follow up doctor visit concerning her thyroid operation.
During that time, a fuel shortage was taking place and we had concerns if we could get back to Maun. The day before leaving, we sat in the heat of the day for over an hour to fill up the car. The first photo was taken when we got in the line, and the second photo is looking back in the line thirty minutes later.
Fortunately, all the way back to Maun the next day we came to gas stations that were just getting fuel deliveries. Because most people in those locations did not realize the fuel truck had arrived, we pulled in just in time before long lines developed. We still got back to Maun late that night after driving the last three hours in the dark dodging cattle in the roads.A couple days after getting home it was Christmas. We spent the morning at church, and though each year we have lived here it has been hard to be away from so many of our dear friends and family, the joy of giving gifts out to the children attending our church counteracts our nostalgia with joy.
After the service, the children are given presents donated by church members and they are so appreciative of even the smallest gift.
Colin had to work for a few hours later that Christmas day, then we just relaxed and had a simple dinner together while reflecting on God's goodness to us. Even though we have been away for over two years now, the time away has actually served to bring us closer to many of you that follow our journal of experiences through this blog. Thank you so much for your love and care.In this New Year, we pray: "The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you." 2 Timothy 4:22
