Well, another month has past and we are settling in to our new life here. The weather has been hot, but the sunsets are incredible as the coolness of evening sets in. The picture above was taken from the tarred road as you come from our house to go into town. When we last wrote, we were looking forward to Botswana's independence day festivities and the traditional dancing at Mmatshimo's (our maid) village. Even the students at Oakavango International School got to take a break from their regular uniforms and wear the national colors of black, blue, and white to celebrate. Pictured below are a few of my students just before the holiday at the weekly Chapel meeting we have on each Friday. Having a full class of children to work with has been a blessing to Julie, and it has helped ease some of the homesickness that creeps in now and then... In addition to working with the little ones, Julie is tutoring a few middle elementary students and teaching an English enrichment class one afternoon a week.
Independence day was a particularly special day. We started the morning off at Mmatshimo's village and were warmly welcomed by the village chief among other members of the community. The chief insisted that we sit with him under the shade of an open hut like structure, so we had a front row seat. Mmatshimo and the other members sang as they preformed a variety of traditional dances in animal skin clothing. Pictured below is Mmatshimo leading one of the dances.
Later in the day we were invited for a boat ride and braai (BBQ) by a young couple that own a local lodge on the Thamalakane River. It was such a blessing to get out on the river and we traveled up into the delta to the "Buffalo Fence". The fence was erected to keep the wild animals and domestic livestock separated due to a problem with hoof and mouth disease. Beyond the fence pictured below by a Stop sign, there is a hunting concession. At the fence there is a village back a little way from the river and women come to haul water to their homes. Again, at the end of the day, there was an extraordinary sunset.
Due to the holiday being on a Tuesday this year, Julie had Monday and Wednesday off from work. On that Wednesday, we decided to check out the Maun Educational Park. It is a large piece of fenced land (approximately 1,500 acres) with local wildlife living and running free in it. There are many trails that you can walk on, and we enjoyed an afternoon of viewing a variety of birds, impala, monkeys, baboons, zebra, and warthog. There are also giraffe living in the park, and Colin has seen them from the air, but we could not find them on the day we visited.
Colin has been enjoying flying here, once he got accustomed to the methods of traffic control and was able to sort out the controller’s accents. It turns out they are really speaking English after all.There were lots of delays getting started with flying, as the C-207 that was available was South African registered and Colin only had a Botswana and American license. So, he could only fly U.S. (N) registered or Botswana registered (A2) airplanes in Botswana.
FMS did bring down a C210 that the mission was using in Zambia for Colin to fly, as it is Botswana registered, but immediately after getting it here there was a problem with the landing gear. When the mechanics looked at it, the gear would work while in the hanger up on the stands and after short test flights, but after flying for 2 hours back to Maun the landing gear still had problems. Colin's first four solo flights in country were from the north end of the country to the south end and back again. This went on for awhile until it was discovered that the front gear squat switch was intermittent. Taking the plane back and forth did allow Colin to get in a good visit with some of the other FMS folks in Gaborone though, and Travis was also there while the C207 had 100 hour maintenance done. They both stayed at the Spicer's home where Kg, their daughter, kept them entertained.
While Travis was away, we looked out for Koo Koo but the longer he was away the more things she found to get into. One day we came in to find that she had gotten a toilet paper roll and shredded it all over. She was quiet proud of herself.
Since the reregistration of the C207 and the gear problem being fixed with the C210, Colin has flown all around the northwest corner of Botswana into desert (bleak but interesting) and in the lush green watery delta. He also got a chance to fly to Zambia. Colin says, "As I cruised up the Kwando and Zambezi rivers toward Livingstone, it was amazing to look at thousands of hippo and elephant grazing in the water. What I'd give for an amphibian Maule airplane, I would be able to give float plane rides in the only float plane in this desert country. One would have to be careful not to hit a croc." Currently there are lots of happy tourists coming and going, but as the days move more into mid summer (December) things are beginning to slow down some. Since things are slowing down a bit, Travis is currently in Zambia helping with some flying there. Pictured below is the C210 at one of the safari camp landing strips. Also, Robert takes care of the passengers as they arrive at the Maun airport.
Though we have gotten into the summer heat it is really not so bad. Temperatures the last few weeks have been running 100 to 106 with a couple of 116 degree F. It is extremely dry here so the 104 degrees only feels like an 80 degree day in Galena. By bed time (9pm for us old timers), it has usually cooled off enough to need at least a bed sheet to cover, and by morning a blanket is needed. During the day, the two guard dogs try to find comfort from the heat. Below, Red is wiped out by mid afternoon while Steel sneaked in the house to lay by the fan.
The country is a little like living in 1950/60's. People are polite and respectful of each other and little kids can run free with no danger of human predators. The numerous birds make so much noise its like a bird pet store all the time, and they are most enjoyable to watch as they peck bugs in the grass. Spiders continue to be a problem though... We have also enjoyed having our first guests. Mark Spicer (Chief of Operations) who stayed with us and Tim Schubert (Chief pilot) who stayed with Travis, were here for a few days.
As mentioned above, the critters continue to amaze us. Pictured below is a Golden Weaver, not to be confused with the other pilot Travis Weaver, and a small but ugly spider that was on the lock to our gate. Click the picture to enlarge to see it's scary eyes.
As for ministry, we are starting to see, as we church hop a bit and build relationships, that each of the church groups have good programs. We are feeling like we would like to get involved in something for ministry that may encourage the local churches to pool some of their resourses together for bigger more effective outreach. There are a lot of caring and committed people in the community and many ministry needs. As we get closer to people and mention what we see, there are others that see the same thing. We will see where it all ends up after things settle down for Colin, and Julie ends the school term. Julie still wants to support FMS in some way as her main activity, possibly writing some grants and helping as a meet and greet person or secretary here.
We have greatly appreciated your continued prayer and support, and love hearing from all of you that have been following our blog. May God bless and keep all of you safely in His watchful care.
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