FAMILY VISIT !!

Being on a mission is a great thing, but let there be no doubt that while on the other side of this big world, we do miss the family, so imagine how happy we were when our daughter Brittney, her husband Dan and their two oldest children Chase and MacGregor chose to spend their vacation, resources and lots of time in a jet-plane coming to Africa to see us! Our Area Presidency encourages us to see this great land so while family was here we took a week from our busy schedule and did just that. Below are the Henrichsen's arriving after a 16 hour flight from NYC to Johannesburg.

Rather than have them fall asleep during the daylite hours, we let them freshen upat our flat and then took them to the wonderful bird garden (see former post on same). We had a fun time and everyone got their second wind.

Mac with a friendly and hungry Lorrikeet feeding out of his hand.




Chase had a friend that went from his shoulder- to his hat-then to his back- before making a deposit on his coat.





The next day we headed off to Durban. Durban is on the Indian Ocean, so we all had our first glance at its grandeur and of course the boys had to take a swim. The rest of us were not that bold, but went in up to our knees. The water was not that cold, but the air was unseasonably cool.




Here is a lifesize example of some of the talented sand artists who create their work for a day at a time. They spread out a towel and hope folks will pitch some money for their efforts. Really top quality sculptures.

While we were in Durban we visited one of the biggest and most famous Marine Parks in the world, USHAKA. It is a beautiful place with a fantastic aquarium, seal and dolphin shows, water park and lots else to see and do. Here is an example of some the 50+ large aquariums with all the sea life from this part of the world. Beautiful and graceful -3 meter across -Manta rays.

I do not remember what this one was called, but he was one of hundreds of varieties of fish that we had never seen before. It is said that the African coastline has the finest scuba diving anywhere.

HHere is a family photo of all of us on our office grounds.

Brittney, Dan and the boys visiting the beautiful grounds of the Johannesburg Temple.

Dan was looking up to see the statue of the Angel Moroni, who adorns most of the temples, and noticed the daytime moon arranged in this position. We all began clicking away as this was a pretty 'cool' shot.

We tried showing our family as much as we could of South Africa while they were here, so it was off to a safari at the large Madikwe game reserve. Here of course is a lovely,elegant and very large male Giraffe.

Here is a female elephant who just turned toward our Land Rover and stomped her feet to tell us we should not get any closer because she had a baby by her side. None of the guides mess with elephants because they are very unpredictable.

Here are two interesting photos we were fortunate to get. This is the baby learning what it is that it is supposed to forage for, but ended up with a stick way too big for it to consume. The stick was then stuck part way it its mouth/trunk area, and rather than work to dislodge it...

...it just reached up and went for some that mom had already picked and chewed up.

...two muddy female White Rhino's that struck a very accommodating pose for us.

It is the dry winter season here, so these two one year old lions (see the spots like the yearling white tail fawns back home). This watering hole has been reduced to mostly mud, but they managed a drink and lots of playtime for us to see.

We also got to see some of the 'reality' of life in the wild. This is a Blue Wildebeest that was killed the night before and became dinner to this sleeping female lioness and her cubs. Notice how cleanly they went for the entrails and soft tissue rump first off. Then if they are still in need of nourishment, they will go for the rest, or move on and leave this for the scavengers. That's why they call it the Wild Kingdom.

Occasionally even we amateur photographers get lucky!

A young male lion who was 'solo'. He has yet to fight for a pride, but has been kicked out of the pride he was from for fear he would be a threat to the dominant male there.

During the course of each four hour game drive, the driver will stop at a place that he perceives to be safe and we will have some light refreshments. At this stop on our fourth and final drive we happened to be near this five foot tall termite hill. The boys were glad to get to stop and see one up close since other than this approved stop, we are not allowed out of the vehicles-for obvious reasons. The termite hill is as hard a cement and the guide told us one of this height would take about 15-20 years to create.

On this stop, we also got a nice photo of Brittney's family with Sam, our guide for the three days that we stayed at the Mosethle Bush camp in Madekwe Reserve

One of my favorites. Hard to believe that no two are ever marked the same.

Yes -this photo is out of order, but you know who it is and where he is headed.

The whole gang bundled up on a game drive. The weather was interesting. The drive would begin at 7am, when the temperature was about 2-5C (38-42F) and by the end of the four hour drive it could be 18-20C (around 66F) So- plenty of clothes to start with and less to finish.

Here we are back at camp having a good game of dominos while waiting for our hot lunch to be ready.

A beautiful male Impala with the McDonald's logo on his bum.

The African Wild Dog (not a Hyena) is a very endangered animal. There are only about 2500 left in the wild. We were very fortunate to come upon a family with 6 new puppies. They were as cute as any puppy ever is, but will grow up to be fierce hunters -second only to lions in their percentage of 'kill rate'.

...up and out of the den for some good African sunshine.

...and Mom never far from her litter for their protection.

Another very unusual experience we had was when we came upon another truck that had stopped for their afternoon break. The driver, supposing this to be a safe area, set up the table for his guests cocktail hour/snack, when three young and curious lions showed up. The group of humans evidently hastened back to the truck, as this is what we found as we approached. These cats were just as curious as domestic cats.

Perhaps we could sell this one to the Winhoek Beer Company for marketing purposes. Once the guide saw the cat take off with the empty bottle of beer however, he drove quickly to the animal and it dropped the bottle and ran away. The driver was nervous that the cat would crunch the glass bottle and become injured no doubt. Wow...only in Africa!

Well, just as the sun sets each day in the West, we knew that our dream visit with family would have to end - and so it did, but not without first creating memories for a lifetime. Thank you Henrichsen's for coming and helping to make our Africa Mission even more memorable.