Safari in Nakuru, Kenya.

I spent my last two weeks in Africa with the Mendonsa's in Kenya. It was fabulous. Our our last weekend together. Bob and Julie took me to Nakuru for a last African horrah. Here are a couple of pictures I took.


Julie and I in front of Lake Nakuru...

Tons of Flamingos!!







There were Rhino's everywhere!



Look closely at the baby rhino....


Me sitting on Baboon Lookout.

The baboons were so cute!




However, I think my favorite adventure was when Bob thought..."Hmm I think I can get us through that mud." Nope, never been so stuck in my life. We were stuck in the mud (more like a gigantic mud pit--what WAS Bob thinking?) for a good half hour. Good thing the rangers came by. Bob put planks under the wheels and got pretty muddy. I drove the land cruiser and the rangers pulled us out....

Rafting the Nile River.

We practiced flipping our raft early on, so we wouldn't be shocked later when we flipped in the rapids.

Nothing like getting knocked in the face by a wall of water!

Not looking good for Josh and I who were on the upper right corner of the raft.

We were knocked out and swept under. But we were pulled back in once we surfaced.

Rafting the Nile River was an amazing experience!

Ma vie en Afrique.

I am fearless, what can I say...

I was told while out treking in the Bush that if the Rhino's charged at me I should jump behind a tree.

I felt REAL safe. Good thing there was an AK-47 nearby.

Me sitting on a rock in the middle of the Nile River, surrounded by crocs...

and hippos...

The Savannah. Little does the Water Buffalo know that there is a lionness meters away...

Lake Albert which separates Uganda from the DRC.

Murchison Falls.

Sunset over the Savannah.

I can hear the music to the Lion King in my head as I look at these pictures...

The source of the Nile in Uganda...

The Nile River...



I wouldn't mind a pet giraffe. They are right below Camels on my list...

Pretty Awesome to come across this herd of Elephants while on a boatride down the Nile.

Kids playing "football" in the hills of Rwanda...

Nagasaga Burundi

My Last Night in Burundi we went out and had dinner at Khana Khizana's, our local "We'll look for any excuse to eat at Khizana's," hang out joint.

So my time in Bujumbura Burundi has finally come to an end.

Things that I'll miss:

-African Rainstorms...the thunder, the lightening, the flooding of my room. (Ok, maybe not that.)

-Goat Brochettes.

-Grilled Sweet Potato.

-Attempting to speak French and Kirundi.

-Looking out over Lake Tanganyika at the Congo Mountains.

-Wearing skirts everyday. (I am going to return and have utterly no fashion I am afraid.)

-Bartering at the market. I am a Burundi Kazi (Burundian Woman) and one hard bargainer!

-No Ques for lines. Whatever will I do when I come across a line. Hopefully I put myself in check and won't cut...

-No rules on the Road.

-Sitting in the back of Landcruisers.

-The Burundian Finger...(I know what you're thinking, whatever is the Burundian finger? You'll see. I'm sure I'll pull it out in the States. Its like an index finger wave with a shake of the head. It stops anything:)

-Playing stupid when I get pulled over at a roadblock. A quick innocent look and a simple, "I only speak English Sir," often gets me a smile in return and a wave to go ahead. La Vie Dans Afrique.

-Hippos.

-Getting tangled in my Mosquito net.

-Taking my malaria pill every day.

-Boiling my own water.

-Pot Holes.

-The rooster just outside my window.

-Washing laundry by hand.

-Burning garbage...

-Big hairy African rain spiders.

-Sweating all of the time. (And when I say all of the time, I mean ALL of the time!)

- Hearing Mzungu, Mzungu wherever I go...

Well maybe I wont miss everything on the list...

I especially won't miss being called Mzungu! I wish I had some craftier response to the continual call of "Mzungu." All I could think of was "Aburundi," or "Excusez-moi. Vous me connaissez? Je m'appelle pas Mzungu!" (Excuse me, you know me? My name is not Mzungu!) C'est la vie!

Nagasaga Burundi!

(Goodbye Burundi!)

Burundian Birthday!

What does one do for a birthday in Burundi you might ask? Not much pops into my mind. A birthday in Africa is exactly that, a birthday in Africa. However we do have one place that the rest of the world does not have and is definitely Birthday worthy...Khana Khizana's. The best Restaurant in Buj, and by far the best Indian Restaurant I have ever eaten at! We celebrated three birthdays on my 27th. Charles' birthday was a day before mine, and Simon's was the day after. We celebrated on my birthday, March 21st, smack dab in the middle.

King School Kids.

During the past four months I've spent some time tutoring the above kids at the King School. These kids are orphans from the war.

I took these pictures when I went over to say goodbye to them today.

Naga Saga. (Goodbye in Kirundi).

Mars Hill in Burundi.

In mid March I spent a week with Mars Hill Church on their Vision Trip. It was great! We spent one day Upcounty in Ngozi and then another day along the Lake in Nyanza Lac. We focused on helping the team gain a detailed understanding of Turame, our Microfinance program, and our Rehabilitation program which provides assistance for Returning Refugees: this consisted of visiting many Turame venders in the market and asking a lot of questions about goats to returnees;) There's absolutely no way to walk away from our rehabilitation program without a new found love of goats. I particularly loved the goat I had on a brochette for lunch after our visit with beneficiaries in Nyanza Lac;)
Hmmm...there's nothing like a good goat brochette....

Moving Along...

Below you can see Ngaira, Country Director to World Relief Burundi, as he talks with a returning refugee and mother of eight. She described to Ngaira that before the War her family owned the land from where her house was currently located down to the main road. Upon returning years later after the War, they were only given the small plot of land that the house was currently on. This is one of many stories about land issues due to the War and returning refugees. Many Burundian Refugees who have been in the camps in Tanzania have returned to find their land occupied by others.



After we spent some time with returnees and understanding our Rehabilitation program. We visited a market where many of our Turame clients have small businesses. After we had listened to many stories about the impact loans had had in the lives of a number of Turame Clients, Mars Hill prayed over the 3 loan officers who serve in the Nyanza Lac region.

One of the things that I love most about Burundi is it's World Famous Drummers. Below you can see the Drummers doing what they do best, drumming, singing and flipping. It was ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!

Did I mention showing off their muscles??