Small Small World

After college when I moved back to Santa Barbara, I started to go to the Vineyard Church. While there, I met an amazing 13 year old girl names Selah who I honestly fell in love with. She was adorable, amazing Jesus seeking girl,and absolutely so much fun to hang out with. Although I was only in SB for a short time, we did get to hang out a couple of times..or more...Well, fast forward and now this 17 year old..recently got in contact with me through FB and without knowing it, found me about 2 weeks before she was heading out on a mission trip to Africa. Yes, 17...time flew and I am getting old! I wrote back and asked/hoping it was with Bridges of Hope as I knew that was a ministry that was from SB and works in Cape Town...and her response was YES! Knowing she was 17, I had to get in contact with the coordinator/founder of Bridges of Hope and we worked out a plan to meet up when they headed to Robben Island. I had assumed he had told Selah, and he had assumed I told her...both neither happened, which made it so much more exciting when she walked up the stairs and her eyes popped out and all she could do was laugh...and laugh...it was amazing!

It was so fun to see her, to catch up, and to see a familiar face :) Although I didn't get to catch up with Dennis, I am sure we probably will bump into each other another time. Thank you Dennis for giving me this gift on a wintery Saturday afternoon. Selah, sooo thankful I got to see you. Keep running after God, keep seeking him, and continue to be the light that you are for His Kingdom. LOVE YOU!

Adventures to Kruger Park Part 2

Sunday, I got picked up for the Kruger Tour and it literally took 8 hours to get to Kruger. We had a night drive and the highlight was getting to see a white rhino in the Balele Game Park Reserve and the African Sunset. Monday morning at 4:45am I headed out for a bushwalk with the tour guide Bongani and Marc who is 67 years old. We went on a 3 ½ bushwalk and Marc kept up for the most part…we had to have another tour guide pick us up as Marc couldn’t continue and the car we started in was pretty far away. I didn’t mind though as the malaria pills had gotten to me and in Bongani’s own words “ have marked my territory in Kruger” haha. On the bushwalk, we say elephant footprints and were trying to catch up to them with no luck. In the search, we did come across a giraffe that was only 3 miles away, it was magnificent to be in the open and see an animal that close! We also came across some hippos in the river. LOVED the bushwalk, it was my favorite out of the whole trip. Had an afternoon safari by myself with the tour guide Wesley. We watched a group of buffalo for a good 10 minutes but nothing else really on that trip. Bongani and I met up later in which he took me to the waterhole behind the lodge and we got to just watch a hippo and crocodile in the hole and talk about life in the bush. The crocodile didn’t care much for the hippo which was interesting. The talk with Bogani was another highlight of the trip for sure! I got transferred that night to the tree house lodge and got to stay in a cabin that was close to the river. That was also the night that I met a beautiful young lady named Pretty. I will discuss her in detail later. Tuesday I basically got a private safari…there were only a couple from the UK and me. We headed into Kruger Park and spent a full 8 hours looking for and at animals. One of the highlights was running into a couple herds of elephants. We were in the middle of the road and there was a herd in front and behind us with their babies. Complete, absolutely silence besides their large feet thumping and ears and tails swaying. It was a site I will never forget. We saw lions in the distance munching on a giraffe that they had killed the night before, a caracal (small cat) which is rare to see and saw a pangolin in the side of the road which is extremely rare. Bongani halted the vehicle and sticks his head out the window yelling, “Pangolin, pangolin…you are so lucky.” This animal is hunted in the tribes and given to the tribe leader as a special prize or used for special ceremonies. On the way back home, I was talking to some tour guides and they were shocked that I got to see a pangolin. One said that she had been a tour guide for 8 years and had yet to see one! It was a treat to get to see more of the rare animals than what you normally see in Safaris. My last day was the drive back to the airport. We drove through Blyde River Canyon which was absolutely incredible…so beautiful that there are no words to describe it…really breathtaking beyond belief. On the way back, got to see secretary birds fly by (another rarity!)

In summary, what made this trip special were the people I met working at Kruger Park, the tour guides and the people who worked at the lodge. Sitting around the table and campfire talking about their lives living in the villages, their challenges, their faith in God, and their joys are things I will take away from this trip. How some of them sacrifice their time with family in order to bring home the bacon….you can see the pain in their eyes, but there is NOTHING in their village, so they HAVE to go, they have to do it so that their kids can have education and that there is food on the table. These people are priceless, these people changed me and I am forever grateful for them…for them just being them, real, open, and amazing. I will also take away how my Father wanted to bless me. He literally gave me 5 private safari tours, 5! My bushwalk, afternoon safari, the waterhole, Kruger Park, and Blyde River Canyon were basically by myself. At first I was disappointed in not having a huge group and wanting to share these experiences with other tourists, I found by the end what a gift that the Lord gave me. I would never be able to afford a private tour and this is something that so many people would wish they could have. I got to know the people who work at this park more intimately and it was the relaxing trip that I needed. Thank you Jesus!

Pictures can be found here https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150891021234183.436733.719764182&type=3

Adventures to Kruger Park

I headed out on a train to Johannesburg on Friday, April 27th at 10am with Shob. Trains and arrived in Jo’burg at 1pm on Saturday. I decided to take the train as the scenery was suppose to be spectacular and thought it would be a great start to my first adventure outside of Cape Town. In addition this was my first real train ride. I apparently took a train when I was a couple years old…but that doesn’t count as I can’t remember it! It was long 26 hours, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone who has the time, just make sure it is one way otherwise it could be grueling. I booked a 4 person sleeper cabin and ended up with only one other person. It would have been crammed, so I am glad it was only one. Her name was Dominique and she is originally from Clarksburg which is approximately 4 hours by train away from Jo’burg. She is 20 years old and is studying to be an Estheticians in Cape Town. It was a delight to have here and she was extremely sweet. Two of my top highlights would have to be a place where we entered into the mountains, it was one of those moments where you expect a train to take you and the beauty of it was spectacular! The other memory is us stopping at a little town right after nightfall and these kids begging for food from outside. This town is in the middle of nowhere…and they truly have nothing or anybody. It isn’t like in a big town where they can sit on the street and people will drop money, they are in the middle of nowhere in which that isn’t an option, so begging when trains stop is what they have to do. Dominique and I looked in our cabins and luggage trying to find any food that we could give them. Unfortunately all we had was junk food…so we threw out a bag of sour jellybeans to these 4 little kids and they devoured the sweets within seconds. If I had known, I would have seriously brought a bag of food for them…so for whoever takes a train next, bring healthy food to give away!

When I got to the train station in Jo’burg I had arranged for the hotel to come pick me up…and 2 hours later they still hadn’t arrived. I called every 15 min in which they kept saying “we are coming now” or “we are coming now, now” yet “now, now” still doesn’t mean NOW apparently. I kept asking if it would be safe to walk and they person on the other line said no, wait we will be there, but after 2 hours I was honestly pissed and headed out the door to walk. The hotel was no more than a mile…but when everyone tells you it isn’t safe, you have to trust them. When I got outside a beggar offered to walk with me to the hotel as I refused to spend R100 for a taxi when the hotel was walking distance. So in and out of all the street vendors we went to find my hotel. The whole time I was praying and holding my luggage that was attached to this vendor in few I might get pick pocketed or him running away with my bags. Normally, I am not too concerned with safety as I feel I can protect myself if necessary, but carrying my camera, binoculars, my passport…there were a lot of valuables that were important for my trip. The beggar got me to the hotel safely; THANK YOU JESUS and I had a small scuffle as he wanted more money than the taxi! At this point it is 3pm and I only had one night in the town before the tour company was going to pick me up. Since it was that late, many things were closed or ending so I couldn’t do much. I wanted to go to the Apartheid museum, but the closed at 5 and it wouldn’t have been enough time to really soak up the information. I had tried to book a massage weeks back but the hotel told me that it wouldn’t be a problem getting one the day of…well 3pm apparently is too late and I couldn’t get a massage. The only option that the concierge could give me was to walk down the street to the Carlson Hotel which has an elevator that will take you 50 stories to “Top of Africa” for a scenic view but that I would have to back by 5pm. Thanks! So off I went to find this hotel and a lovely worker named A.V. walked me around the top and pointed out all the lovely things of Jo’burg. When I got back, one of the hotel workers named Steve took me to the township Soweto for a “true” African dinner. The township is about 20-25 min away and tourists would have had to pay him about R200-R300 each way, but the hotel felt bad and gave it to me for free! So Steve took me, I paid for his dinner, saw Nelson Mandela’s house, and met his friend Watu. Memory from that night was eating dinner and then it started pouring rain, amazing!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Here is my idea: My 30th birthday is coming up on August 29th. What I want to do is write a blog everyday in August featuring a story of a friend and me. It could be a story of your first time you met me, one of your favorite memories of me, one of the weirdest things we did together, etc. From the responses I get, I will post what you write and in return write a section on who you are to me or my favorite/ first memory of you, or a story in return. If you are willing to help me with this project please message me privately on FB,  I think it could be amazing to see what formulates...


Reason: Partly because I have a really bad memory and partly because I am 10,198.63 miles (Kilometers: 16,412.65) away from home and can't celebrate this milestone with my friends back in the USA...I thought this could be a great birthday gift for myself. It has been 30 years and there has been so many people who have come and gone, but we have still kept in touch. It is a chance to bless me with memories you have with me, and a way for me to express what your friendship has meant to me and/or how you have formed and changed my life.


Thanks friends!