50 years a Golden Anniversary

Saturday a special day arrived and the very reason we chose April to visit South Africa.  Dave and Julienne celebrated their golden wedding anniversary.  What a wonderful day of memories love and laughter.  It was so good to have the family together.  Sadly we were missing three of the grandchildren as they had commitments at university but it was so good to see everyone together.  It was the first time the Sir N had met his South African family as he was born in New Zealand.

What a wonderful blessing to be married into a family who all love and follow the Lord Jesus.  I am truly blessed to be a part of this legacy.  I just thank them from the bottom of my heart for imparting their love of the Lord with Paul who has faithfully looked after us and prayed for us. 

Blessings
Chareen

Kruger National Park

On Tuesday the 17th of April we had the priviledge of going to the Kruger National Park.

The Kruger National Park (KNP) holds many special memories for me as a child.  I remember going here on a few trips growing up and after Paul and I were married.  We also did a special trip to the park just before we immigrated to New Zealand in 1997. In some ways it has changed and grown and in other ways it's still the same.  One of the main things that changed and is a positive step forward in conservation is the Limpopo Transfrontier Park development.

"The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park has been created in keeping with the spirit of cooperation with South Africa and it's neghbours.
The Southern African region has embarked on an ambitious conservation programme with a view to reestablishing in some mreasure the natural migration routes of its animals. Artificial borders and fencing have disruptedthese routes and it has been recognisedthat it is necessary to expand conservation areas through incorporation of existing cross-border areas. Where ever possible expansion beyond these reserves through the establishment of corridors is envisaged." Quoated from the back page of the ©Kruger Nationl Park Map January 2003.

Establishment of the Kruger National Park
The park was established in 1926 comprising of an area of around 19,000 square kilometres which is roughly the size of the Netherlands.

Our day started at 5.30 am with breakfast at 6 am at home and we were on the road by 6:15 to Orpen gate where we entered the park. We stopped at for morning tea and had lunch at Satara camp. The weather was simply beautiful.  It was a cool day with an avearage temperature in the low 20'C.

The Big Five

Rhino, Buffalo, Leopard, Elephant and Lion are known as "The Big 5" and are the animals that people love to look for when entering the KNP.  We were blessed to see four of the Big 5 in one day.  There have been times I have been to the park and seen none of the Big 5. It is wonderful to see these majestic animals in their natural habitat.  The second vehicle in our group did see all five of The Big 5.  We saw lion, elephant, buffalo and rhino. 

• White Rhinoceros Ceratotherium simum(H: 1,8m' 1,600-2,300 kg; record horn 1,58m;footprint fore 20-25cm) This is the larger of the two species and has a square lip for grazing and is found in the open savannah areas.  The calf always walks in front of it's mother.
• Buffalo Syncerus caffer (H: 1,6 m; 750 kg; record horn 1,29m;footprint fore 12-15cm) live in herds of up to 500 animals and prefer the open savannah with tall coarse greass. The hot-tempered bulls can charge unexpectedly and are therefore considered one of Africa's most dangerous species.
• Elephant Loxodonta africana (H: 3,2 - 4,0m[M], 2,5-3,4m[F]; 5,000-6,300kg [M], 2,800-3,500kh[F]; record tusk 102,3kg;footprint fore 50cm) Elephant communicate over several kilometres using infrasonic sound. They live in groups usually led by a matriarch. Mature bulls form their own herds.
• Lion Panthera leo (H:1m; 180-230 kg [M], 113-160kg[F];footprint fore 12cm) Lions are social animals and form prides. Although the lionesses do most of the hunting the males are present to feed first. When food is scarce as much as 80% of the cubs starve to death.
• Leopard Pantera pardus (H:70-80cm; 40-70 kg;footprint fore 9cm) These animals are solitary and secretive animals. They spend their days in hiding and hunting at night. They live in dense bush, forest or rocky areas.

The Little Five

• Rhino Beetle
• Buggalo Weaver,
• Ant Lion
• Leopard Tortoise
• Elephant Shrew

A family tradition is to look for the Little five of which we saw four in the park: Rhino Beetle, Buffalo Weaver, Ant Lion, and Leopard Tortoise.

We also saw: Plains Zebra, Black-backed Jackal, Hippopotamus, Giraffe, Blue Wildebeest, Warthog, Impala, Waterbuck, Kudu, Common Duiker,
Birds: Glossy-Starling, Crested Barbet, Helmeted Guineafowl, Liac-breasted Roller, Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove, Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill.
Plants: Impala Lily,

It was a long but wonderful day out at the Park with the family and extended family.  Thank you Dad and Mum R for a wonderful memory of Africa.

Blessings from Africa
Chareen

Trackers

We will be staying for most of our stay at Trackers.

I thought I would share some pictures of where we are staying at the moment.

I had forgotten how truly beautiful Africa is.  It's so good to be experiencing the bush with it's sights sounds and variety of wild life.

Blessings from Africa
Chareen

Johannesburg to Hoedspruit.

One of our concerns when planning our trip to South Africa was obtaining transport. Our Heavenly Father graciously gave our brother in law favour and he was given a vehical from his company to loan us for the first month that we are in South Africa. 
Friday morning saw us pack and drive in convoy with Paul's two sisters and their families to Hoedspruit Trackers where Dave and Julienne live for a 10 year family reunion to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of Paul's parents.

A typical sight in Africa.  Catching a ride in the back of a ute.

The drive to Trackers brought back many many memories that had been forgotten.  I enjoyed watching the scenary change from the Highveld to the Lowveld.  It was so good to see the places we had once known and to reaquaint ourselves with the peculiarities of the ways of Africa. 

One of the funniest things we saw was a set of traffic lights that had broken.  Because it had been unable to be repaired the local government had simply affixed stop signs to the poles!
We had a lovely day traveling down.

We stopped along the road just before the Strydom Tunnel at some curio places where Miss J aquired some things to bless her friends with upon her return to Australia.

Blessings my friends

A day at Johannesburg Zoo

Thursday 12th of April saw me braving Johannesburg traffic on my own.  I am forever grateful for a gps unit which took me safely to my sisters place from where we left to go to the Johannesburg Zoo.
We were joined by my sister, her three special boys, my brother in law and his youngest, my nephew, Paul and Sir N.

Paul and the cousins

We spent a lovely day exploring the 55 hectare zoo seeing their wonderful collection of animals and enjoying a picnic lunch.  My sister blessed us with an interesting potato stix which we thoroughly enjoyed.

It was so much fun recognizing animals that we had studied in Expedition Earth Animals.

The old lion enclosure, gorilla enclosure and other animals.

Beautiful animals

Jock of the Bushveld Memorial and behind the scenes encounter.

The entry and some of the old building about the zoo

As usual we took loads of photographs.  I love the digital era it has made preserving your memories and experiences so very easy. 

Blessings

Destination Johannesburg

We arrived in Johannesburg on Tuesday 10 April after around hours of travel.  We were met at the airport by my sister Nadeen and her husband and three children who had made us a welcome to South Africa banner as well as my sister in law from Johannesburg as well as my sister in law from Zimbabwe.  It was wonderful to see everyone again. O Tambo International Airport has changed so much since the first time we flew internationally I did not recognize it.

We drove to T's house where we spent a wonderful day of fellowship and settling in.  It was so good to see everyone.

A little of the wildlife around the house

It was so interesting to see how they have made the cell phone towers into 'palm trees' so they blend into the area.

We spent Wednesday morning looking around the local mall and arranging cell phone connections and airtime(credit) for everyone. The afternoon was spent at my sister's place enjoying a braai (barbecue)

It's soo very good to see everyone again and seeing all the changes that have taken place in the last ten years.

Blessings
Chareen

Two Days - Four Countries

Australia * Kuala Lumpur * Hong Kong * South Africa

Travel Statistics

Australia to Kuala Lumpur

3 hours 00 min airport time
8 hours 35 min flight time

Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong

Kuala Lumpur Airport

2 hours 35 min airport time
3 hours 50 min flight time

Hong Kong to Johannesburg

11 hours 15 min ground time
13 hours 20 min flight time
Distance 10 687 km

Totals

• 16 hours 50 min ground time
• 25 hours 45 min flight time
• 42 hours 35 min total transit time

We had a wonderful trip over to SA.  Thank you so much for your prayers. Disneyland Hong Kong was amazing and I realise that we actually need a few days to truly explore all it's wonders. It was a dream come true and I hope to one day return. 

We are currently at Trackers and enjoying a wonderful 10 year family reunion.  So far we have explored a little of Johannesburg, spent the day at Johannesburg Zoo and been to Hoedspruit and Swadini Waterfalls.

Internet access is a little slower here so will update when possible.

Thank you for your prayers

Blessings

Chareen