Thursday, December 11, 2014

We had a lovely sacrament meeting in Livingstone with members who live there but are unable to participate in a branch.

 Our Livingstone members Sacrament Meeting held at Chanter's Lodge with Brother Clement Mwakamui, Brother Mweemba Chisamu and Sister Chipo Chibbamulilo.

 It is always a pleasure to be greeted by a giraffe taking a rest in the shade as you drive up the entry to your hotel.


 This baby zebra was born just 1 day before we arrived. Zebra babies are about 32 kgs (70 lbs) and are born after a gestational period of 360 to 396 days. Their longevity is as much as 40 years.


 We were strictly warned to keep the slider locked because the vervet monkeys are tricky little devils and create a lot of monkey business!

 Victoria Falls in November is quite a different experience from the falls in April.


 This is looking towards the Zimbabwe side of the falls where the falling water from the Zambezi river is creating the mist. Seeing the falls at the end of the dry season like this made us realize that the Zambia side of the falls is really more of the run off at the flood stage of the river during the rainy season. It has been fascinating to see at 3 different times of the year.
 These rafters would be crushed in a wall of water most other times of the year.






 Here is the river side of the falls just a few yards away from the gorge.



                                 Offspring are born just before the rainy season and are so cute!

                          The beautiful and peaceful Zambezi River upstream from the falls.




Wednesday, December 10, 2014

In November we attended our biannual mission president's seminar in Johannesburg. It is always a wonderful time to meet with and learn from our area presidency and the other mission presidents and wives.

Sister Monga of the Republic of Congo, Brazzaville Mission
President Chatfield of the Uganda, Kampala Mission

The hotel where we stay in Johannesburg is attached to the large Rosebank Mall where there is always lots of action and really good food!

The last afternoon of the seminar we took a drive to a game reserve south of Johannesburg and saw some pretty impressive animals in a setting so different from what we are used to in Zambia. The animals were separated in various large fenced areas that we drove through. We have never seen white lions and they were absolutely incredible!
Wild African dogs
Black wildebeast
Gemsbok
Endangered black rhino....red from the soil.
white lion and tiger cubs...so utterly adorable!