...and now they're gone

Well, mom and dad have come and gone but not before experiencing many aspects of my life here and making some wonderful memories. Thank you Lord for the blessing of time with loved ones. Here's a summary with pictures of our time together...

WEEK ONE: BURUNDI

We took a brief tour of the country, driving south along Lake Tanganyika to Nyanza Lac (my second home in Burundi) where they were able to meet some new friends and WR staff.






After staying a night in Nyanza Lac we drove back up north through the center of the country to Buja but stopped first at the southernmost source of the Nile (the biggest and ONLY tourist attraction in Burundi).


Pretty impressive eh?

Thanksgiving

We had quite a crowd at Broses house for the feast. Christina and Laura Vinton flew back to Buja from RVA with Aaron and Austin. And their parents Bill and Sue drove over from Bukavu, Congo to spend the holiday with us. Doug, Deanna, and Maddy joined us as well as Joy and Jesse Johnson.



Simon, Lizzie, and Zac (British) showed up sporting all the red, white and blue and stars & stripes paraphernalia they could get their hands on in order to be accepted into this American holiday. Of course they were welcome.



Maddy learned to wear olives on her fingers for the first time.



I think we had more desserts than regular meal dishes. Everyone decided to bring something so we had many options to choose from- some chose a little of each! (yes, those are Skittles)



The next day we drove an hour north of the city for a beautiful afternoon hike (perhaps as penance for our turkey day gluttony). The rainforest we hiked through was located in the midst of hill after hill of lush tea plantations.



Aaron got a little hungry during the day so he decided to snack on a little earthworm we found on the trail.



The top was cold and foggy so we didn't get to enjoy the spectacular view of the surrounding hills but the cool felt nice for a change. Aren't Dan and Tambry cute?



African rainforest...





Here are Austin, Aaron and I after the hike. It's great having these guys back in town for winter vacation.



Dad was determined to see just how difficult it is to carry firewood. He provided some amusement for the locals and relieved a little boy of his bundle for a few minutes.




WEEK TWO: VICTORIA FALLS

We flew down to Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) via Johannesburg (South Africa) and Livingstone (Zambia). We stayed at beautiful Ilala Lodge. Our room was the one furthest to the right in the building with the thatched roof.





We went on a full day safari through Chobe National Park in Botswana. The first part of the day we were on land and then later we saw even more animals from a boat on the Chobe river.

Here's dad facing off with the matriarch of a herd of elephants we encountered. She wasn't very happy that we were in their direct path to the river but after a few stern words from our kind guide she left us alone and went on her way.



Mom scouting for Hippos



We saw lots of impala...



warthog...



hundreds of elephants...



and many many more interesting animals, insects, birds, etc.

And of course we saw the spectacular Falls. Victoria Falls was one of the top things on my wish list of things to see while in Africa so THANKS mom and dad for getting me there.





On our last night in Zimbabwe we went on a beautiful sunset cruise on the mighty Zambezi River which feeds the falls.



And now they're gone and life is returning to normal (whatever that is!) here in Burundi. I've been waiting so long for mom and dad's visit that I was worried it wouldn't live up to my expectations. Our time together even exceeded my expectations so I'm very thankful. God is SO good.