Addo Elephant National Park Eastern Cape SA

We never tire of looking at the animals. This is a view from the deck of our Rondawel. It's fun being this close to the animals.

So it's bath time!!


And big tortoises too!



I don't see you so I'm sure you don't see me!


An Elephant family out for an afternoon stroll



So who's looking at whom?


A red hartebeest

Kudu - need we say more

Zed is for Zebra (here it is a zahbrah not a zeeebra)

East London South Africa

Not all of our travels are like the "Congo". Here is an example of a nice Bed & Breakfast lodging that we stayed in in East London South Africa





I must say we were comfortable here! And the full English breakfast was wonderful.

East London is on the Indian Ocean. We were like kids, playing on the rocks and exploring the tide pools.

Beautiful resort where we stayed one night called Mpkeweni Resort. We stumbled on it while wandering and decided to stay. Kids were all back in school so we shared the resort with about 4 other couples and a small family.

Nobody on the beach and we could walk for miles and never saw another soul.

This is a view of the estuary with the small strip of sand separating it from the ocean.

Weaver birds build these nests hanging from the ends of branches. As you can see their weaving techniques are unbelievable. They are a pretty yellow bird.

Some Fun Signs

These were taken on our trip to East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
The last two pictures were taken in Addo Elephant National Park which we spent a night in on our way home.

Open Blog

We've had several family and friends say that they were having trouble getting into the blog. We've opened the blog to the public and hope that will make it easier for all concerned.

The blog address is:

http://africaourldschurchmission.blogspot.com/

If you know of others who might find this blog of interest, you may share the address.
We look forward to your comments.
Thanks for looking in.
Elder & Sister Taylor

Bird Spotting

I'm not sure I'll comment too much on the birds because generally I have no idea what they're called. This is a hornbill of some kind!!
Mother likes to get up front and personal. This was at the Montecasino bird show.







This is an ostrich!!

This is a vulture!!



Another hornbill.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy New Year to each of you. What a good feeling to know we made it through another year and we are all "still standing". Life is a precious gift given by the "Great Giver", our Heavenly Father. We are truly blessed.

When the cleaning woman came into our office this morning, who is a member of the Church, I asked her how her Holidays went, she said " this holiday no family member died in terrible circumstances, the first time in many years". She was so happy and praised God for that great blessing in her family's lives. Life is cheap here and it's never easy for our brothers and sisters.

We have made some good New Year's resolutions this Jan 1 and plan on keeping them, they aren't earth moving resolutions but doable, as I understand it those are the best kind to make. It really is the time to take stock of our lives and look at where we are and where we are going, and how we plan to arrive there. Getting to our "Heavenly Home" does take some careful planning and a great deal of work, but if the blessings are even greater than we receive each day here in mortality, (which I can't imagine) it will be worth any sacrifice or struggle. I'm up for it, how about you?

We begin our travels again this month and are looking forward to doing our job and meeting more wonderful people and seeing some more of the "Real Africa", as Bob calls it. I have found that the "Real Africa" can only be taken in small bites, it makes me a bit sad to see the suffering and poverty. I know the gospel gives all hope and light that can only be found with the knowledge of our Saviour Jesus Christ. When they have that I know that they can have joy in this life.

We hope you have enjoyed our blog thus far and remember if you would like to see more of one thing and not of another, please let us know and I will talk to the Editor personally and see what we can do. (smile)

Have a Great Year!