Long Time Away

So, I am sitting down to write a blog but I get bored with it and the sun is shining and I want to be outside doing my Lent workbook so I am going to load pictures of our last 2 months and just write about them.  65 days till we leave and I am still confused about what's next but I have other things to ponder.  Hope you enjoy the pics.  Miss you all but enjoying the weather here more then you all are there.  Sorri for you! COME VISIT!

We start with JAN. in  Pretoria, S Africa where Tom and I went for his surgery in January.                                                                                                                 THIS IS THE LOVELY B&B that Peace Corps put the evacuate medical volunteers in in Pretoria.
A lovely place for a rest.  Hot water and washer.

This is  our friend from MSF Michelle, that we met in Arua, and her boyfriend Simon from Zimbabwe. They live in Johannesburg and came and spent the day with us in Pretoria.  We went sight seeing to places they hadn't seen.

Like the Voertrekker monument part of the Dutch history of S Africa

The view of the valley from a cable car that took us for pizza at the top of the mountain outside Pretoria

A day by ourselves before the surgery

This is one of the Silver back Gorillas that are only found in zoo'z and the border of Rwanda and Uganda.  Cost to trek into the impenetrable forest to see them...$500 and you have to walk for 3-7 hours in the mountains.. This was nicer.

A friend we met on couch surfers in
Pretoria..  Sharon is a lab tech and she took us out to a farm, restaurant, dairy, cheese, ice cream place for the afternoon.
 When we went back to Pretoria in March, for Tom to have his cast off I stayed at her home with her 3 house dogs and 2 cats.  One of the cat brought in a live mouse for us in the house while I was there.

FEB.      I came back to Uganda and Tom had to stay in S Africa for 2 more weeks.  These are our friends  from college, Myrna and Jim Guyer .  We all went to different ones but I lived in the home town of Myrna's when I went to nursing school.  She and I were waitress's together in Bozeman.  She was with me when Jake was born 35 years ago.  This was after 2 days in country and the end  of our 8 hour bus trip up to Arua.  Myrna took lots of pictures but I don't have any more then this.

Tom came back to Arua for 4 days before we got back on the bus and plane and went back to S Africa for our last planned vacation in while in PC.  You cannot take vacation the last 3 months of your service so we had this planned since Nov it just happened to coincide with his surgery.
We rented a car in Johannesburg and we drove 2 days down to the  Cape.  These are some of the sights we saw.  The Dutch influence is seen everywhere. They came as the Dutch East India company in 1493 and set up a colony for restocking supplies as the ships went onto Malaysia to pick up spices and Asian treats for trading back in the Netherlands.

The view from the top of one of the highest passes in the country.  We hiked another 3 kilometers but it was 5 more to the very top on a goat trail so we just stopped and took pictures.  Going up is easy but coming down it is steep and lots of loose rocks.





Mare and Oat our Couch Surfer hosts in George. Fed us very well at the outdoor kitchen where they do all the grilling for a Braai (meat supper)

Billy and Joanna Coppage who we met in Arua.  They are missionary's with there 4 kids and are on sabbatical in S Africa until Billy starts school at St Andrew in Scotland.

A walk with Billy and the girls to see the sea.  Look at the majestic mountains surrounding the sea.

Okay, Dominic, Joshua, Charity & Micah how many penguins can you count at this colony? There are 2 types we saw and this was one of them.

We walked out to the tip that is the southernmost part of the African Continent.  The Atlantic is freezing but the Indian Ocean in town is warm.  I didn't go swimming though.

D, Josh, Charity and Micah how far is Antarctica from this point?

MARCH A view along the drive.  Kathy and Dave Suker I think this should be your next bike trip and plan for a month Feb and March the head winds are less and the temp are late summer early fall.  I will help you map it out when I get back. Maggie, get you passport out you gotta come.

Next photo is from the high hills over Muzenburg and our Couch surfer host Mcheal.  Behind is TABLE MOUNTAIN.  We are now officially at the area known as the Cape. Cape Town lies at the foot of the mountain.  We were staying on the other side of this high point on the sea side.

One of the souvenir shops on the water front of Cape Town.  I could not pack the lion skin in my back pack Chester so you will have to think of something else to get my sister for her birthday.

 Boulder Beach where these fellows live.  Can you count any, or only people swimming with them?

 Kate these are for you.  We really really think you should consider this campus.

This is a view of Table Mountain from Cape Town when we were touring.

This is the view from the top of it. Both sides one looks down on Cape Town the other on the sea. We spent 21/2 hours climbing up it thinking we would take the cable car down.  Because it is easier to climb up then down right?  Well we got to the top and the winds were gale force winds at 80 knots so the cable car was shut down and we had to hike down again.  So did everyone else that had climbed it from different sites.  So our legs were barking at us for the next 3 days... But at the bottom of the hill we met a German couple that were parked on the other side of the mountain having hiked a different trail and needing a taxi.  Of course there was none to be had so we gave them a ride to their car.  They were helping develop a schnapps at one of the many many winerys in the area.  They invited us to the farm and for a beer (they were thirsty Germans)
We were too tired to go that day but made a plan for 2 days later.

This is the light house that guides ships around Ca[e Point. This is what Bartholomewa  Dias said was the furthest point south of Africa. He didn't know about Agulus...

Hout Bay on the other side of Cape Point.

The wine lands of the Southern Cape.  Miles and Miles of fields of vine and a lot of hops too.  These are the Germans we met. Sven and Moniqua They make wine in the summer and hire out in the winter, S of the equator. They are employed by people needing help with brewing beer, schnapps or making wine.

This is the last photo from Stellenbauch which has a lovely university too Kate.  It is a picture of a suitcase.   So glad we didn't have to haul this around.
Well, that is all for our trip.  Hope you enjoyed.
After the trip we returned to Pretoria and Tom got the cast off.  Bone is healing well and to keep it that way he is on restriction for 2 months.  No bike riding, no lifting more then 22#s and use hand to your tolerance.  So, our bike trip for May is postponed till Jume.  We are home now and settling in. From Arua, .  Love you all, Bye
Marc