family,vacation and animals

We said good-bye at 2:30 am this morning to the 5 family members who came to see us. I can't believe how hard it was to say good-bye and how bored I am without them here. We are still at the guest house for a few days but as soon as we return to Juba I am sure we will not be bored!

Russel was 11 when we left Tanzania and now he returned with his 11 year old son. Dana came along with her hubby, Brandon, who had never been to Africa before and then there was Tim, my brother, who returned to Africa after 41 years. It was so much fun to see all of their reactions, anywhere from how much things have changed to awe at what they were seeing for the first time.

We went to Tanzania by bus - really not a bad way to travel- and then had our own safari landcruiser and guide for the next week where we went to Ngorongoro Crater, the Serengeti and then Mugumu. We saw so many animals and I even got to see a leopard in the wild which I had never done before even though I had 2 pet leopards growing up in Ethiopia. Literally saw hundreds of elephants - many were babies -, lions, cheetahs and most of the antelope type animals. The only big game animal we missed was Rhino.

It was so good to disconnect from email and phone for 2 weeks and for the first time ever I found out what it was to really have a vacation, get very tired and dirty but feel so refreshed mentally. What fun to walk with our children as they remembered people and places in our old home of Mugumu, to see Lynn so warmly welcomed back by the people he worked with all those years ago. Sad to hear of the passing of many friends but joy in reconnecting with our house helper, Pili and hearing about her family of 5 children!

When we finally turned on our email again ( actually finally had internet again!) and saw the 150 emails we each had I was worried that it would be way to overwhelming to get back into the swing of things. We are slowly working at the emails but won't really be back at it full time until next week. It is amazing how much we were NOT missed! :)  It will be a struggle to get our minds off of vacation and back into work mode but I think once we are back in Juba that will be easier.

Please continue to pray for the people of South Sudan, we are hearing of more and more people having malaria and no access to medical care.