South Africa 2012 - Day Thirteen

Day 13 - 21 people, 21 different directions

One of the problems with having so many people in one group is that trying to either arrange for one thing to happen or to break down into different groups can be time consuming. This morning it took about 30 mins to figure out what the options were and then another 30 mins to organize how that would happen. Some people wanted to go to Crystal Pools, a place up in the mountains about 45 minutes away where you can do rock diving and swim under waterfalls. Some people wanted to go to the winery for a tour. Some people wanted to sun bathe and some people wanted to go shopping and spend time on the beach. In the end three cars headed for Crystal Pools and 2 cars

headed for the shops and beach.

On arriving in Gordon’s Bay we pulled in so a few people could “freshen up”. As it happened I parked right in front of a Fish and Chip shop and that was the end of the story. I don’t know if I even turned the car off but just headed straight in to order my first fish and chips in about a year. They were not the best but they were definitely good enough to quell the craving my family had been having ever since arriving in South Africa. Another

interesting experience was seeing the armed guards who had come to pick up money from the local supermarket. I guess being from England the sight of a guard walking around with a fully automatic sub-machine gun ready to be fired was a little off-putting. Living in Texas, my family were not surprised to see a gun. There we are the anomaly because we do not own a gun.

Despite reading up about Crystal Pools online we knew there was a problem when we arrived at the location and the gate was padlocked. Luckily this was at the bottom of the mountain and not at the top after we had walked up. We found out that Crystal

Pools had been closed for the year for “rehabilitation” efforts. The only saving grace was that we were right on the coast and could walk down some rocks to see the waves crashing into the rocks. We also got to watch a pod of dolphins swim by and a seal playing with a fish he had caught.

What this minor problem had caused us was a little more time on our hands. And what better way to spend some free time than to go shopping. I am not sure why but shopping seems to be a focus. For me it is the food but luckily the two seem to go hand in hand. For this shopping extravaganza Barbara, Savannah and I headed to a music store in Cape Town to see if there were any unusual or local guitars we could get. Savannah had been saving up for a while and really wanted something unique. We did see some locally made electric guitars made out of drift wood or oil cans but she really wanted an acoustic. It was then she found a series of baby guitars. Now these are not specific to South Africa but were something Savannah fell in love with immediately and so about an hour later we walked out with a baby guitar.

That evening we had been invited to a BBQ at friends of my father’s. This BBQ was only for the adults in the party and usually that means an interesting time as my brothers and I are all practical jokers (I know this is hard to believe if you know me :-) ). What was different for this meal was that we got into a pretty animated discussion around our faiths and how that affected how we viewed

social issues especially one in particular. As a family we are all at different stages of our Christian walk and we definitely had some diverse opinions but what was comforting was that we all held to the same doctrines. I think for me, because I live in America, the hardest thing to accept was that there are certain so-called Christian pastors who appeal to the itching ears of society but whose teaching is so heretical that we should pay any credence to their words. Rob Bell was one where we definitely did not agree. Some people love him but a couple including me just cannot accept his doctrines which are so anti-biblical it makes me angry. I am sure the evening proved to be very interesting for our hosts and I think they may think twice before inviting us all back.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 - For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

South Africa 2012 - Day Twelve

Day 12 - Safari Time

Our day began early today as we had to be ready to leave for the morning safari at 6 a.m. It definitely was interesting (and cold) to have a shower outside. We were behind an enclosed wall but it was strange to think that about 20 feet away from where I was

showering there could have been a water buffalo or other animal. Every body turned up ready to go, that was except for Savannah and Hannah whose alarm malfunctioned. I was pretty impressed that it only took them about 10 minutes from wake up to be out at the truck.

The morning run was a little less impressive. We didn’t see the elephants and the hippos stayed submerged. Even a few of the lions had gone for a walkabout. However our driver did take us over to a different section where they are trying to introduce giraffes. We really couldn’t get too close but it was good to see. There were also enclosures for two cheetahs, which to me are beautiful animals, 3 crocodiles and 3 more lions. These lions could not be released into the park because they had just been

saved from a park where they had been bred purely for the purpose of being hunted. I am not a PETA freak nor am I anti-hunting but I really do have a hard time when it is purely for fun and there is no material use for

the meat.

At the end of the morning safari we packed up and drove about 5 minutes down the road to an ostrich farm. This was actually pretty interesting and much more fun than I thought. We got to see ostriches all the way from being in an egg to a few days old up to 15 years old. Some got to sit on an ostrich but for some reason I wasn’t allowed, something about the hippo size again. We also did get to eat ostrich which doesn’t taste like chicken but has much more of a beef taste and consistency. It is extremely lean meat as well.

On the way back home we decided to go back through Franceshoek which is nestled in a valley and has multiple wineries. It is a beautiful part of the world and being able to sit at the Rickety Bridge winery tasting the wine was a great setting to relax for a while. Prior to our return to Cape Town we stopped for a little shopping which was frankly disappointing. Barbara did

manage to find a diamond store and of course picked out a beautiful ring that was only $11,000 (yes dollars not rand). Barbara and I both managed to control our expressions when we found out the price. Hunter on the other hand just let out a “wow” and that was the end of shopping/looking in that store.

That night was a time to relax and eat in before heading to bed fairly early.

Genesis 1:24-25 - Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind"; and it was so. God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

South Africa 2012 - Day Eleven

Day 11 - Safari Time

First let me apologize for the stoppage on the posts. The internet over here is less than stellar. I have had a hard time loading pictures and for the last few days just getting on the internet has been a problem I am back on now and so will post a few days without photos.

Monday morning started with anticipation as we packed to go on an overnight safari. Many years ago the family had gone on a safari in Kenya where they stayed out in tents and had bucket showers. I had not gone on this trip but I knew when they told us we were staying in lodges that it would not quite be the same. Monday was also a special day in that it was my birthday. As I had breakfast with my Dad I carried on trying to hint that it was a special day and he carried on commenting on how much he was looking forward to the safari. It wasn’t until about the third or fourth person came up to wish me a Happy Birthday that her remembered. It then hit me that it had been about 19 or 20 years since I had celebrated a birthday whilst being with my Mum or Dad or any of my brothers and so this year would truly be special. Barbara and the kids had bought me a New York Giants cap commemorating them winning the Superbowl and Hunter had been wearing it all morning before I realized. It was one of those double take moments when I finally recognized it.

The drive to Aquila was about two and a half hours and with 5 cars going in a caravan it was going to be interesting. I somehow was going to lead us and then the goal was to try and keep my Dad up with us. The good news was that my car was nothing more than a glorified lawn mower and so getting to the speed limit of 120 km/h was a rare feat. The bad news was that my Dad still drives very slowly. At one point having gone through a tunnel my Dad was literally within about 100 meters of me. Within a mile he was about half a mile behind me. The issue was that Mark suffers from claustrophobia and so had a hard time making it through but my Dad wanted to make sure he did make it through. Bu this seemed to be a constant effort to try and keep everyone together.

We only stopped once on the way to freshen up and get some snacks. Somehow I persuaded myself to buy a “HooHah” burger with chips (fries). Not sure I needed that much food but at least I was putting some extra fat on in case the lions caught me. Somehow Barbara persuaded me to buy her some jewelry. I think it was a first for me to buy jewelry at a petrol (gas) station but I do have to admit it was a great price.

We arrived at Aquila in the early afternoon and had to wait a couple of hours until our rooms would be ready and so we shopped or went and sat by the pool to pass the time. Eventually we all had checked into our rooms and were back at the pool for a swim. The pool was very nicely designed and even had a swim up bar. The only problem was that the water was freezing and had bits floating in it and I think swimming up to the bar to order drinks caused way too much confusion. The three bartenders were struggling. In fact I am not sure they were really bar tenders because they had no clue how to make any drink even beer. If you ordered a beer it was room temperature at best because they didn’t put them in the fridge. If anyone ordered a mixed drink it had to be made using a drink book because they had no clue where to begin. We knew it was time to leave when they turned the sprinkler system on where everyone was sun-bathing. We moved pretty quickly to get out of the way but one of the guests looked up and took sprinkler blast to the face.

At about 5 p.m. we headed out for the evening safari. It wasn’t long before we were seeing a plethora of animals - elephants, zebra, hippos, water buffalo, springboks, elands, wildebeests, and finally the lions. We even stopped off for a quick drink and a snack.

There are so many great pictures that I cannot include enough to do the trip justice. It sometimes isn’t until you spend time in close proximity to something that you realize what is happening to that something. This can be true for homeless people, children, orphans and animals. In the last few months poachers have killed the male rhinos at this park purely for their tusk. Why because some people especially the chinese believe the male tusk has special qualities. I did like what some people were doing which was cutting their finger nails and grinding these up and sending them to China labelled as rhino tusk. That alone should show the fallacy of the power of the rhino tusk.

We also learned a lot about the animals. For instance, never get between a Hippo and the water. They are extremely territorial and will attack if you get in their way. At the end of the evening safari the dominant male hippo was chasing the two younger males to make sure they knew who was boss. It was amazing to see something so big run that fast. For me it gave me hope that maybe I could also run faster. Another thing I learned was that antelope is not an animal per se but a genre just like snake or dog. All in all it was a great safari. I know there had been a lot of requests from people in England to leave Mark with the lions but our guide just wouldn’t let us.

After the safari it was back to the lodge for dinner. This was my birthday dinner and it was neat to me eating it with my family on safari in Africa. I did get a few presents including a ladies’ shirt from the safari reserve we were at - I am not sure why anyone would let Julian go shopping for me.

When you are out in beautiful places like Aquila with these amazing animals around you and amazing views it is hard if not impossible to see how their is a God who is the creator of everything. Back home in Houston there is so much light pollution that star gazing is a fruitless pastime. In Aquila the stars were absolutely stunning. I am not sure I have seen so many stars in my life maybe with the exception of in Canada.

Isaiah 40:26 - “Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing”

South Africa 2012 - Day Ten

Day 10 - His People, Blue Peter and the Beach

One thing I have found is that it is seldom that one cannot find a church to go to. On this Sunday at the end of the first week for the English contingent we joined Dad at his church, His People, in downtown Cape Town. After a time of worship I went to run the kids Sunday school.

You are never quite sure what you are going to find when you are visiting a church. There were only about 20 kids ranging in age from 4 to 12 and throughout the time with them they were all very well behaved (which I later found out was not normal). It seems as though the three standard responses of “God”, “Jesus”, or “the Bible” to every question works in South Africa too. The only real issue I had was with one of the Sunday School teachers decided to give one of the children a cracker and a drink. Almost instantaneously the kids just got up in the middle of one of my object lessons and crowded around the teacher. Now this was the teacher I had locked in thumbcuffs and so he may have just been retaliating.

One of the issues you have when you have 21 people traveling as one group is trying to coordinate leaving somewhere and communicating what is happening next. For some reason no-one seems to let me know and so I just follow. Today after church the cars went in 2 different so I just had to decide who to follow. Eventually we all met back up and headed to a restaurant called Blue Peter for lunch. The meal was served in African time (slowly) but was good. Then we had another problem of the “21-people-in-a-group” syndrome. For some reason the

restaurants cannot separate orders into families and so when the bill comes we are left to go item by item through the bill. This only took 30 mins to do and it was only that short because I just agreed to pay what ever was left. But finally we were done at the Blue Peter (where all I could hear was “Down Shep” - for those who grew up in England back in the 70’s). With the restaurant on the beach the kids were ding to go down onto the beach. However to me the beach was too crowded and didn’t look clean. Max, Matt, Hunter and Rory decided to go boogie boarding. You know this is a questionable decision when they tell you that a wet suit is highly recommended. Hunter said that you got used to ice cold water once your feet and hands had gone completely numb as long as your head didn’t go under. If it did then it felt like your head was going to explode. For me I could not understand spending time at this beach when 2 days earlier I had spent an hour walking down a pristine beach with no-one on it. Anyway most people stayed while a few of us left for a warm swimming pool.

Tonight was a quiet night in, eating leftovers and resting up for potentially one of the highlights of the vacation, an overnight Safari.

Luke 18:16 - “But Jesus called them to him, saying, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God”

South Africa 2012 - Day Nine

Day 9 - Sandboarding: God’s provision to parents

Another active day was planned and once again there were a few who decided to take the less strenuous option and either

stayed at the Lodge or dropped off people at sandboarding and then took off for shopping at the beach. Barbara and I, being the athletic ones out of the adults stayed with those who were sandboarding. Once again the training was about 5 minutes long which consisted of how to put the board on and how to point the board downhill.

Everyone did have to sign the indemnity form which I think said that if they died during the event they would bury them in the dunes.

Barbara and I were the photographers for the day and soon realized that this sandboarding

was just like a skateboard park and was God’s provision to parents as we just sat and watched kids wiping out time and time again. I even climbed up the slope and tried to find more difficult and dangerous slopes for them to wipe out on. By the end of the day we had even built a ramp that made the wipe outs even more impressive. Now Barbara and I had to try and show the youngsters up and grabbed a board and went up to the top of the hill. We obviously came down sitting on the board but there were no wipe outs although Barbara did go backwards for a while.

By noon it was getting pretty hot and so finishing at 12:30 was just about perfect. Mark, Janine, Julian and Alex returned from their shopping trip and we all headed back to the Lodge.

Saturday evening was going to be Pop Pop’s birthday celebration. The plans seemed to keep changing and instead of the guests arriving at 7 p.m. people started turning up at 3 p.m. The evening consisted of a lamb roast, a gospel choir and a marvelous rendition of a Julie Andrews song from the 4 Britton brothers. Mark then went into an im

promptu speech that was so uplifting as he talked about people dying and funerals. Not sure Dad was uplifted by the speech. Mark ended up in tears as did Julian, Guy got 5 words out before he broke down. Luckily I was the level-headed one and was able to get my speech out without tears. All in all it was a great evening and nice to meet all of Dad’s friends in South Africa.

Somehow I was volunteered to run the children’s Sunday School at church and so I had to put together some ideas before going to bed. Hence the late blog for Day 9.

1 John 2:15 - “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him”

South Africa 2012 - Day Eight

Day 8 - Hope and Horses

Today was one of those different days for a typical vacation. At 8 a.m. we set off as a family (minus (Barbara and Savannah who needed extra rest - not sure why, not as though we have been active or anything) headed for the School of Hope. Several years ago the school was set up to help provide education and a nurturing environment for older kids ages 15 -21 who had been forgotten by society and were too old to be placed in a school. When we arrived we were welcomed by the cheers of about 50 kids and pretty much immediately took over the school for the morning.

The first part of the morning was a test to see whether they could first select the four sons of Pop Pop and then decide who was

the oldest (which was unanimously decided to be Mark much to his bewilderment). After this we were put into our family groups. The one exception being Matt who they decided must have been our Tour Guide.

We had planned several break out groups to either put together a play, create a mural, put together a song or two or play football (soccer for the Americans who may be reading). At the beginning and at the end we came back together as a large group and I did some of my usual stupid stuff like getting free from thumb cuffs, card tricks and fire eating. I think by the end we had realized how real, how talented, how respectful (except for the odd wolf whistle for Sam until they found out Matt was her boyfriend) and how much these kids deserve a chance at the Hope and their future.

After the morning at the School of Hope we headed back to the hotel except for Hunter, Rory and I who decided that McDonald’s was a great option for lunch. Because of the driving on the left side of the road the drive through runs the opposite direction to those in America. This was definitely freaky because when you turned the corner around the building you felt as though a car would be headed straight for you. I think this was one of the most efficient McDonalds I have ever been too. You placed your order, drove to the first window where you paid and then as soon as you had paid a hand appeared at the next window with a bag with your meal in. American McDonalds could learn a thing or two from this restaurant.

After a short rest Cleo, Savannah, Barbara and Emily headed off to Nordhoek to go horse riding down the beach. The two guides best matched the horses to the riders based on their experience. Barbara happened to get the one horse who could not be

mounted using a mounting block and so she had to mount from the ground. Somehow between the laughter I managed to get a few photos. At one point we thought she was going to fall straight off the other side, end up the wrong way around or just lie flat across the horse’s back. The last of these being the first choice but eventually Barbara did get up right. As they set off Julian, Alex, Hannah and myself who had gone to watch drove over to the beach and walked down towards where they would all come along the beach. After enjoying a nice walk over the bright white sands of the beach with o-one else around and the waves crashing in, we finally saw the group riding up the beach with the more experienced riders cantering in front. As I next looked I could see Barbara standing by her horse. I was praying she had not fallen off and when we got closer you could see the problem. Both her stirrups had broken which meant she had no control over the horse.

After a short video shoot they headed back to the stables and we headed to a beach bar called the Red Herring. I am so glad we found this small little restaurant / bar because the food was good a cheap and the views were incredible. This was definitely a place we wanted to come back to.

Tonight was Home-made dinner at the Lodge and then we all sat down to watch the videos from our sky diving. It was the first time I had seen any of these and it truly did back some great memories and also a few laughs.

For those that get out CHristmas letter will recognize this part. Every so often Barbara comes up with a new word and today was the first time in South Africa. Apparently the fact that the mountains will one day be flattened by God is “monumous” which I think is a shortened version of monumentus

Tomorrow some of us head back up north to go Sand boarding. Not sure what that all entails just yet but the youngsters are dying to go.

Jeremiah 29:11 - “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

South Africa 2012 - Day Seven

Day 7 - Free falling

It was an early start this morning as the sky-diving group left for the small airstrip about 40 minutes north of Cape Town. We had to be there for a 9 a.m. start and left at 7 a.m. to allow for rush hour traffic. That really is an oxymoron and especially in Cape Town. There is no way anyone can rush anywhere with the state of the traffic. What would prove to be the hardest thing to do all day was to get to the sky diving place. The two cars got split half way along the way, went two completely different ways and somehow managed to arrive within a minute of each other, albeit 20 minutes late. Having completed the short disclaimer form and paying, we were put into our three groups - Group 1: Julian, Guy and Sam; Group 2: Hunter and Savannah; and Group 3: Matt. Then began the intensive training - “Ok - you have a harness on. When you are going up your tandem partner will tell you what to do. Oh and have fun.” In the States this would have been an hour long course in how to breath and what to do in every conceivable situation. The first group went up and 20 minutes later they were out of the plane at 9,000 feet. After a 30 second free fall the chutes opened and then a 4 or 5 minute drop with the chute open. Guy left the plane last but came down first followed by Julian and finally Sam who had left the plane first. Apparently weight does has something to do with the speed you drop.

All three of them were raving about the exhilaration of the sky dive. Despite the raving about the jump Matt was still a little nervous. Being the kind person I am I decided to join Matt on the third jump. The only issue was my weight. They weighed me and miraculously I had lost 10 kilos over night and came in right at 105 kg. I am convinced that the scales were rigged because it just seemed to stick on 105 kg. Also on the board which listed all of the jumpers I was the only one who had 105 written by my name. So apparently the small child I needed to be my tandem partner existed.

But first Hunter and Savannah had their jump. For them it was again a routine jump but I must admit I was holding my breath until I saw both chutes open properly. There is something about having both of your children jumping out of a plane. But to see them on the ground afterwards made it all worthwhile as they both had been able to experience something truly rare - sky diving in South Africa. Savannah also had the lightest landing of everyone and seemed just to float down like a feather.
It was now time for group three to go up and Matt and I got our very simple instructions and got onto the plane. For me this was the part I was not looking forward to me as I suffer from motion sickness. However the flight up was great except for being cramped into a tiny compartment with 5 other people. This was definitely not the situation to be in if you are claustrophobic or need your space from other people. Then came the jump. The free-fall was truly an amazing experience and even with a tandem partner you really did feel like you were flying. When the parachute opened the jolt was pretty significant but I am sure that was because of my slimmed down 105 kg came to a dramatic halt. The rest of the fall was very peaceful except for the conversation with the tandem partner which seemed like a really strange place to strike up a conversation. I apparently was the only one of our group that landed on their bum but it was very soft.

The most fun part was then watching the video they had made of your drop. I cannot do justice to these videos nut the three best bits were 1. Savannah having to have her legs pulled back by the tandem partner; 2. Guy, Julian, and Giles’ faces looking like they were made of plastic as they wobbled all the way down; and 3. Matt’s amazing tumbling exit from the plane and the tandem partner literally having to use both hands to pull Matt’s head back so the camera man could video him.

After this there really wasn’t much else to write about and at the end of the day we all ended up at Sloppy Sam’s for a great dinner. Tomorrow we will head to the School of Hope to run the school for the morning. I am not sure what they are expecting but having the Britton’s run a school for a morning could scar kids forever. We have all reminded Mark that his jokes are not funny and laughing at them yourself doesn’t make them funnier.

Exodus 19:4 - “... and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself”