The Thursday before the Easter weekend we drove down to Durban, South Africa. The country side was incredibly beautiful.

Before getting to Durban we stopped at the Blood River monument. It was here 470 Afrikaaners held back 10,000 to 12,000 Zulu on December 16, 1838. The words say in Afrikaans, "The Victory".

There are 62 life size wagons made of bronze. They represent the 62 wagons formed in a laager to defend against the Zulu attack.

December 16, 1838 was known as the Day of the Covenant. The 470 Afrikaaners had made a covenant with God, that if they would be protected and win the battle they would worship God forever and keep December 16th as a Sabbath. It is now named the Day of Reconciliation.

Picture from inside the laager

We stayed in Ladysmith a city named after the wife of Harry Smith Cape Colony commandant. She was said to be a Spanish beauty. This is picture of town hall with one of the cannons used to protect the city during the Anglo-Boer War.  Ladysmith was under siege for nearly 4 months by the Boers.

Of the 12,500 British troops in Ladysmith during the seige in 1890, over 3,000 would lose their lives.

The Dutch Afrikaaners came into this area having migrated from the Cape Colony in 1837 to get away from the British. This is a picture of a caste made of Afrikaaner wagon wheel ruts.

This is picture of the Weenen Voortrekker cemetery. Before the Battle of Blood River, the Zulu King Dingane had massacred Piet Retief and many of the Voortrekkers in the area.  At Weenen, which means "weeping" some 500 Afrikaaners were killed. It wasn't until the Battle of Blood River that the Zulus were defeated.

In Durban we attended a Zulu performance of dance.

The beach at Durban usually has some very good surf. We were not disappointed on Saturday.

Ladysmith is a very Victorian city.

We stayed in Ladysmith at Buller's Rest, named after General Buller who finally broke the siege of Ladysmith.

Winston Churchill was able to be part of the relief of Ladysmith. Mahatma Gandhi was also present in Ladysmith as a stretcher bearer.

This little monument is located in downtown Ladysmith.

Our last Saturday in Johannesburg Mom and I drove over to the Johannesburg Botanic Gardens. It was a beautiful day.

It was very difficult to say good-bye to our friends at the Cosmo City Branch.

Sister Dube and Mom.

Mom and her Primary nursery friend Dorcus.

First counselor Lucky and his wife Agnes.

Branch President Dube and family.

The countryside around Durban is known as the Land of a Thousand Hills.

We made the trip to Durban with Bryan and Tina Jackson. Great traveling companions.

Mom teaching her last piano lesson in the Area Office.

With Tsepiso and Kanya, two of your Young Adults who recently got married.

Some of the over 1,000 seals swimming around Seal Island.

Seal Island is about 1 mile off the coast. In this photo you can see Devil's Peak in the background. On the left is the backside of Table Mountain.

It's a shame these guys are on the low end of the food chain when it comes to the Great White Sharks.

Cannon and I were very happy when we got back to dry ground.

With Garrick's family we took a quick trip down to Cape Town for a shark dive. From Simonstown on False Bay we took a 30 foot outboard out to Seal Island.  Chelsea Lang Shupe on her way out to dive with the Great Whites. We were all smiling before we saw the sharks take the bait.

Harry and Garrick getting ready to get into the shark gage. 

Just as everyone was putting on their wetsuits, this 15 foot plus great white hit the bait. Wellington, held on for dear life. He didn't want to lose the bait.

This was not place for the weak hearted.

This fellow was over 15 feet in length and all appetite.

This past week we had a visit from the Garrick Shupe family. Chelsea, Harrison and Cannon joined us in Africa for 8 days. They left 3 year old Stevie with Grandma Cindy in San Clemente, California.

They arrived on Monday and early Tuesday we were on the road to Kruger Park to see some African animals. This picture was taken near a watering hole near Baobab Ridge our safari headquarters.

The African Cape Buffalo is one mean guy. Very unpredictable, which makes him very dangerous.  This fellow kept his eye on us the entire time we slowly passed.

Cannon found what was left of an impala. I think the lions licked the bones clean. Cannon wanted to bring the antler home but we told him he might be stopped and arrested at the airport. 

Late on the 2nd day in the bush we came across two sleeping male lions. Remember what I told you about waking a sleeping lion? Well, we wanted to get a better view of these two, so Jason our driver, moved the Land Rover around to the other side of the bushes. 

The Land Rover's engine noise, awakened them. As we came around the bush one male was looking right at me and Chelsea. Both of us felt our hearts leap. 

Now is that a yawn or is he just showing me those little incisors? 

Harry and I heading down a bush road on safari.

The Garrick Shupe family on safari in Africa. We really love these guys. 

These Cape Buffalo were also pretty restless.

A baby elephant waived hello to Harry and Cannon.

Heading down the road we came across two spotted Hyena's. Many consider these guys scavengers but they actually kill 95% of what they eat. And they've been known to run off leopards and lions from their kills. You don't want to mess with a pack of Hyenas. 

Speaking of messing with African animals. Chelsea Shupe also had a close encounter with this female elephant. Our driver didn't see the elephant until we were right next to her. The elephant's ears are back and she's ready to charge. We all held our breathe.

Harry and Cannon with David and Jason our friends at Baobab Ridge.

Cape Water Buffalo getting a drink. They're always looking at you.

To get to Kruger Park from Johannesburg it is necessary to drive over the Drakenberg Mountains. The scenery is spectacular.  With my next post I'll show you the pictures of our trip to Cape Town to dive with the Great White Sharks. In the future, if Great Whites are in the water, I'm not going to be surfing.