New Growth

On a beautiful Saturday in late winter (August 21, 2010) we went for an almost two hour hike on a geological trail in the 740 acre national botanical garden near Johannesburg. Climbing up the rocky ridge to the right adjoining the waterfall we were above the nest of a pair of Black Eagles (seen to the left on the cliffs as jumbles of gray sticks).

This area is high veld with indigenous tall grasses, bushes, aloes and other succulents, and hardy trees including Protea (Common Sugarbush) and Mountain Cabbage. These trees have corky bark which are fire resistant and protect them from the annual fires we have seen throughout Africa maintaining the grasslands.




As we approach springtime new green growth and blossoms can be seen emerging across the blackened hillsides.




At a viewpoint on top of the sunny ridge, fresh sunscreen was applied as we enjoyed a hazey panoramic view. Neighborhoods of upscale homes are built around the botanical gardens' perimeter reminding us of the step into nature the gardens provide in an urban environment.

Ugandans In Motion

Kampala is a city of people in motion. Items are carried in handmade carts like this one displaying fresh pineapple, by hand between two people walking, on backs or heads of men and women, tied onto bicycles or the back of motorcycles,and in trucks.



People either walk, bicycle or are transported in taxi vans carrying 15 people or more or ride on the back of small motorcycles. Notice the leg and brown shoe on the motorcycle's right hand side of a small child sitting between the motorcycle driver and woman, riding side saddle, holding a toddler on her lap.



The long bag tied onto the bike is full of charcoal for metal cookers on which meals are prepared. The box secured on the back of the bicycle is filled with fresh bananas. The air is filled with hazy smoke from fires burning grass in the countryside.




Our driver was a competant and personable man the age of our oldest son, Eric, who transported us through streets teeming with people and vehicles in varying sizes and shapes. He had just returned from a 6 week trip June-July to Chicago, Salt Lake City, southern Idaho and California. We felt very secure in his presence. In this photo our driver is waving at me as we concluded our survey of a meetinghouse and Ron visited with the custodian.

Life in Kampala

Ron and I traveled to Kampala, Uganda, on a training assignment August 6-10, 2010. In a meeting conducted by the stake president we met with 26 leaders in Kampala Stake regarding building security and stewardship responsibility. On personal security topics specific to their mission, we met with the mission president and his staff. Our schedule also included an interview with the security officer at the U.S. Embassy, interviews with four missionaries, and surveys of five meetinghouses and three missionary residences.

Referred to as the Pearl of Africa, Kampala is built amidst rolling hills covered with tropical foliage and exotic flowers at 4000' elevation. Sitting 20 miles north of the equator it has just two seasons, dry and rainy. Pleasant daytime temperatures during our dry season ranged from morning 60s to afternoon 80s.


Open air merchant shops line the streets and roadways from early morning to night time hours. Driving 45 minutes from the Entebbe airport, which sits virtually on the shores of Lake Victoria, into downtown Kampala we were awed by shops and people all along our route. The wide array of businesses still open after 7 p.m. on a darkening Friday night included hair salons and barber shops; fruit and vegetable stands; shoe, dress and clothes shops; pharmacies; bakeries, milk stores and butcher shops with hanging meats; hardware, electronics and auto parts shops; TV stores and cell phone stalls to buy minutes and recharge batteries. Interspersed among the shops were numerous churches and gas stations. With no street lights, each shop was illuminated by a single curly energy saving light bulb or florescent tube light.

Fresh vegetables and fruits like avacado, pineapple, papaya, mangos and gonja (sweet bananas) and were abundantly available. Along with rice a staple food is Matooke, green cooking bananas baked in banana leaves and served mashed with peanut sauce.

Resourceful and beautifully dressed women carry babies tied on their backs, baskets and sacks filled with goods on their heads. Collecting water in plastic containers is a daily task for most citizens.