Rest of Vacation with Roger

I am over a month behind on this blog...oops!  I have been without internet at my house for about 6 weeks, so it's difficult to get online.  Poor excuse, I know, but it's true.

Wrapping things up with Roger...we got back from the Moremi Game Reserve Monday morning and took the day to relax and repack for our next adventure.  Off to the Tree Lodge!  We picked up my cousin Jacob and 5 of his traveling partners at the airport Tuesday morning, and took off for the Lodge.  When we arrived we went for a game drive, and then just rested.  This time at the Lodge was wonderful for the two of us.  We felt so lazy, but we basically just sat by the pool for 2 days straight.  At first it was difficult for me to be alright with just hanging out; I felt like we needed to be doing something at all times.  Once Roger convinced me that it was ok to take that time to just rest and breathe, I loved it.  Wednesday morning we all (including Jacob and the other Texas guys) went on a horseback safari early in the morning.  Talk about amazing!  I remember looking at my watch at one point, thinking "It's 7:30am and I've already seen 7 giraffe, 5 zebra, and countless antelope...I am so blessed."  We spent 2 nights at the lodge, and then it was time to head back home.

So, like I had mentioned before, Roger and I dealt with a stomach bug while at Little Kwara.  That passed, but when we retuned to Maun, Rog mentioned that he felt like he had a bug bite behind his ear.  While we were at the lodge, we realized he was developing a rash, and by the end of the second day, so was on.  On my eye.  When we got home to the plot, some of the missionaries sent us into town immediately to see the pharmacist (who is just as good as any doctor out here).  She took one look at us, asked us where we had been and then said that we must have been touched by a hairy worm while in Moremi.  She gave us some medication and treatments, but there wasn't much else we could do but wait it out.
Here's the thing about the rash...it didn't itch, it burned very painfully.  Rog had it on his neck, chest and arm, and I had it on my ear, chin and eye.  Lovely.  We pretty much spent the next 3 or 4 days shut in at my house, just laying on the couch and watching movies.  I didn't want to see anyone while I was dealing with this!  Not only was I crabby because I was in pain, but it was just so gross!!  I had to force myself to go to church.  By the time Sunday rolled around it kind of looked like I had been beat up, and I didn't want anyone to see me like that.  It took over a week for it to go away, so when it finally did, I was so happy!

The rest of the time we were together, we really had a great time just hanging around town.  We went out to all the different restaurants, spent time at the baby house, hung out with some of the missionaries, and just enjoyed each other's company.  It was really tough to say goodbye to him at the airport...tears were definitely shed, but it helped to know that we'd be back together in less than 2 months.

So, despite the stomach bugs and the hairy worm rash (ew!) we had 17 of the best days of our lives.  I can't wait to reunite with him on April 13 :)

Pictures' Links

Aha!  The moment you have all been waiting for...links to see all of the pictures from our trip to Little Kwara!
Enjoy:

Group One

Group 2

Day 3 at Little Kwara (Part 3)

Ok, plan is to finish up Little Kwara with this post!  I left off after we went back for our siesta time at the camp.  Rog and I spent some time at the pool again, just enjoying the sun, reading some books, and taking a dip in the pool.

We had two more men join our group that afternoon; they were from Germany!  What I loved about this place was that we had 2 Americans (me and Rog), 2 Germans, an Englishman and a Frenchman.  So diverse!

That afternoon instead of going on a game drive we took a boat ride on the Okavango Delta (world's largest inland delta).

Hippos!

It was a beautiful night.  So after we were done on the Delta, it was time to head back for dinner.  That night it stormed like crazy.  It raged all night long (beautiful lightening storm!) and unfortunately continued throughout the morning.  We were supposed to go on a mokoro ride (the dug-out canoes), but the rain kept us inside.  Then at 11:00 it was time to hit the road, and off we went to the air strip.  It was tough to leave...we had such a wonderful time!  Rog and I realized that it beat out our honeymoon for the best trip we've ever taken together.  Not easy to do!  

Day 3 at Little Kwara (Part 2)

After we were rescued from the snares of the hippo watering hole (slight exaggeration, but that's how I felt at the time), we drove off with no particular agenda.  As we were driving, we came back to the huge elephant femur...and I wanted to pick it up.  It was heavy!

See, I look strong, but in reality Roger had to pick it up and hand it to me, and then after about 10 seconds I had to give it back to him.

After that, we had our tea time and then headed back to the camp.  Right before we made it back there, we came across a warthog.

Ew.

Hee Hee Hee 

This is a short post, because I now have to run home and prepare for a meeting with Jerry and the girls.  I'll keep plugging away at this until I finally finish my stories from when Rog was here!

Jonathon Mark Bonnema

Today marks the 4 year anniversary of the accident that took my little brother's life.  Jon was a phenomenal kid, annoying younger brother, and one of my best friends.  I miss him dearly, and it's especially difficult today.  It's hard to be away from home this time of the year, but it will get better soon.  The hardest part this time around is that nobody here knew Jon.  The interns are so preciously praying for me and trying to offer encouraging words, but it's not the same as when I'm with people who knew him.

I am thankful that I get to go to Victoria Falls next week; I was telling my dad the other day that I feel like Vic Falls is the closest thing that we have on earth that resembles Heaven.  I get to experience a tiny piece of what Jon gets every single day :)

Seriously, can you believe this?