National Women's Day, Bourke's Luck Potholes, and God's Window

Sitting at the bank of a large "pothole" at Bourke's Luck Potholes on the way home from our Rhino Rescue Safari

Going to and from the rhino rescue Saturday morning was a game drive in and of itself, as we saw two more adult rhinos, two wandering hyenas, a herd of 10 giraffes, a herd of elephants very near where we stopped for the rhino rescue training, as well as antelopes, baboons, monkeys and more beautiful birds.

After returning to the Baobab Ridge Lodge from the rhino rescue for breakfast and lunch (and a nap), we did one last game drive and saw more amazing animals, including a large herd of zebras, a lioness resting right at the side of the road, and, almost at rendezvous time to meet the other vehicle, a herd of about forty elephants. While we were watching the elephants of all ages and sizes, just as the sun was setting, the other vehicle spotted another leopard, the third leopard sighting in 3 nights!

Then we met up and had our final dinner, again out in the bush! Lady Di's and Sean's cooking has been fabulous, every meal!

Sunday the 9th of August was a South African national holiday, Women's Day, which was celebrated on Monday, and it was also Sean and Di's 29th anniversary.

 
Before breakfast Sunday morning, we met outside the lodge for a Sunday devotional (sacrament meeting without the sacrament) where we sang a hymn, "All Creatures of Our God and King" and took turns sharing spiritual experiences from the weekend and our testimonies. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day.

With us at the devotional were (top, left to right)  Berg boys and Boshoffs and (bottom) Jorgensons, Weeks, Bergs, Donnellys.

After breakfast, we took the 7-hour scenic route home and visited some amazing sights in the Drakensburg Mountains on the way, most notably Bourke's Luck Potholes, God's Window and the adjacent rain forest, the beautiful Mac Mac Falls, and the Panorama Drive through the mountains. We saw some very pretty, scenic mountain country, very reminiscent of southern Utah! We made it home by about 8:30. Here are some photos and descriptions:

Bourke's Luck -A view of the Blyde River Canyon in the

Mpumalanga Province, where gigantic potholes are really a

series of natural geological formations that seem more like

art than nature. When Bourke discovered the canyon, his

"luck " was that he found that the potholes had served as

natural gold panning pans, and there were nuggets of
gold  resting in almost every indentation!

This is what the African countryside looks like as viewed
through "God's Window," a majestic lookout point. At this
juncture, we were actually closer to Maputo, Mozambique
and Mbabane, Swaziland than we were to Johannesburg!

 

Above the God's Window viewpoint was a cool and inviting jungle,
 a natural tropical rain forest that was beautiful to walk through, an
amazingly different climate and terrain after a 5 minute uphill walk

Entrance to the rain forest

The dense rain forest above God's Window



Wildflowers and baobab trees along our drive

This baobab tree is supposed to be The World's Largest Potted Plant,
and no, I don't know why the first language listed on the sign is Danish!

The 2-lane road through the Drakensburg Mountains of Mpumalanga

 

Mac Mac Falls

It was a spectacular weekend, and it took us three blog posts to cover the four days. We are so glad we came home to a public holiday so Monday could be our p-day to catch up on everything at home while the area offices were closed. We are so fortunate and happy to be serving in the amazing part of the world!