Up, Up and Away to 2016 from the Cradle of Humankind

Preparing to board our hot air balloon at sunrise 31 December 2015 at the Cradle of Humankind

Happy New Year! We said goodbye to 2015 and welcomed in the new year of 2016 from the Cradle of Humankind, where we cashed in on our Christmas present from Bob's seven children - a hot air balloon ride over a wild animal game reserve.  What an experience!

We were the only two passengers booked for that morning, so they told us the day before that unless someone called in by noon they would have to cancel our reservation. Bob asked what if we found another couple or two to join us. They said they would welcome them and would give them the experience at half-price!


We walked up to the Waltons' office and asked them if they were interested, and they jumped at the chance, but asked when it was. When Bob said, "Not until tomorrow morning at sunrise," they were a bit taken back, but they said, "Sure! Let's do it." Just then, Sharon Berg walked into the Waltons' office and we told her the plan and she quickly said, "Count us in!" The company was a bit surprised when Bob phoned back so quickly with a full balloon of passengers and confirmed the reservation.

Martha had to get up at 3:00 am and Bob at 3:30, in order to meet our friends in the parking garage at 4:15 to make the 45-minute journey to the balloon launching place in the Cradle of Humankind game reserve, northwest of Johannesburg, by 5:00. We watched the final preparations as the sun began rising at 5:15, and we were onboard, trained and on our way by 5:30.

Sister Berg captured the entire experience on video, and Elder Berg edited it and posted it on YouTube, with the theme from "Out of Africa" playing in the background. You can watch it at

https://youtu.be/1Tp8oijh14c

Here are some photos:

Three giraffes at sunrise watch us as we arrive at the balloon site



Up in the balloon over the Cradle of Humankind

The crew - Bob and Sharon Berg, left of us, and
Chuck and Liz Walton, right, ready for lift off

Our pilot, Harmen, controls the "burners"

Looking up into the balloon "envelope"

 

We couldn't quit smiling! It was so quiet, peaceful and beautiful!



A view of a vegetable farm with another balloon flying not so far from us. The flight lasted a whole hour.



Would you believe they can actually land
the balloon basket on the trailer?



The flight is over and it's time to deflate the balloon

The experience included a champagne toast, but Harmen was kind enough to bring orange juice for all of us

While we were toasting, the balloon envelope
was being  folded up and placed in a bag...

...and the bag and basket fit nicely on the small trailer and were hauled away!

A hot air balloon is likely the only aircraft that is completely taken apart after every flight and then is completely reassembled again for the next flight, and all in a matter of a few minutes!

Harmen presented us each with flight certificates with details of the flight, signed by him and the crew chief Neels, that also contained this prayer, which is the prayer of balloonists around the world:

      The winds have welcomed you with softness,

      The Sun has blessed you with his warm hands,

      You have flown so high and so well,

      that God has joined you in your laughter,

      and he has set you gently back

      into the loving arms of Mother Earth.

 

As we were saying our goodbyes, Harmen said, "Wait! Don't say goodbye yet! We still have breakfast!" He then asked us to follow him for a totally unexpected, gigantic and delicious breakfast buffet and made-to-order omelets at the Salsa Verde Restaurant at the Valverde Hotel & Spa, which is used for conventions and weddings. Here are some photos of the Valverde gardens and wedding chapel:

 

 

 

 

After breakfast, we set out to explore the Cradle of Humankind and its two major exhibit attractions, the Sterkfontein Caves and the Maropeng Museum and excavation sites. Although that took us 3-4 hours, we were completely finished by noon because of our early start!

The Cradle of Humankind, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999, occupies 180 square miles, and it contains a complex of limestone caves and working excavation sites. The Sterkfontein Caves contain the famous discovery of a 2.3-million-year-old fossil Australopithecus africanus (nicknamed "Mrs. Ples"), in 1947, and a more recent major discovery of “Little Foot” in 1997, a 3.3 million-year-old complete Australopithecus africanus skeleton with all 32 teeth intact, and excavations still continue. 46% of all ancient human (hominid) skeletal remains in the world have been found within the Cradle of Humankind borders, including another major find in September 2015, the discovery of a new species of human relative, named Homo naledi. Besides shedding light on the origins and diversity of our genus, Homo naledi (a non-human) also appears to have intentionally deposited bodies of its dead in a remote cave chamber, a behavior previously thought limited to humans. 

The other venue we visited is the Marupeng Museum, Hotel and Visitor Center, where spectacular exhibits take you back millions of years to the beginning of time and you walk forward into the present day. This most unusual and unique building looks prehistoric on the entrance side and ultra-modern on the opposite side.

 

 We were very impressed that in both venues the guides told us that there is no scientific evidence that humans evolved from apes. In fact, apes and humans seem to have always coexisted, as they do today. Their DNA is similar enough, however, that scientists continue to search for a common ancestor to both.

 

 

Dressed for spelunking in the caves, where we had some very
short and narrow spaces to squat, bend and crawl through

Some of the stalactites and stalagmites of the Sterkfontein Caves




 

This is the entrance to the Maropeng Museum complex...

 

...and this is the back side of that same hill

 

Comparison of a human skull and an ape skull



A Cradle of Humankind exhibit at Maropeng

 

Also, between Christmas and New Years, we spent the day after Christmas, a Saturday, at the Montecasino Bird Gardens, attended the bird show in the amphitheater, ate at the Gourmet Garage and went to "I'm playing Your Song," the musical biography of composer Mavin Hamlisch. Fun day!

 The following Monday, we got a text from one of Bob's Cape Town missionaries saying that another Cape Town missionary, Velly Maebela, had lost his wife to a sudden illness the Sunday before Christmas and the funeral was the next morning.  He was the branch president in the Etwatwa Branch and he now serves on the stake high council. This is at least the 3rd of our African missionaries to be widowed already! Evidently Sister Mamazi Maebela died very unexpectedly, shocking everyone. She had not been ill, and was serving diligently as counselor in the stake primary. It was a very lovely but sad and emotional funeral, especially for the two cute little girls with their widowed daddy. But we were glad to be there to support him.

On New Year's Eve, the senior missionary couples took treats and met in small groups of  3-4 couples, who played games for an hour in one flat, then rotated to another flat and then after an hour to another. We stayed up until midnight watching a movie, welcomed in the new year, and were in bed by 12:01, with fireworks going off all around us. We look forward to a fantastic 2016. As of 2 January, we have been serving eleven full months and have just seven to go! Time passes swiftly!