It is sad to think that our trip to Namibia is over. People have been asking us, “What was Africa like?” That is a hard question to answer, one that cannot be explained in a word… or in many words for that matter. We experienced something that will forever change our lives, our perspectives, our ideals, our motivations, & our hearts. As I sit here writing our last blog in Starbucks I wish wholeheartedly that I could just close my eyes and be in the village again, with those we have come to love as our African family… playing cards with Pepe & Kambinda, cooking over fire, sitting under our one shaded tree in the afternoon heat, sharing the Word of God on a Saturday morning, stargazing at night while talking about our days with the men and women of the village, or playing with our little guys Paulus, Jeffy, Kabumba, and little Zeka. Mark and I hope and pray that we will be blessed to see our African family again in this lifetime, but for now we have our memories, our pictures and our story to share.
The last part of our story began as we left Rundu on a combi early in the morning in the end of May. We were able to spend the last 2 weeks of our time in Africa on holiday- seeing the beauty and majesty of the African landscape while preparing ourselves for our return home. We started our trip in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia to spend time with our leaders Rob & Alisa and their 7 children. We came just in time to celebrate Sarah’s 8th birthday too!
Mark and I had the chance to meet up with 3 of our friends from Rundu that currently live in Windhoek – Zeka, Anita, and Judith. Zeka and Anita are attending college in Windhoek and since we were living in their home in the village… we wanted to thank them one last time for opening their homes to us, trusting and understanding the need for us to live in the village, and for being our friends.
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| Zeka & Anita |
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| Julie & Judith |
Judith is family of Elizabeth, Paulus, Pepe, Kina, & Tani… the family who lived directly across from us in the village. She was one of my closest friends while she was staying in Rundu- she laughed both with me and at me and I loved that about her. She is currently living in Windhoek to pursue job opportunities… I miss her already!
After a few days rest in Windhoek Mark and I made our way to Spitzkoppe. On our way we saw our first giraffe! This was a highlight for me for sure!
Spitzkoppe is an amazing place to camp… and camp we did! There are magnificent rock formations here that we hiked and jumped all over. This place is one of the most desolate places we have ever visited. I’d say one of the best places to camp by far- except for one thing - at night we felt like our body parts would freeze and fall off due to the cold! (Months earlier when we decided it would be an awesome experience to camp roof-tent style…we didn’t really think that it would be the start of winter here. Oops!)
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| Spitzkoppe |
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| Our Campsite |
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| Mark Climbing |
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| Camping at Swakopmund |
After camping in Spitzkoppe, Namibia we made our way to Swakopmund. Swakop is the costal ocean town of Namibia. It is a fun area full of German influence. We spent a few days walking around, ate lots of German pastries, and had fun in the sand! Of course, we roof-tented it here too! This time though we fell asleep each night to the sound of the ocean waves. :)
Swakopmund is known for its large dunes that go right up to the ocean's edge. We've never seen anything like it...
The one thing we made sure to do while in Swakopmund was to ride ATV's on the dunes. We heard from many people that its an amazing experience and gets your adrenaline going a little...and if anyone knows Mark, that is what he is all about! :)
Afterwards, we climbed the famous "Dune #7." Climbing a sand dune doesn't seem like it would be hard work, but it was hard. :) It was definitely worth the climb, and while you are sitting on the top it is impossible not to think how vast and majestic God's creation is.
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| Atop dune #7 |
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| Mark, Julie, Alysse & Laura |
After our holiday throughout Namibia, we made our way to the annual conference for AIM Namibia. We spend those few days with some truly inspiring people... and for us it was a great way to conclude our time with AIM. We were encouraged and uplifted in our faith and had some wonderful people provide insight on our time in Namibia & at the end of the conference we had to say goodbye to our friends that served with us in Rundu...
Probably one of our hardest goodbyes was to Rob & Alisa, our friends and leaders in Namibia - without their guidance, trust, grace, and love I don't know where Mark and I would be. We love you guys!
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| Rob & Mark |
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| Julie & Alisa |
The next evening we made our way to Cape Town, South Africa via a sleep liner bus. I can't believe I am typing this, but 21 hours on a bus wasn't as bad as I imagined (maybe because of my awesome hubby!)
Cape Town is a captivating city... it is unlike any city we have ever seen and is arguably the most beautiful city in the entire world. Mark and I keep telling people that if you are blessed enough to make a trip to Africa, you must see Cape Town. However, if you are going to Cape Town to experience Africa... you won't get an accurate picture. Cape Town stands alone and doesn't depict Africa as a continent at all. Why is it so amazing? It is everything all packaged into one: city, mountains, ocean, coastal towns, vineyards, & farmlands. It is breathtaking!
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| The view of Table Mountain from our hotel window... |
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| Wine Country... |
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| Hout Bay |
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| Hiking Table Mountain |
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| Cape Point, The Southern Most Point of Africa |
Besides wanting to visit Cape Town to experience its beauty, we wanted to be able to visit with Mark's family! Mark's cousin Merle, his wife Cheree, and their children live and serve in Cape Town. It was awesome to visit with them on African soil. :) Their 4th child and 1st boy was born our last day in Africa- memorable for all of us I am sure. We were so blessed by their hospitality and loved every minute we spent with them!
London was also fun. We took the opportunity to stay in a hostel because we realized that most hostels have an age limit of 35! We figured since we weren't sure when we would get the chance to be in Europe again, we should seize the opportunity again. We had a great time in the hostel and wouldn't have changed anything about it! Most of our time in London was spent walking around to see all the sights. London didn't disappoint us either- it was dreary and rainy most of the time, just what we expected! ;-)
Our trip overseas ended June 17th when we landed on American soil in Miami. Perfect timing too... Mark and I made it home in enough time to witness one of the best days ever... the day my sister Diana & Jeremiah adopted their daughter Taneisha.
Well, I guess that's it! Mark and I feel so blessed to have had you share our lives with us through this blog. Thank you for your support, prayers, and friendship. Mark and I have now arrived home. Where is that you might be thinking? Well the saying sure is true- home is where the heart is, and lucky for Mark and I we feel our hearts have many homes. :)
