Rhino & Jesus saying pic

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Update 28

In true Mozambique style, our driver showed up late & we missed our prepaid bus...but no worries...he took us to another bus stop & for some reason, they let us get on! We headed to South Africa where we'd lined up a rental car and had asked the bus driver to drop us there as we were going right by...well, he forgot & apolitically dropped us about 1 km past the car rental. So with our backpacks on & pulling our luggage in a light rain...with cars & trucks whizzing past us spraying water on us...we headed back to the car rental spot. When we finally got there & were waiting to talk to the clerk, I opened the daily message I get from a bible app...it read "Stop Complaining to Each Other." Seriously Jesus has a sense of humor!! The car we'd lined up wasn't there...so they gave us one with barely any gas. The clerk told us to follow him to the gas station, he filled it up & told us to come back in two hours & our car would be ready. It was. Amen. Finally, we took off headed to the Airbnb in the bush spotting lots of animals on our way. It was a lovely setting & gorgeous accommodations.
After a bountiful breakfast prepared by our hostess, we headed to Kruger Park in our rental. There we hit the jackpot: a monstrous Daddy Rhino protecting his baby & the mom who were wallowing in a mud puddle just off the road. When Big Daddy got in the road & headed toward us in our tiny Hyundai...Rog...trembling slammed it into reverse & slowly back away. We then played chicken with Big Daddy for the next 20 minutes going back & forth until finally he & his family lumbered off into the thick bush & we sneaked by. Talk about an adrenaline high!!! We also spotted 9 giraffes in one spot, two hyenas ran right in front of us, a slew of baboons played & wrestled in the road, saw zebras, kudu, warthogs, wildebeest, monkeys, a crocodile & elephants...the youngest one danced, flapped his ears & tooted for us! We were pretty pleased with our successful we'd been as our own guides! Treated ourselves to a nice dinner overlooking Crocodile River...where we spotted another crocodile!!

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Update 27

Our past two days at Iris were Saturday & Sunday which was great because the kids weren't in school and we could play most the day...plus the weather has cooled to 85-90 degrees with a sprinkle in the air so we weren't so lethargic! I even got the caregivers (tias) to play Memory game with me. The laughed & played for almost an hour. The playground which is entirely sand & now a bit moist made a great place to make sand houses, garages, roads, etc. and flip flops are perfect trucks. Kinda like a beach but without the lake! There's a toy cupboard in the visitors hall so each time we'd go out, we took something new to do: puzzles, play dough, books, crayons, various games & the boys' favorite, frisbee. We also blew up the rest of the balloons we'd brought. Hopscotch, jumprope, 4 square & tag also was happening. Busy playground! The disabled kids came out to hang out in the covered pavilion & it was heartwarming to see the other kids toss balloons to them.
In the babies' dorm, riding toys were out and they were crashing & hilariously laughing. The tiny ones crawled to my lap safe from the crazy drivers. Later, they went out in their own sandbox & tossed sand all over each other. Soon my lap too was covered with sand.
Sunday at church, we were asked to come up front to speak. We thank them for opening their hearts to us & giving us so many experiences. Then they wrapped us in capulanas and prayed over us. I felt very blessed.
As evening drew near, we had to start saying good bye to the missionaries, tias & kids. I choked up many times...especially when on particular girl who'd seemed to seek me out all the time, hugged me & said "I Love You." As tears rolled down my cheek, another girl w/ special needs said, "Why you cry?" All I could say was "Because I care."
One of the missionaries, Jez came to say goodbye to us. She told Roger she'd seen him playing with kids that she'd never seen spend time with a white visitor. She was touched by how Roger so easily drew them in to play with him.
So we leave Mozambique. A country with so many needs and now so many people we have come to care about.

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