Quicama Safari

Last week we ventured out on a local safari.  As we were waiting for the elevator, I got this pic because the kids had their pillows on their heads and paraphernalia in hand as they said, "Mom look--we're Angolans."  Made me smile.There are only a few national parks in Angola where animals have been preserved and can be enjoyed.  Luckily one of them is within a 2 hour drive of us.  Quicama park was established by the Portuguese in the 1930s.  However, during the war years, people hunted the animals for food, and the population has become almost nonexistent.  In 2002, restorationists imported game animals from Botswana and Namibia in the largest transplant effort ot its kind, and the animals today are thriving.  Our safari would be in an open truck -- there are no predators in the park, and there is only one elephant at the moment and alligators in the Kwanza river.  We saw neither.  However the day was very enjoyable and will be one of the highlights of our time here!

Entering the park:  We were invited by President and Sister Merrill to join them on the safari, along with their daughter Mindy and her family from Arizona that came to visit them.  The Merrills are finishing up their three year mission here with flying colors, but we're not excited about that.  We will miss them!  A senior missionary couple, the Henry's also joined us, and we were blessed to meet another American family, the M family, that we wish we had met earlier!  They live in Talatona so they are attending a different branch.  It's actually because of the M family that we have translation equipment and headphones at church.  They've basically donated them, and for that we are grateful!  Sadly, they leave in a few months as well. 

We laughed together about our experience paying the entrance fee for each of the three cars.  In typical Angolan style, the man taking the money charged us differently from the Merrills.  They charged them for kids but did not charge us.  The little cheap paper receipt clearly states the price for people 18-100, with children being free.  We've learned that there's no rhyme or reason in this country.  :)

We arrived at the beginning point of the safari to find out that because they don't take reservations, we had to wait for 2 other groups before us to go, totally 4 hours of waiting time.  If it had just been our family, I would have been worried about how I was going to keep the kids happy.  However, because of the Merrills and their crew, and M family, we were all entertained with playing and conversation.  It was wonderful to talk with Tammy and Jeff and laugh about similar highs and lows of living in a 3rd world country raising kids, working, going to church, etc.  They've been here almost 4 years, but have luckily lived in a compound with amenities and a community of friends and neighbors, as well as travel capabilities.  We also found some insects that entertained as well.  The wasp-like thing below had a worm he was dragging around and would dig holes in the sand to try to bury.

 Girl scout and Boy Scout troop passing by.  They were being yelled at to pay attention to the straightness of their lines, so I missed out on the opportunity to ask them questions and learn more about them and how Scouting has been a part of their lives.   :(

 Finally the truck returned for us and after filling up with gas (which we're pretty sure was really a half-hour lunch break for the driver), we loaded up.  Adults had to be on the outside, and as we found out, for good reason.  The whole trip we were dodging large tree branches with thorns that ate us alive.  Surprisingly my shirt was left with only one tear in it.  :(

Thanks to everyone, especially Sister Merrill with her keen eyes, we were able to spot all of these animals among trees and bushes.  With such a huge park and given it is the rainy season, animals are spread out and most of the time we had to be fast with our picture taking because the animals would quickly hide behind trees and bushes.  I'm grateful we had a zoom on the camera.Zebras and Wildebeest

Kudu, wildebeest, and a bushbuck.We only saw a few monkeys really well on the trip because they were so hidden in the trees, so we were pleasantly surprised to find about 20 monkeys roaming the area around the parking lot where our cars were parked and where we had eaten lunch.  We jumped out of the truck and fed them bread and bananas which they happily devoured without restraint.Mama monkey carrying her baby; monkeys discovering trash and looking for food or drink; and note the monkey with blue male parts (this is the less-scandalous angle).  All the kids drew our attention to him (we called him "big blue") as they pointed and laughed.  It was quite a surprise and shock to see such a bright hue of blue on an animal that is painted in naturally duller colors. And this beautiful guy was sitting up on the roof of our car.  Love his eyes!  

After the fun feeding the monkeys, it was time to head home.  It was about 4:30 pm, and the Merrills had to hurry home to skype with family.  On the way home we saw our favorite monkeys as we sat in traffic to cross the Kwanzaa bridge.  People were throwing food to them, so they kept running back and forth between the road and the safety of their trees.  They're so entertaining--we all get such a kick out of them!  As we finally started across the bridge (down to one lane for repairs), we found the guy below hanging out on a railing.A flock of flamingos just outside Luanda 

After being gone for exactly 12 hours, we happily found dinner from the fridge and our beds to sleep.  What a wonderful day!