All I want for Christmas...

It is a reality check on that phrase when you realize that rather than the latest gizmo or the greatest desert, you more desperately need one of lifes neccessities. Like electricity. When they flipped the switch and lifted the crane to the huge transformer outside our gate Andrew asked when we would get power. (this was on the 23rd of December) They assured us that we would have it by 5. Steph and I got home from our practices at 7 - to candlelight. We called and lodged a complaint then went out for dinner - noting that all our neighbors had light. After dinner there was still no power. So we called again. And again. And again. And assured them that the man was not here working on it, and no he was not in the neighborhood. Finally we went to bed...hoping for the best. Christmas eve dawned without the familiar hum of the refrigerator or the smell of breakfast cooking. So we called again. then we went to town and hunted down the electrician and brought him here to fix the problem. Were we ever glad when the expert finally arrived. He studied the situation astutely, picked up a stick and whacked the box with the connection to our house. Ta-da, there was light! So now the smells of chrismas baking are filling the house once again, we can play our christmas music and we are generally light hearted. (get it? I know, I know)

Back to Rondo

Some of you might have read my account of last time we went as a family to the Retreat center in Rondo, truly an amazing place. It is basically and few cottages with luxurious english garden type landscaping in the middle of the tropical rain forest. The best of both worlds, something for the adventurer (dad) and the sit and read a book vacationer (mom). Last time we were there dad and I hiked a few miles to the Yala river. This time we found out about a bat cave a few miles into the forest. It was truly an amazing hike. We found the cave....originally a mine shaft of some sort. Unfortunately we didn't have good flashlights so these were my best shots of the fruitbats that covered the roof of the cave.

We then hiked just a little further to the top of a very steep hill and saw that we were basically in the middle of the rainforest. Here are some awesome shots of that.

Oh, the luxuries of American Life

Now that I know I am returning soon, I am really looking forward to being back in a country where if your internet isn't working you can call the company and they can fix it in a number of hours, not weeks....Thus my failure to meet my November quota (and the fact that I can't get online when Andrew is online, which is most of the time)

All that talk about snow is really alluring as well, when the temp peaks at 90 degrees here. But I am making the most of my time here in Africa, as my next blog will show you.