02 November 2009 – Monday
I am once more repenting of not doing my journal daily and will try to keep it current by writing each day.
Today was P-day and we originally were going to get up and go to St Lucia by 6:00 a.m. regardless of the weather. Although it looked like rain – and it did later – we did go to St Lucia but we did not leave until 8:00 a.m. The drive there went quickly – it turns out to be about 85 K from our driveway to the entrance to the gates of the Estuary game park.
Before we went into the park we went to see the hippos that the Bs said were along the river outside the city. When we got there, a small herd was already in the water and as usual we could not get any really good shots. We did take a very nice board walk out to another beach. When we got there we decided it really was too far a walk in the sand to the ocean – especially since it had started to rain. On the way back I took some pictures of small flowers that grew along side the walk. We did get to see a number of crocodiles resting along the river bank. The signs that said beware of them really meant it.
We spent the next 3 hours inside the park looking for animals but also just enjoying the day out in the world. We saw a nice herd of nyala, impala, a single wildebeest, a nice group of three large rhinos, a small herd of zebras, one small crocodile at fairly close range and another group of hippos. We also saw a couple of species of antelope that we could not identify at the time.
After a pleasant time in the park we went back to see if the hippos had come out of the water and they had. Unfortunately the last one was just starting to lie down when we got there. So we only got pictures of 9 large hippos resting on the sandbar. The next time we go to St Lucia we will leave so we can be at the park at 6:00 and hopefully the hippos will be standing along the banks instead of being in the water or resting on the sandbar.
On the way home we stopped at a number of places and bought things. We now have two new carvings of guinea fowl and a polished tree root that Mary says is going to be our Christmas tree. It is about 2 feet tall and I am trying to figure out how to get it home. The one I really want to take home is about 6 feet tall and 4 feet in diameter. It only costs about $70 but I would guess it would cost $500 to have it packed and sent home on a slow boat.
On the way home we stopped at the mall to have a late lunch – early dinner at Mug and Bean. I had an excellent omelet and Mary tried their beef pot pie. I also had to get some money from the ATM because it has been an expensive 4 days since the last trip. At least the dollar is growing stronger against the rand so it is costing less to get the R3000 I take out each time.
For the last few days, I have been reading in the D&C. I have come to love D&C 1 which is so filled with great gospel lessons. The command in verse one for all to “listen together” is first given to ‘ye people of my church’ and then everyone else. He says ‘there are none to escape’ and then in verse 4, as Parley Pratt’s tract points out, it is ‘the voice of warning’ to all people.
I try to imagine what it was like to be in that small gathering of priesthood holders as they met just over 18 months after the founding of the church and were given such a wonderful revelation. Verse 23 tells of today as we the ‘weak and simple’ are out proclaiming the fulness of the gospel unto the ends of the world. I also was prompted to read the statements of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon. Of the 11 who signed those statements the great majority later left the church but never denied what they saw.
It was a good p-day!