Back from the villages

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Group #1 is back in the city of Iringa, after a wonderful week spent in the villages and on safari.
 
After the second village visit, Pastor Chris was already talking about "when we come again."
 
 
 
There were several wonderful photographers on the trip, and we will share their photos when we are home and have the technology to do so with ease.  For now, here are a few shots from the week.
 
After a walk to Mahove (3.5 kilometers from the bridge to the church, about the distance that women and girls used to walk daily for water), we stopped at Makifu Parish for cold drinks.  

 
This is what we look like on our bus -- suitcases piled high in the back couple rows of seats.

 
Here's your Swahili lesson for the day, directions to the women's and men's toilets (choo).  This group had some members who had really done their homework, and they picked up a lot of the local language when we were in the villages.  We are also so grateful for the two students who accompanied us as translators -- Asante Sana, Pasco and Meritho.

 
One of our photographers took at least a thousand photos just during the two days we were on safari at Ruaha National Park.  His will be much better than this one...
 
Best quotes from the week:
 
"When I was planning for the trip, I expected that the safari would be the highlight," said one traveler after four days in the villages, on the morning we were about to leave for the safari lodge.  "But after these days, I can't imagine how anything can top this."
 
"We have watched cars go through Tungamalenga toward the game park for years," said one of the Tanzanian pastors we took to the game park.  "We always wondered what they were going to see.  Now we are here and we wonder if we are still in Tanzania!"

 
We are so grateful for the gracious hospitality of our hosts.  Every one of the travelers had tears in their eyes when they said farewells this morning.  Several of us referenced the story of the transfiguration -- we all have the desire to build little tents and stay here.  It's been a mountain top experience of welcome and transformation, and now we know that the group will be sent back to Apple Valley to share their stories from their experience. 
 
 
 

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