Hello dear readers 🙂 Our time in SA is drawing to a close. Home in a week! Looking forward to seeing friends and family back in Zim, and starting to think about packing. For now, though, we’ve been making the most of our time here. Which leads me into my first story:

Sea Birds

I (Johno) had a special treat last weekend. As the sun rose, I met some other birders in Simon’s town and boarded a boat that was heading out to sea in search of seabirds. This was a totally new world to me – I have only ever dreamed of seeing the birds of the deep ocean, and this Pelagic cruise was the perfect place to make those dreams a reality.

The penguins in Simon’s town harbor were a happy start, and soon after that we met my first ‘lifer’ – a sooty Shearwater. A squeal from the lady next to me was encouraging; I wasn’t the only who would be excited by the more ‘common’ birds we’d encounter.

The Sooties were soon followed by White-chinned petrels, both Giant Petrels, four species of Albatross, terns, Skuas, gannets and gulls galore. We found a fishing trawler 30km from the coast, and followed in its wake marvelling at the avian life around us. A Manx Shearwater had even the guide excited, and the Pintado Petrels (my favourite, and the one I was most hoping to see) brought joy to all.

I was seasick, but pushed away any proffered sympathy with a grin and a number: my “lifer-to-chunder” ratio. 16 birds that I have never seen before. 16! I’ve forgotten the nausea, but I’ll remember those Pintado Petrels for the rest of my life.

Intermission: non-bird activities

We have such great friends. Games with Hannes and Anna to break in their new flat. Zumba with Cath and Damon. Hanging out with Ben and David (the younger brothers). Featherless bipeds can be interesting.

In other news, I found some tardigrades!!!!!! Been staring into microscopes for tens (hundreds?) of hours searching for these little cuties, and I was finally rewarded:

More birds

Yesterday, Ellie and I took the day off and went to the West Coast National Park. It’s about 100km from Cape Town, and combines spring flowers, gorgeous fynbos and lots of shoreline in one happy package.

The park is especially interesting for us twitchers – it is far enough away from our usual haunts that it hosts a whole new set of species. We saw ~80 over the course of the day, with about 25 of those being new ones for our year list, many of those new to our life lists!

Despite getting the timing of the tides a little wrong, we managed to see some waders at Geelbeck hide. These birds can be tricky to tell apart, especially at a distance. If you don’t believe me, Google for images of greenshanks and marsh sandpipers. Thankfully the greenshanks we saw were noisy and made sure to let us get a good long look and listen so that we could have a positive ID.

It was a wonderful day out. So blessed that we can do things like this together, and it’s amazing to have someone like Ellie to share wonder and excitement with. We took turns driving slowly around the park, stopping to peer at larks and pipits or leaping out the car to get a better look at a harrier overhead.

I’m thankful for these opportunities – how wonderful that we can glory in God’s marvelous creation!

Ellie’s highlight was a good look at a Pelican! They seem like a made-up bird, and so seeing one in the flesh and appreciating the scale of these quirky birds was precious. For my part, an unexpected sighting of a Pied Starling and a good look at some Grey-winged Francolin were both happy moments.

Back from church and sitting by a fire, with a nice lazy Sunday stretching ahead of us. Which means it’s time for a lazy update post 🙂 We’ve both been sick, but somehow we’ve still managed to have all sorts of fun the last few weeks. This might turn into another ‘pictures with captions’ post, but I’ll start off with the titular tale of a happy encounter.

Cousin Lauren messaged me on Thursday, asking for David’s number. They thought we were in Zim, and we thought they were in Joberg. We were both in Cape Town! I met them for lunch with Granddad, and then they joined Ellie and I for an afternoon in Muizenberg complete with beach walk, putt-putt (Jason is a champ), tea, games and plenty of time for Lauren and I to examine each-other’s spice spouses spoose chosen life partners. Think we both picked well 😀

As mentioned, all sorts of fun has been had. This has included lot’s of good friend time. We’ve had Kirstenbosch with Claire and the family, evening hangouts with Damon and Cath (friends here in CT), road trip with my good friend Hannes to Stellenbosh to see our friend Nicky (Zimbo friend), board games with our neighbors, boating and chilling with the Bisters (family friends), I got to see my brother David, seeing Lauren… So blessed by all the wonderful people in our lives. Now, as has been mentioned before, I’m bad at people pictures so here are some happy photos that (trust me on this) were at least taken in close proximity to many humans that I love.

Kirstenbosch with family and Claire (and a green lynx spider):

Stellies

Ellie by the fire:

A snail:

And finally, some cookies we made, inspired by the Zindi logo. These made my work friends so happy, and were a ton of fun to make (baking with friends for the win).

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post, despite the lack of coherence. My goal for the next one is to say one thing well, as opposed to throwing in a grab-bag of updates because we haven’t posted in a while. Maybe I’ll pester my dear wife to write one in the meanwhile to give me a little more time.

Bye for now,

Love,

J

We went for a pelagic birding expedition off the coast of Cape town today and decided to enjoy the view a bit while we waited for some boats to reach. Luckily, a family member decided it was time to leave the family and spend the day enjoying the area. In the end we caught a beautiful whale dive as it swam out to sea and we were able to catch some great views and to soak up some sun when the sun was getting quite strong and dark.

We stopped for some whale watching on another day, not sure what it is about it but this particular whale looked more like a dolphin or octopus so I thought it was fine to go for it on that day. There is actually a little island nearby which is pretty nice for a whale dive that we found out about from a friend who owns a whale boat so I guess we got something out of it!

I just love to sit on the beach listening to the sound waves coming down and watch whales as they approach me. That was really cool that in Cape Town there are different whale species, one being the blue, brown and red whales which is the closest we can relate to the real whale.

I got myself a really nice white whale mask which was made especially for me during my whale diving trip. As someone who loves whale watching, I am a bit envious of those who get some of the best sightings.

In other news, we’ve been enjoying our new church membership with a mix of students and older adults. For the record, many of us are very excited for the upcoming semester of classes in history and theology next year. (My brother and I will both be taking graduate courses in the field next year, and I’m thinking of going, too.)

I had a chance to talk to an elderly lady named Ruth, who’s been my neighbor for a quarter-century, which has left her in a pretty nice place. She and her husband had just purchased their house recently, and she told me about the many years she’s been working at the church. One thing she reminded me about is how often she comes home from work to a house that’s not exactly what she pictured, and all these children playing outside her front door. “This seems wrong, but it’s what God wanted!”

And it’s true. God always wanted people who like being outside, and He gave us the best environment possible when He brought us out of darkness to the light.

I hope we both feel a little bit better by the time spring rolls around. We certainly want to spend lots of time together and spend some of our time together.

For those of you wondering what on earth is going on, don’t worry. We haven’t seen whales and neither of us are going to be studying next semester. Everything except the text in bold was written by a computer program, designed to finish sentences without sounding too crazy. Pretty cool huh? That plus a sprinkle of random pics from my phone is what passes for content these days 🙂

The other day, we were walking to Kalk Bay to get some birthday icecream. There, right by the path, are TIDE POOLS! The family were a little surprised at my excitement, but I’ve never lived by the coast. And none had told me that Muizenberg had tide pools!!! The next day I returned and spent ages hoping about on the rocks, finding cool creatures and having a ball 🙂 Here are done photos with minimal commentary, for your enjoyment.

There were sea stars (starfish) everywhere! I got excited by the first one, much to the confusion of a child who gestured to the other pools positively overflowing with the beasties.

Tiny shrimp, fish (klipvis), snails, anemones, molluscs, urchins… So much life!

I’ll be there again soon, and you can expect some enthusiastic posts when I find the mythical nudibranches, but for now I’ll restrain myself for the sake of your internet bandwidth. I leave you with this Cape Lappet caterpillar from our garden, a little gift from heaven

Genesis 1:21 – So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

A week ago I arrived in Cape Town, having worked a day in Joberg on the way down. Discussing the woes of Zimbabwe and Nigeria with my Uber driver whiled away the drive to Muizenberg, where Ellie and I will be living for the next month or two. The discussion, and the rapid transition from Joberg (which I loathe) to Muizenberg (which I love) brought up all kinds of feelings and questions. Why choose Zimbabwe? What would life look like here in SA? What are we doing constraining ourselves to a choice of terribly managed countries? Could they get better? Is my driver correct in his gloomy predictions of the future?

Muizenberg for me brings such feelings of peace. This is where I’d take a break from University work, rest, spend time with family and read in a hammock. This is where our honeymoon started and ended, and where various family ‘staycations’ have filled our time with joy. Days often begin with a walk through the village to the Real Bread Co to buy some fresh muffins and tasty rye bread, or a stroll around the vlei. It does wonders for my soul.

It’s jarring to remember that just a few km distant, the Cape Flats ripples with gang violence and trouble. For most people in Cape Town, life is definitely not Muizenberg life. Muiz is like the “Burbclaves” of Stephenson’s Snowcrash, where private security create an enclave of calm in a crazy world. And even here in Muizenberg, my brain is still in SA mode: only carry what you need, no walking alone at night, phone backed up in expectation of potential mugging… I’m told the trains are too dangerous to use these days. This is one aspect of Zim Ellie and I love – the feeling of safety. Weeks on end without thought or dream of being robbed.

It’s weird trying to reconcile things. We can live here in a happy bubble, but beyond that are so many problems and I don’t know how we could help. Zim is similar in a way – there too we live in a bubble, our lived experience very different to that of the larger population thanks to adequate funds and a bit of foreign income. And there too some problems (such as bad governance) seem beyond control. But the key difference? In Zim, I feel like we CAN make a difference, and a large one at that. Simple, everyday actions that support local businesses or create a bit of employment work wonders. A bit of kindness or help to a friend under stress is so appreciated. Community works together as we all struggle with the economic hardships, and even a well placed cup of tea can be a vital ministry. Plus, there are ways that I can use my skills for greater impacts with so many little organizations and passionate people working to build in spite of the government.

This time in SA is a good opportunity to think more about why we want to go back, and about what we can do when we get there. Ellie described it as our “civilization break”, which I think is perfect – some time to enjoy the conveniences of life with power, water and fuel available 24/7 while we plan our future.

Hmm, I’ve gone a little off topic! Muizenberg is full of Joys, and I praise God for the blessings of family, friends and beautiful spaces. I guess I’ll have to summarize all three in a picture so that you can share my rejoicing 🙂

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure. 6 The lines of my boundary have fallen in pleasant places; surely my inheritance is delightful. 7 I will bless the LORD who counsels me… – Psalm 16:5 onward

We’re in South Africa for the next few weeks, so this post will be the last Zimbabwe-themed one for a while (unless Ellie shares done more taxi pictures). The topic of this post? A final happy outing with family 🙂

Lion park, formally known as “lion and cheetah park” (sad), is located 30 minutes outside Harare. The trip out took us closer to an hour, since we were lucky enough to find a fuel station serving petrol!

The park has two main areas. One contains lions in a large enclosure that you can drive around in, while the second had some cages, a restaurant and a game reserve with some less dangerous game.

We were met on our arrival at the restaurant area by a tortoise of note, who made Ellie’s day by enjoying a neck-scratch and letting us admire him:

The cages are never my favourite thing, but it is always interesting to see more reclusive animals up close.

Tour of the cages complete, we entered the game park – the part I’d been waiting for. This is always a good place to see some fun animals – giraffe, zebra, eland, warthogs… And this beauty:

Also these beauties:

Good birds, lovely trees and a welcoming landscape with a mix of grassland, woodland and rock outcrops. This was a fine spot for our picnic and a bit of a walk.

Psalm 15: Lord, who may live in your holy tent? Who may dwell on your sacred mountain?

I’m writing this from a hammock, looking up into a flowering bohinia tree. Flashes of yellow (African Yellow White-eye) and red (Miombo double-collared Sunbird) flit about the flowers. A sharp whistled chirp signals a rarer visitor: a beautiful black male Amethyst Sunbird, his titular violet head patch only visible if it catches the light just so.

Today I agreed to carry on the work I’m doing for the rest of the year. To celebrate, Ellie and I walked in the botanical gardens before lunch and tasty treats a ‘Classic Deserts’. Here’s E up a tree:

We haven’t posted much of late. Some photos of the Nyanga trip with the Ker family will no doubt appear soon, but since we seem to be procrastinating that post I figured I needed to share a quick update. We are happy, we are well, and we will post more the next time something noteworthy passes into our blessed schedule 🙂

Ephesians 6:10-end. Stand firm in the Lord…

We got to hang out with our good friend Scott yesterday. Over lunch, he mused that we should try to be like Thoreau: work one day to support ourselves, live minimally and enjoy nature. ‘Scott!’ I yelled, as epiphany hit, ‘I already do that!’ I work 8-10 hours a week, walk around in nature and live in a cottage on someone else’s land (well, I did until we moved over to my folks house). Needless to say, I am smug with this particular revelation 🙂

We have had no power since Wednesday, which made for an interesting dinner party on Thursday. But plans get made and life goes on. We have been visiting Clare to get work done and enjoy the social and entertainment of that household as a wonderful side benefit.

I’ve had fun finding flowers growing out of old TV cases, weeds climbing over broken fridges and creepers covering ancient PCs. All this in a hidden nook in our garden where I used to hang my hammock and enjoy some solitude. Trash, so quickly being claimed by nature.

That’s all I’ve got for this random little update. We’re happy and healthy, with lots of time to relax. We might have some exciting news soon. We have lovely family and friends. We’re looking forward to being joined by more family soon! Cheers for now.

If our blog posts are more spaced out, it is because our lives have settled in a happy pattern and/or we’ve forgotten to take nice photos. Fortunately, we broke both trends this Sunday when the family BUNKED CHURCH (!) and went on a spontaneous trip to Lake Chivero National Park.

Chivero is a lovely park, with lots of wildlife on display. We see White Rhinos almost every time we go, and this time we came across a little baby! We followed our standard Chivero plan: drive around, find a spot for tea, drive around some more, walk around Bushman Point, scan the shores for birds, establish ourselves in a picnic spot and have a tasty lunch, amble back towards the gate and head home in time for mid-afternoon tea.

The park has a birdlist of 400+ species, but most are migrants that are only seen infrequently. That said, we still saw >60 species, including 12 that were new to our year-list (and Ellie’s life-list!). Not to brag, but miombo specials like the White-breasted Cukooshrike (which make visiting birders drool with envy) are becoming familiar and ‘old hat’ to us these days. There was one super-special sighting though – the Cranes pictured above. I shared the photo with a birding group, who are all very excited; the last time these birds were seen in this particular park was ~10 years ago!

There was one other sighting that got the blood pumping in a different way. It’s that time of year when ostrich are especially uppity. The males have neon pink shins and the fanciest of plumage, and the lucky ones might already have some eggs to guard. So when one appeared out of the reeds nearby and started in our direction, the family retreated to the car to cries of “Run faster! Don’t look back!”. A wise choice, but one that entertained some nearby fishermen on the lake no end.

Other news:
– We’re staying with my folks while our previous hosts have guests
– We made another new friend, who is visiting Zim and happy to find people interested in showing her all the fun places. Our perfect job description!
– I’m now lifting Ellie to her workout class, which leaves me with just enough time to go for a run at ART Farm. I say “run” – I take my binos and stop to look at interesting birds. I may or may not find lots of birds interesting when I need to catch my breath. On Monday I found a Hottentot Teal chilling in a river and unperturbed by my gasping noises – score!
– My work is going well, and should mostly wrap up by mid June. Holiday plans are afoot, and I’m starting to plan a new project to fill my days. Stay tuned.

This blog post the product of an unusually early morning wake-up. Here’s a happy verse from today’s reading from Ephesians 1:

17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

We’ve been pretty busy, but ‘we should do a blog post’ has reached critical mass 🙂 This last weekend, we took a break from our relaxed lives and relaxed in a different setting for a few nights with my parents and a whole lot of nature. This trip was a present for Ellie, who is now officially older than my for a whole three months. We stayed in a cottage on Conomara lower dam, courtesy of a friend of my dad’s. As a sign of gratitude to them, I’m not going to brag with photos of the trout dad caught… instead, here’s the biggest thing I caught:

Walks around the dam, birding, fishing, messing about in boats, good meals, fires and books. Lots of books. We read ~4 books each? Partly because Ellie and I have discovered Jon Scalzi – a prolific new author whose works range from classic action to sci-fi to “buckwild”. Anyway, enough about that trip.

We’ve done some painting:

We’ve had lots of time with friends, including Potjie/bonfire:

We’ve been to Mukuvisi a lot, seeing baby giraffes, going with friends, watching birds

We’ve seen a lot of my parents, and played a fair bit of ping-pong. They have an orchid:

We’ve introduced some friends to ‘Swoggle”, a game invented last Christmas at the Ker household:

Work is getting more busy (in fact this is procrastination) but with bad power and internet the last few days, I haven’t done much. This evening we have life group, tomorrow a breakfast, tomorrow pm dinner and sokkie plans… It’s tough fitting everything in 🙂

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith – Heb 12