Holiday in South Africa

This is the beginning of our holiday (aka vacation) in South Africa. We started in Johannesburg and went to Kruger National Park. We'll post pictures as we have time, but didn't want to delay any longer in getting started.


Typical hillside village between Johannesburg and Kruger National Park.


MacMac Waterfall between Johannesburg and Kruger National Park.


Did we mention it rained a lot the first few days?! Dani decided to "sing in the rain" before heading out for the day. This is the view of the garden from our room.


And this is the room. Typical style was twin beds.


Buffalo - One of the BIG 5. The BIG 5 are determined by the difficulty of hunting the animal on foot. The BIG 5 are buffalo, leopard, lion, rhino & elephant.


Leopard - This is a leopard eating it's prey. The picture is difficult to see, but if you open it up bigger you may get a view of the leopard's eyes.


Giraffe - This was Dani's favorite animal to see.


"Mini deer" - These are full grown, but look like fawns.


Vultures - We never fully decided what they were scavenging on, but it was impressive to see.

Baboon w/ Impala - Neat to see all the creatures living in harmony (as long as they aren't the predator.)

Baboons - Just look at the baby. Most of the baboons we saw had babies since it's spring in the Southern Hemisphere.

Water Monitor - Very neat lizard. We only saw a handful of them during our travels.

Here we are in Kruger National Park on top of a ridge. And guess why we stopped there - because there weren't "bathrooms" anywhere else. (And who do you think needed one?) The view ended up being a beautiful bonus!

Still in Kruger National Park. It did rain on and off throughout the day, but the cooler weather was a blessing in disguise since all the animals were out in the middle of the day. Usually the animals are active only in the morning and at night.

This is the Pretoriuskop "rest camp" within the Kruger National Park boundaries. One "hut" for two people. And you can see the little Toyota Versa we drove for 18 days, almost 3,000 miles!

Sausage Tree - The "fruit" on this tree was so fascinating!

This is the common area in the rest camp at Pretoriuskop.

Look carefully. . . Do you notice anything that seems not right? . . . Like the driver being on the right side of the vehicle and the vehicle being on the left side of the road?!

Saddle Billed Stork - Very interesting to watch! And the bill is so unique.

We visited the Shangana Cultural Village. This is the chief and his family. (Dani doesn't believe they actually live there - that it was a tourist trap!)

Merry Christmas from AED PM's

Here is a picture of the ANSF (Afghanistan National Security Force) Project Management team.

VCR Mission

Yes, we owe everyone pictures from South Africa, but we wanted to pass along a good news story. We've been helping with the Volunteer Community Relations (VCR) mission. We haven't been able to go out into the community yet, but our time will come.

These articles are what being here is about more than the violence and politics the media is undoubtedly feeding in the public in the states.

http://www.catholicherald.com/detail.html?sub_id=11739

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20091212/WDH0101/912120507/-1/a

Dubai in an Afternoon

Whenever we leave Afghanistan for R&R or redeployment we travel through Dubai. We had an entire afternoon in the city on our way to South Africa, so we took a tour and went skiing. Yes, skiing in the middle of the desert!


Skyline under construction. Just look at all those sky cranes.


This is a hotel mimicking old style buildings. In the background you can see the Burg al Arab.

Burg al Arab - This is the fancy sail shaped hotel with a helicopter landing pad on top. It is the world's only 7 star hotel. It costs about $50 just to get in, and you have to have an appointment. Since we didn't have an appoinment, entry will have to wait until next time.

Billy in front of the world's tallest building. There is also a fountain show similar (okay, basically identical) to the one at the Bellagio in Las Vegas in this pond.

Here we are skiing! It's an indoor ski hill. To the left of us you can see the midway of the chair lift.

This is the bottom of the ski hill. All the lights in the background is the mall! Yes, you could sit in the warm mall and watch people ski and sled.

Maiden Shahr, Wardak

Dani also took a trip to Maiden Shahar in the Wardak Province. This is about an hour to two hour drive depending on traffic, or a 20 to 30 minute helo trip. Here are some of her photos.


Picture of the Kabul International Airport terminal and "gates."


More of KIA (Kabul International Airport).


Near KIA - the "mounds" of dirt are actually conical homes.

Kabul River running through town.

A fort or ruins on top of a hill in Kabul.

View of the city - Kabul.

Between Kabul and Maiden Shahr - a valley of life.

Dani, Gareth and Nova at FOB Airborne. (FOB = forward operating base) This is in Maiden Shahr.

Nova and Dani at FOB Airborne. Look at the beautiful hills in the background.

Picture of one of the large project sites in Wardak Province. This will be a National Logistics Training Center (NPTC) for the ANP. It's one of the ANP Program's flagship projects. The contract value is almost $100M.

Another view of the NPTC. This shows the foundation excavation.

Another view of the NPTC. This shows the foundation excavation with the perimeter wall.

A valley with lots of greenery and trees between Kabul and Maiden Shahr.

Here is a reservoir! There is a lot of water in Afghanistan but there is very little control of the water. So, a larger body of water like this is rare. Dani found it interesting that the height of the dam would imply the water level has been significantly higher than shown in this photo. For that to occur, the inundation area behind the dam would flood what appears to be populated areas.

Another populated corridor between the provinces.

Arriving back in Kabul - the buildings don't even stop at the foothills. . .

Halloween Fun

Just because we were in Afghanistan didn't mean the MWR committee couldn't throw together a fun Halloween bash. Check out the photos below. (Captions are below each photo, names from left to right.)


The ANP Gang: Nova, Rebekah, Alan, Dani & Paris



Rebekah, Nova, Dani, Jean, Carde, Paris & April



Our girl from Arkansas (Tabitha) - barefoot an pregnant! (with Alan)

Dani and Alex Almeida (from Walla Walla District!)

Decorating the office for the holiday.

Afghanistan Overview & Bamyan

Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces, similar to how the United States is divided into 50 states. Within each province there several districts, similar to counties in the United States. Each province is lead by a governor, and has representation in the bicameral National Assembly of Afghanistan.
















The National Assembly of Afghanistan has an upper house (House of Elders “Mesherano”) and the lower house (House of the People “Wolesi Jirga”). The House of Elders has 102 members, with each province having at least 2 members, and serves more of an advisory role rather than that of law making. The House of the People bears the greater burden of law making and consists of 249 delegates. In each House, there are considerations made for women, disabled, impaired and Kurchis nomad delegates.

Now that there is some general understanding of the country, Dani went on a trip to the province of Bamyan. Bamyan is number 15 on this map, the middle of the country. (We live at Kabul, number 22 on the map). Bamyan has the only female governor in Afghanistan with a majority of the population being Hazaras. In addition to the natural beauty Bamyan is known for, it is recognized as one of the safest provinces in the country which has allowed for greater focus on civil rebuilding.


Currently, Bamyan is the operations base for the New Zealand peace keeping force called a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). To date the Kiwi’s (New Zealander’s) have helped with reconstruction work including building bridges and schools as well as maintaining security in the region. The New Zealand Police are also working in the region to help train the Afghan National Police (ANP). (In July 2006 three Afghan women signed to join the ANP in Bamyan, the first time women have joined a police force in Afghanistan.)
(Note: Captions for photos are below the photo.)

















Photo: New Zealand Base entrance.

Photo: Bamyan University. The Taliban used this as a military base during their regime.

Photo: Old Russian tank sitting in a field near the existing Afghan National Police facility.
















Photo: Military police advisors and ANP Commander. The Commander just accepted the keys to a new facility.

Photo: Statue of Baba Mazari, or Rather Mazari, who is considered one of the great leaders of Bamyan.
************************************
As mentioned before, the province and city of Bamyan are known for their beauty. The trip between Kabul and Bamyan is only a glimpse of the magestic mountains, river valley villages, and a way of life for many people.

















Photo: Valley of Bamyan City




















Photo: River vally at the foot of mountains.

Photo: Life in the valleys.

Photo: Mountains.
















Photo: More mountains - they just keep going, and going.

















Photo: "Suburbs" of Kabul.

*************************
The history of Bamyan also makes this province and the city of Bamyan famous. In antiquity, central Afghanistan was strategically placed to thrive from the Silk Road caravans which cris-crossed the region trading between the Roman Empire, China, Central and South Asia. Bamyan was a stopping off point for many travelers. It was here where elements of Greek, Persian and Buddhist art were combined into a unique classical style, known as Greco-Buddhist art.

Many statues of Buddha are carved into the sides of cliffs facing Bamyan city and are evidence of an early Buddhist monastery. The two most prominent of these statues were standing Buddhas, now known as the Buddhas of Bamyan, measuring 55 and 37 meters (180 foot and 120 foot) high respectively. They were the largest examples of standing Buddha carvings in the world, likely erected in the 4th or 5th century C.E. In March 2001, the Taliban decreed that the statues were idolatrous and ordered them to be demolished with anti-aircraft artillery and explosives.





















Photo: Dani in front of "baby" Buddah





















Photo: "King" Buddah (the largest). You can barely see the outline of where the Buddah sat inside this alcove.
















Photo: "Queen" Buddah. The scaffolding is to help prevent the back wall from caving in. There are organizations considering reconstruction of the Bamyan Buddahs, but construction activities have not started.
















Photo: Dani's travel group in front of "King" Buddah.

**************************
Below are pictures of the "couuntry side" in Bamyan and the daily life of the people.

Photo: Donkey and boy moving potatoes.

.

Photos: Men during "harvest."

Photo: Potato storage area (in the yellow sacks).

Photo: Women walking to the market.

Photo: Women and children walking home.

Photo: Boy and his "vehicle." Just amazing how he'd steer them with a branch.

****************************

Since Billy and Dani visited Bryce Canyon National Park this spring with Mark and Nina, the following area reminded Dani of the states. So, if we were to come back to this area in a million years, perhaps erosion will have taken its toll on the landscape and spires like Bryce would be visible. The coloring of the landscape was also very unique!

Photo: "Future Bryce"

Photo: Erosion creating beautiful drainages.

Photo: Civilization up every valley.

Photo: another valley of farming fields and homes.

************

The landscape on the way into Kabul is very different than the mountains to Bamyan. There is substancially more flat ground with variable irrigation. The next series of photos were taken near Kabul.

Photo: Farmland where the fields are divided by mounds of dirt, walls, or trees/shrubs.

Photo: Farmland & river. Notice how the greenery disappears as you get closer to the hill in this photo.

Photo: This is a tent neighborhood. From Dani's travels it appears most people live in homes constructed from mud wall, but this photo demonstrates an even poorer group of people.

Photo: Closing in on the capital, Kabul. The homes are built of mud and CMU and each has a wall around the perimeter. Also notice the elevvation differences just in this photo! All "buildable" land is being used.

*******************

The transportation to Bamyan was via helicopter. The neat part is that the crew is from Colombia! It was neat to talk with them and enjoy part of the flight basically in the cock pit.

Photo: Flight crew for USACE.

Photo: Dani with flight engineer and pilot. Yes, this was taken while we were flying!

Photo: Dani in front of the helo- a Russian MI-8.

************

Well, that's it for this time. We hope everyone is doing well!