Christmas trip to Durban Dec 26-29, 2013

Walking to the beach from our B&B--note the crowds ahead.  Busiest time of the whole year.

Two old men on the beach who think they are still young!  Notice the huge waves.

The only white skinned, gray haired men on the whole beach. Standing out in a crowd is a 'No No" here.

The waves were ruthless so they didn't stay in the water very long.

We took a bus tour of Durban.  Pretty parks.

Water front behind the park with sail boats, etc.

Upscale apartment downtown Durban overlooking the beach.

Some of the buildings were very old architecture.

Various styles of architecture.

Post office downtown

Same post office, front view.

Maybe City Hall.  I can't remember now.

Soccer stadium.  Notice people can climb to the top of the arch--525 steps.  

Nice parks and municipal buildings.

Durban Harbor.  Huge port in the Indian ocean

Downtown park.

Very lush, green vegetation.  It rains a lot-everyday while we were there for part of the day.

Overlooking the city of Durban--largest city in South Africa

After the tour we went to the beach and saw sand sculptures.

Everyone enjoys the beach--note the Muslims on the wharf and in front of the sculptures.

Fun things to do and see on the boardwalk.

Note the string of people behind us in the water.  The lifeguards make them stay in a cluster to swim so they can keep an eye on them.

We stood out like sore thumbs--too white on this beach.

It was very clean and well kept with showers to wash off the sand.

The sand was so clean, but the waves were very rough and the sun very hot.  We couldn't stay more than an hour.

It was a fun Christmas outing with Lonny and Glenda Adams.

Service at another Orphanage in Johannesburg area

This is Mama who runs an orphanage for disabled people.

They have physical and mental disabilities but love ice cream and cupcakes.

Bellistons, Adams, DaBells, Eggetts and Klinglers joined us to serve these people.

Sister Adams helped assess the abilities of some of the kids there.  She was a Special Education teacher.

Elders from the area--the second from the left is Elder Barton from Kaysville.  Elder Brinkerhoff is in the BYU shirt.  He is grandson to friends we knew in Rockville, MD.

More from the Orphanage

The kids eating their meal

The boys just loved the men and their gifts!

Joseph, the gardener.  The garden supplies their veggies.

Connie, the Hoffmans, Bob and Adams in the back.

Having fun jumping rope.  Momma in the dress runs the orphanage.

Christmas activity at the Orphanage

We joined the DaBells, Adams, Hoffmans and Nielsens in a Christmas project at the orphanage in Tembezi

All the kids helped take the food into the kitchen

They set up their little tables and chairs and ran to greet and welcome us.

The Tshabalala family put on the nativity pageant for them.  We don't know if they understood but they listened and watched.  

Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, the shepherd, the wiseman and angels (done by the Tshabalala family)

They were all very attentive during the program.  Afterwards we fed them hotdogs, cheetoes, drinks, cookies and apples.

The children especially loved the men and hung on them.  We took gifts of backpacks, flip-flops and toys.
THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO DONATED TO THE ORPHANAGE! 

YSA DECEMBER ACTIVITY

Sinethemba, Golda, Lisa, and Annah at the temple grounds

YSA with Temple in background

Back of Temple

YSA outside Mandela's home.

Looking into entrance at Mandela's home.  Annah in yellow

Happy Thanksgiving dinner in the White House garage

We had a lovely meal set up in the white house triple garage.

About 75 of us enjoyed our Thanksgiving meal together.  We took a two hour lunch for Thanksgiving since this is not a South African holiday.  But some of them enjoyed eating with us too.  The next morning we left with Adams to Kruger National Park for the week-end.