The Parents Came

I couldn't resist borrowing the title idea from one of the books I enjoyed so much when I was a kid, The Relatives Came.

Anyway, the parents came!  What a blessing and delight it was to have them here.  We got to experience a wide variety of life here during the three weeks.

Just arrived!  Do our smiles show how excited we are to be
together in TZ?

First morning of enjoying TZ coffee in my absolute favorite
spot in my house - the porch

They got to meet all of my teammates

First dinner out for tasty barbecued meats with the team

 Since school had just gone on break, we opted to take a short safari at the beginning of their visit before teachers and students came back for the next term.  So our safari guide came and picked us up from the village and off we went!

Our first destination was Tarangire National Park, known for having many elephants and huge baobab trees.

A cheetah and her cub - a rare treat to see!

After a full day of game drive, we headed to the lodge which would be our home base for the trip.  It blew us out of the water!  I would say it's close to my imagination of paradise.

A fireplace in the room that also opens to the shower on the
other side

Coffee and tea delivered each morning

Spectacular lush gardens that provide a bountiful amount of
fresh ingredients for the kitchen

Super friendly staff and campfire talks each night

Early morning bread baking with the bakers

Daily coffee roasting of the beans grown and harvested right
there on the farm.  You can't get their coffee anywhere else.
What's roasted each day will be in your cup the next morning.

I just couldn't get over the garden

We even got to try our hands at milking the cows

I am not nearly as good as the professionals

Hats provided to wear around the farm

Elephant Cave Tour

Did you know that elephants dig caves like these to get
minerals from the soil? I sure didn't.

Huge cabbage!

Real vacation - coffee on the porch

With quite the view

I was in kale paradise!

On the second day, we hardly wanted to leave the farm, but we had already arranged to go to the crater (actually we learned that it's a caldera, but everyone calls it the crater).  Even though we had to leave the peace and beauty of the farm, it was worth it.  It's such a unique geographical location.

Even the drive getting there is stunning

The hippo pool

Lions doing what they do best - laying around

Our final sighting of the day and what a treat,
so up close

From the overlook into the crater

The next two days were total leisure days at the farm - enjoying the most delectable meals, picking veggies in the garden, milking cows, watching goats and pigs, learning about the farm and history, watching birds, looking at unique flowers, walking through the coffee fields, and playing games.

Breakfast buffet

Triominos

Quiddler with our safari guide

One of our bird friends who would like to have
some of our morning toast

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and would highly recommend all that we did.  Then it was time to head back to my home.  We were happy to return to a sighting of the mountain, finally!  Up until that point, they just had to trust that it was really there behind the clouds.

Getting to see some of our colorful sunrises

As a birthday present, I gave my dad a round of golf at our local golf club.  Yes, we have a golf club :)  Maybe not the most pristine course you've ever seen, and maybe the caddy sometimes had to turn off the water sprinklers before putting, but it was a fun experience nonetheless!

Golfing in TZ!

 Along the drive, we also got to see one of the seemingly impossible feats that people are able to accomplish.

Can you imagine?

As a Mother's Day present, I gave my mom a trip to a coffee lodge for lunch and a blown glass piece of her choosing.  There is a really neat shop there where everything is made by craftsmen with disabilities right there on location.  I find the art of blown glass absolutely fascinating.  My mom picked out a beautiful green vase that you may see if you visit them.

Back at the village they got some entertainment from our kids. It was maize harvesting time and they were having the time of their lives getting to ride on the trailer.

 The views of the mountain got even better over the days:

Then the new school term started, so my parents got to meet the teachers and students.  Everyone was so excited to meet my mom and dad!

Morning assembly

The art club's volcano project

Another beautiful morning for assembly with the mountain
as our backdrop

While I was at work, my parents got to experience some of school life.  They were pretty much adopted by the Standard II class who insisted that they come to their Bible class every morning.  You wouldn't believe the depth of the questions those kids ask, our little theologians.  They helped a lot in the library by sorting through new books and getting them labeled to put on the shelves.  Students get so excited when there are some new choices on the shelves.  They joined us for lunch where they were peppered with a million and one questions, which the kids all still remember the answers to by the way. 

No parent visit would be complete without a project.  Haha!  My request this time was to build a little raised garden bed so that I could grow a few veggies that are hard to find locally or just not available at all, such as yellow squash, sungold tomatoes, jalapenos, and serrano peppers.

Our gardeners were happy to work with my dad to make it happen.  They did a great job!

 Of course we enjoyed cooking some of our favorite dishes together.

Dutch Baby / German Pancake

I was so glad that the international market fell on a weekend that they were here.  They got to see some of the special products that people are making or growing.

 I made sure that they got to try the local foods.  We had ugali and beans and makande in the school dining room, but we needed to go out to try chips mayai.

Chips mayai - basically a french fry omelette 

We even had a Hash while they were here.  It was a good one (other than the "wait-a-bits" that kept snagging us along the way).  It was called the Lion King Rock Hash.

On-on!

The "wait-a-bits" got someone

See how it got the name?

View Point ahead

On Lion King Rock

Beautiful dessert flowers blooming along the way

 There was one last day back at the village with school going on.  The teachers really loved getting to meet and chat with my parents.  They especially loved that my parents made some special Texas treats for them during our training days - Texas Lemonade and Texas Iced Sweet Tea.  The teachers still talk about those drinks to this day.

My excellent math and science teacher loves her selfies :)

What a sweet time!  These are memories we will cherish forever.

The Parents Came to Rafiki TZ!