God Is Good: Birds Aplenty

[mostly written late Monday, Jan 25] God is good…ALL the time. I’ve reminded myself of this a couple of times today, with some effort, while at other times, needing no reminding. Shall I expound?

The day [Monday] began with Mo’s body rejecting her morning milk…while lying in bed, cuddling with daddy. Not exactly anyone’s idea of a fine way to greet the morning. She, however, seemed to bounce back quickly and ate some banana, so our plans to visit Rugezi Marsh, with new friends Heather and Manasseh (and their friend in town from the UK), for a boat ride and bird watching, went forward as scheduled!

All seemed well, until about the midpoint of our bumpy car ride through the Rwandan countryside. At this point Mo “re-processed” her banana into my lap. Yes, friends, God is good, even when wearing someone else’s breakfast. I chose to ignore the “off” banana smell (that I would wear for the next few hours) and the un-compassionate onlookers starring into the car, pointing and laughing while murmuring (or shouting), “Muzungu”. And I chose, with some effort, to remember: God is good…all the time.

All cleaned-ish up [read: wiped up with a pile of thin paper napkins and some baby wipes, and still rather damp through two layers], we trekked toward the marsh once again.  Picture large green mountains with miles of tea plants running the length of the valleys…yes, there is no doubt, God is Good!

Rows and rows of tea plants

As I’m sure you can imagine, I wasn’t keen to pull out my camera following the re-processing event just in case a repeat performance was near at hand, thus I didn’t get a shot of the tea laden valley. The picture above gives a general idea, though it was taken on Sunday on the trip home from Rukizi (tea laden valleys are a dime a dozen here).

  

Pink-backed Pelican greeting us upon arrival

We arrived at the remote marsh/lake, with not a sole on it, save a handful of local boys fishing along the banks. We stepped into the large row boat, with a puke container in hand (see, now we are ready!), and shoved off across this serene, picturesque piece of God’s creation, green, crop-filled hills all around. 

Mommy, let go please, I got this. 

[The lack of life vests was a concern for a split second, but given it was a man-powered boat, on a calm day, with no other water traffic at all, I decided to hang on tight to the munchkins and enjoy the ride.

The boat belonged to a local man who uses it as a way to support himself. It’s a water taxi of sorts, sometimes carrying bird watchers, other times transporting local villagers across the water to their homes on the distant, marshy banks. We were the former.

Over the course of our time on this amazing lake we saw upwards of 20 different kinds of birds, some especially rare ones, too - you know, like the ones you see in those National Geographic books or possibly at the zoo but never in their natural setting because their natural setting happens to be in, say, Africa. And, thanks to our trusty Birds of East Africa book (thanks Maillys, we miss you), we were able to identify most all of them!

Great Egret

Hadada Ibis (wings were emerald green!)

Long-toed Lapwing (red eyes and legs)

This Malachite Kingfisher was the most colorful bird that
we saw, but also the smallest and quickest. It is in the
grass to the right - orange, yellow, blue, and red!

 

Sacred Ibis

Grey Crowned Cranes

Seeing these was the crowning moment of our
excursion for Beebs!

God IS good! But, anyone sitting in an old wooden row boat, on a beautiful, quiet marsh, in the-middle-of-nowhere, Rwanda, observing the amazing variety of feathered friends around her could tell you that (no matter how she might smell!).

While having someone get sick all over me, on the way to a remote Rwandan marsh, where quick access to running water and cleaning supplies is not a thing, was not exactly how I foresaw the day progressing (I’m weird like that, I know), it was a good day overall. Talk about an incredible home school field trip! We spent uninterrupted time observing God’s amazing handiwork, and we were off the grid for a half day. Yep, God is good, all the time!

[Oh, and in case you were concerned, Mo did not get sick again, either on the boat or later. She seems to be back to full health. We repeatedly tell her not to put things in her mouth, including her hands, but She. Is. One. We are betting on a stronger immune system when she leaves here!]

  

Coram Deo – The Mrs Dr

A meal, in three parts!

p.s. For those who have wondered: though cooking full meals on a single electric eye with no microwave or refrigeration continues to stretch me, we have moved up from just rice (some days, just barely!). We’ve even had some non-bean/rice triumphs (penne mac and cheese Monday night was a winner). It’s a work in progress that you are likely to hear more about in the coming weeks!