WOW!

The past two weeks have been HECTIC!
We know it's been a while since we've gotten around to updating the blog, but you wouldn't believe what we've been up to.
First of all, it sounds like the California Fire Department could use our help fighting forest fires because the two of us have been fighting some fires of our own here on the farm and on the surrounding land.
A couple days ago we looked out across the valley and saw some intense fires burning along a mountain ridge. As the night went on the fires began to approach our land, some of the fires spanning many hundreds of yards (in our case meters).
Before we knew it we could see fires approaching from all sides of the farm, and we quickly prepared to prevent them from getting close enough to melt down our electric fence.
Luckily none of the fence was burnt, but it definitely made for a crazy night.

We didn't have to fight any of the fires that night, but the next day we set out to burn fire breaks to prevent future fires from getting onto the farm. With only one match lit a huge patch of bushland almost immediately caught ablaze and we ran around smothering it with blankets to put it out. Needless to say we have no more arm hair!

The next day we were working on finishing the cottage, which we are thrilled to say is almost completed, and we looked across the valley to see a group of men with hunting dogs. In South Africa it is illegal to hunt any type of buck, so Andrew and Rae called the police to report that we had poachers on our land. The police arrived and Andrew (Wartnaby) hopped into the police truck and drove with them to chase the poachers down and arrest them. It was pretty cool because the two of us just sat on the side of the hill with binoculars and reported to the police and Andrew where the men were running to. Unluckily the men all got away.

In one week we have turned into Firefighters and Vigilantes.

But thats not all.

We also have a future in big game hunting.
No we didn't hunt any big game, but we definitely found some.

Last weekend the two of us went with Rae's brother, also named Andrew, to the Hluhluwe/Imfolozi Game Reserve. There are way to many Andrew's in South Africa.
If we could relate our experience in the game reserve to any popular film, without a doubt it would be Jurassic Park. Enough said.

What we're really excited about is was happened this past Tuesday. Now we've told you about the village that we've been building on the farm, and how it will be used for family to stay there while we can teach them how to collect rain water, use solar power, raise and use chickens, use proper hygeine, etc... Well on Tuesday we found that family.

The family consists of an elderly man and woman, a daughter of about 30 years old, and four school children, all living in the conditions of literally the 1400's. The family lives in three round houses with no running water, electricity, or any type of basic modern technology. We met the family at Thembisa after they had walked at least two miles through mountainous terrain because they had heard that we could feed them. These people literally had no where else to turn. Amazingly, when we drove them back to their house to check out where they were living and if we could help them, it was the first time that they had EVER ridden in a car. They didn't know how to open the doors to get out of the car. HECTIC!

Only two weeks left here in Africa, and we're feeling awesomely blessed to have met the family that we've worked all summer in preparation for.

Can't wait to see you all when we get back, but we're definitely enjoying these last few days!

Cheers!
Andrew and Ben