07.21.19 Visit from Yap friends

This week I had a very nice visit from my friends that live in Yap, Heidi and Amos and their four beautiful children Tommy, Raina, Honora and Theo. It was great to see them again. The visit was all too short. They are on their vacation - one every three years from the mission in Yap. They drove over 3000 miles in three weeks visiting friends and colleagues and supporters. I was thrilled they made the time to stop here and see me.

They were interested in the Revolutionary War and were definitely in the right place. After lunch we first started at Bates farm for Kimball's ice cream then we were off for our road trip. The kids were great. They are fun and well behaved and very adventuresome.

Our first stop was the North Bridge in Concord - "the shot heard around the world" for American freedom. They spent some time talking to the park rangers and soaking up the history and the kids enjoyed the wide open space to run and play. From there we stopped at the Minute Man National Park and walked along Battle Road. The next stop was the Lexington Green and the old cemetery behind First Church. By this time we were hungry again and had a tasty dinner at Mario's in Lexington.  It was so very nice to see them all again and reestablish connections with all six of them  Theo was just a baby when I left so he would not remember me, but Tommy, Raina and Honora did. That made it special for me. And they all remembered Shorty, who was happy to see them again. They were very helpful in getting Shorty organized for his travels to Boston and they filled me in on some of the back stories of getting Shorty into his kennel.

Here is Amos, Heidi and Theo, Raina, Honora and Tommy (kids l to r).



North Bridge.




Monument - Minute Man and plough.

Theo                                                                        Theo and Honora

                     


Honora                                                                        Raina with a dragonfly


            

Raina                                                                   Tommy and Theo

             


Tommy                                                                   Raina and Honora

              




Climbing trees. Look closely. Honora is giving Theo a boost.

 

Minute Man National Park.               We found a turkey and the kids were watching three in the field.

  

Climbing trees was a frequent activity. They all were comfortable climbing! And Raina was wearing a skirt!



    

Theo and Amos were far ahead of us as we wandered through the old historic cemetery looking at gravestones. The oldest was from 1691.



It was sad to see them leave and I do hope we will all meet again sometime soon!  Amos is a pilot for PMA, a mission organization with headquarters in Guam. They provide a great service for the people of Yap. Heidi teaches Bible classes and home schools her children as well as several local children. They work hard, make do with little, and are a warm and loving family. May God always keep them safe in their travels and work.

07/15/19 Birding in Ghana. Kakum National Park canopies

The trip to Ghana was capped with a birding trip to Kakum National Park and surrounding areas.  The park has a treetop canopy - seven actually, where we did our bird watching for most of the morning. Overall, we identified 70 different species.

African pied hornbill sitting in the picturesque setting of the canopy. This is probably the best of the photographs showing the rainforest and the bird. It was beautiful up there, if not a little bumpy with the swinging of the walkway and vibrations on the center platforms.

 

This was a very popular place with at least two hundred school children crossing the seven canopy walks while I was there and perhaps a thousand people arriving in buses and private cars and Uber!



View of the forest canopy from the walk.






The canopy walkway. Yes, I stopped briefly to look down a time or two. Far drop down!

Stephen, the park guide.





James, the birding guide, calling a few friends of the feather wearing type. He was a very professional and nice guide.



School kids of all ages with their teachers crossing the canopies. Without fear there can be no courage. Many courageous kids.











She made it!

Wasn't the only taking pictures. He made it across and photographed his friends.




Pretty flowering tree.



An iguana.



Many different hornbills identified flying through the canopy.



Splendid sunbird. Beautiful colors.



Lowe's monkey, albeit a little blurred. He was not holding still for the camera! Fun to watch him from above the canopy.



Black and white flycatcher.

Palm nut vulture in flight.

African pied hornbill.

Shrikes.

Black winged Bishop.

More school kids and school teachers.
















Another four legged critter climbing up a tree.



We birded along a side road and saw a few locals at work, some pretty flowers and a butterfly.




















A falcon far, far away!









Hope  you enjoyed this small adventure in Ghana.