Bulembu

I'm doing this post a little out of order because this little town on a high mountain in Swaziland, and especially the Bulembu Lodge where we stayed kept whispering "Hilda" to me.  The flowers and gardens; the mountains all around; the small village all made me think of her mountain birthplace of Matagalpa, Nicaragua.  So...sisters...on the anniversary of her birthday (Aug 31) I wanted to share this little bit of Africa....that carries the spirit of our mother.

We spent the day in Swaziland: the Ngwenya Glass factory, a craft fair, and a Swazi Cultural Village. We had a very full day and set the GPS for our accommodations for the night.  Our destination: Bulembu.  To get there we had to go through Piggs Peak.  After traveling for more than an hour on a very dark,windy, mountain road (with the additional challenge of going around a bend to find people walking at the side of the road in the middle of nowhere) oh! and no signs telling us if we were on the right road or how far to our destination...which added to our uncertainty....we finally got to Piggs Peak...a small town, the only town, on the way to Bulembu Lodge.  We stopped and asked for directions and were told to go 2 blocks down the road and turn left...with the caution...."That's a lousy road."  We found the one sign that marked our path and onward and UPward we went.  I have no ability to  describe the journey of those next 18 kilometers (about 12 miles) with any hope of communicating how awful that road was.  It was very dark...no lights at all.  It took us more than an hour to travel it.  It was not paved. Portions, VERY small portions had been paved at one time or other...but now they were just huge gigantic pot holes.  The rest of the road went back and forth between washboard rattling hardpan (and dodging deep ruts at the same time) and dust that was 4 to 6 inches deep...which made us feel like we were sliding sideways.  It was horrible.  I know we were all thinking we should turn around and go back...but then we thought of the drive back down the hill from Piggs Peak and it didn't seem possible, so on we went.  All the women were giggling because of nerves.  The men were quiet.  White knuckled quiet.  We'd go around a bend and there would be people walking on the road.  (Where were they going????  Where had they come from????)  We came around another bend and Elder Pead said..."What is that?  A cat?"  Then it lifted off and flew away.  A beautiful owl.  Our poor van was being battered and rattled and banged.  We were sure we lost the muffler on one major hit.  I said a little prayer for the van and told Heavenly Father...really, if we had known we were headed into this we wouldn't have come this way.  All of our anxiety was magnified because we didn't know how much longer we had to travel, or if we'd come to an impasse of fallen tree or gate.  So...we kept going, and going.  And praying and praying.  About a third of the way up the thought came to me...Heavenly Father knows this van of missionaries is going up this mountain.  We will be alright. But it was a very tense ride.  I just kept praying for it to be over.  We finally made it and found our lodge.  When we were checked in and sitting in the dining hall...we just looked at each other kind of shaking our heads.  David said....we are here.  We should offer a prayer of thanksgiving.  So, as he started to say a prayer, his voice broke with emotion, relief, and thanksgiving.  We were never so happy to get someplace as we were to Bulembu.

A quick history: Bulembu used to be a mining town.  Unfortunately, they mined asbestos so that business went belly up.  The town was close to dying when it was purchased by a private party.  It is a special town that has taken the responsibility of taking care of over 350 orphans.  HIV/Aids is an epidemic in Swaziland.  We took a tour of the town and our tour guide said, "Swazis love each other....too much"  His opinion was they look at Aids as just another disease and so don't do anything to prevent it.  There were condom dispensers in every public bathroom we visited.  Anyway...with the deaths of parents there are many orphans and this little mountain town has taken the responsibility of taking care of some of them.  If you want to read more you can go to bulembu.org.  It is a town that has taken the Savior as their example and chosen this way to be like Him.  It is wonderful that in this world there is a little town whose sole existence is to help orphaned children.
So...following are pictures of 1st: the Bulembu Lodge grounds and then, 2nd: the town and mountains all around.  Teenie, Lilia, and Sam....Hilda was visiting Bulembu with me that day.

Those tall skinny trees in the middle are papaya trees.  You can see the fruit on the shorter one dead center.

Christine!  What are you doing here?????  (Spooky!  I look so much like my sister!)

I didn't see the nasturtiums until just as we were packing the van to leave.  They were around the corner from where we parked.  The icing on the cake!

Actually, this one was taken in Cape Town, but this just seemed like the perfect place to show it!

These were all taken in the gardens of the Bulembu Lodge.  Following are pictures of the town.  They have 3 main businesses there: dairy, honey, and spring water.  They also have a small bakery where they make bread for the children and the town. 

The lodge is at the top of that curving hill in the center of the photo.  That gray mound on the left is what is left after mining asbestos.

One of the businesses in Bulembu is a dairy.  What used to be the golf course/country club for the mine owners is now pasture land for the cows.

These are the houses where the mine workers used to live.  They now stand empty except for the top 3 rows, where the orphans are now housed.  They have 6-8 kids per house and an "Aunty".

That one lonely tree 

That's David standing at the bottom of this very tall tree.

Needless to say, we took a different road out of Bulembu!  The visit to this town was snuggled between the frenetic shopping fun of Mbabane and our wild visit to Kruger Park.  (Both of which I will write about).  We were blessed to visit a place and people that we had never heard of....but which we will never forget.