Merry Christmas from Ham Radio Blogspot

A YLs Guide to Christmas Gifts by M3TLL - Louise

Living with a radio ham means you instantly have ideas for Christmas gift buying. If you want to buy your radio amateur a hobby themed gift here are a few ideas you might want to consider.

Ideas for Stocking Fillers

* Anything with his callsign on it
I can't begin to describe the joy on 2E0HTS's face when he received through the post from an Slovenian ham friend (S57CW/S57ORG) a miniature Slovenian registration plate with his callsign on it. I can only assume the same would apply for any merchandise with his callsign written on it. A mug, a tshirt, a woolly hat for his DXpeditions. The possibilities are pretty much endless.

* Earphones
If, like me, occasionally you want some peace and quiet from the endless CQ calls and other amateurs tuning up then why not invest in a good pair of earphones. He'll think you care, you'll be able to watch telly in peace! Happy Christmas!

* Stationery
A radio ham always needs something to scrawl on and with. I learnt early on not to leave any important documents within a 10 metre radius of the ham shack as they're likely to come back with random callsigns, names and signal reports written on. Why not buy him some nice writing equipment of his very own to show him you care this festive season?

Big presents

If you're wanting to spend a bit more on the ham in your life then the list is simple: radio, antenna, atu, power supply, microphone. Last year 2E0HTS was lucky enough to get an FT-817 from Santa. If you are going to buy something like this make sure you either buy new from a supplier like Waters and Stanton. Or, if you are wanting to go second hand ask another (trustworthy) radio ham to help you choose something. Some second hand equipment can be used and abused and the last thing you want on Christmas day is a radio ham with a present that doesn't work.

These are just a few ideas you might want to consider. Maybe some readers have other ideas? If so pop them in the comments below (I still don't know what to get 2E0HTS this year!!)

Louise M3TLL

Base, Mobile & Portable Station eQSL Confirmed QSOs

Whilst sending out some recent eQSL cards I got curious and decided to check how many Countries I had actually worked/logged with eQSL. I was interested to see just how well I was doing from my mobile whilst out and about away from the shack. The eQSL /M cards can be few and far between as I have to depend on the other stations that I work whilst mobile to send their eQSL as I stick to driving rather than logging. So with this in mind you can imagine that plenty of nice QSOs/DX doesn’t always get confirmed by eQSL.

Thanks to all you guys that are keen eQSLers, I still managed to compile a good start to a hopeful longer list to come of Countries worked and confirmed. I also added Countries I have worked whilst mobile in Scotland and Wales.

I use a different eQSL card when operating from the mobile, the shack or any portable stations which can be seen heading each section.

Please don't worry radio amateurs from Wales, I will try much harder to make more QSO next time I visit ;-)

Mobile in England Operating as 2E0HTS/M

BALEARIC ISL.

BELGIUM

BRAZIL

CROATIA

CYPRUS

CYPRUS UK SOV. AREA

CZECH REP.

ENGLAND

FAROE ISL.

FRANCE

GERMANY

GREECE

HUNGARY

ISRAEL

ITALY

KAZAKHSTAN

KUWAIT

LATVIA

LITHUANIA

LUXEMBOURG

MADEIRA ISL.

MALTA

NETHERLANDS

POLAND

ROMANIA

RUSSIA (ASIATIC)

RUSSIA (EUROPEAN)

SCOTLAND

SLOVAK REP.

SLOVENIA

SPAIN

SWEDEN

SWITZERLAND

TURKEY

UKRAINE

USA

Mobile In Scotland Operating as 2M0HTS/M

ENGLAND

GERMANY

ITALY

NETHERLANDS

SCOTLAND

SLOVAK REP.

UKRAINE

Mobile In Wales Operating as 2W0HTS/M

UKRAINE

Portable In The UK Operating as 2E0HTS/P

BELGIUM

ENGLAND

FRANCE

GERMANY

KAZAKHSTAN

RUSSIA (EUROPEAN)

SCOTLAND

SPAIN

SWEDEN

WALES

QTH/Base Station Operating as 2E0HTS

ALGERIA

ARGENTINA

AUSTRALIA

AUSTRIA

AZORES

BALEARIC ISL.

BELARUS

BELGIUM

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

BRAZIL

CANADA

CANARY ISL.

CAPE VERDE

CEUTA AND MELILLA

COLOMBIA

CRETE

CROATIA

CYPRUS

CZECH REP.

DENMARK

DOMINICA

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

ECUADOR

ENGLAND

ESTONIA

FALKLAND ISL.

FINLAND

FRANCE

GABON

GERMANY

GREECE

GUADELOUPE

GUERNSEY (BAILIWICK OF)

HONDURAS

HUNGARY

INDONESIA

IRELAND

ISLE OF MAN

ISRAEL

ITALY

JERSEY (CHANNEL ISL.)

KAZAKHSTAN

KUWAIT

LATVIA

LIBYA

LITHUANIA

LUXEMBOURG

MACEDONIA FORMER YUGOSLAV REP

MADEIRA ISL.

MARTINIQUE

MOLDOVA

MONTENEGRO

MOROCCO

NETHERLANDS

NORTHERN IRELAND

NORWAY

OMAN

PARAGUAY

POLAND

PORTUGAL

PUERTO RICO

QATAR

ROMANIA

RUSSIA (EUROPEAN)

SAN MARINO

SARDINIA

SAUDI ARABIA

SCOTLAND

SENEGAL

SERBIA

SLOVAK REP.

SLOVENIA

SOUTH AFRICA

SPAIN

ST. LUCIA

SWEDEN

SWITZERLAND

THAILAND

THE GAMBIA

UKRAINE

USA

VENEZUELA

WALES

I have worked a lot more countries and many great DX from the Mobile that unfortunately haven't yet been eQSL confirmed, but I am always hopeful h.i. In the meantime, I shall keep shouting from the mobile and the shack enjoying all QSOs on the way. 73

Latest Upload to the 2E0HTS QSL Gallery

I spent most of this afternoon on my computer logged on to the eQSL website confirming and downloading the latest batch of eQSL cards, which I then upload to my other blog - 2E0HTS QSL Gallery .
I have been uploading eQSL cards that I receive from both Hams and SWLs to the site for a couple of years now. There you can find eQSL cards displayed that I have received dating from early 2004 to present day. If you have worked or heard my station active and have sent me a eQSL, it will be there somewhere.

Follow the older posts link found at the bottom of the page to find earlier eQSL cards I uploaded.

For the latest upload to the 2E0HTS QSL Gallery, I decided to put the received eQSL cards into categorised headings which slightly helps to organise things when dealing with a lot of uploading. In this case I had a back log of 131 eQSL cards to get through.

The new simplified Headings that I will be using from now are as follows:

2E0HTS HF Bands eQSL Confirmed Amateur Radio Contacts


2E0HTS (2W0 & 2M0) Mobile & Portable eQSL Confirmed Amateur Radio Contacts


2E0HTS VHF UHF & Satellite eQSL Confirmed Amateur Radio Contacts


2E0HTS Digital Modes eQSL Confirmed Amateur Radio Contacts


I recieved some great EQSL cards in the latest batch, here are a couple of my favourite ones amongst the many. Thanks goes to all of the senders.

I hope to catch some of you somewhere on the Bands soon and get all of your eQSL cards up on my site. Happy DX, 73 and Thanks for passing by.

20M Sked With S57ORG - Marko

Video of QSO between S57ORG and myself at Marko - S57ORG portable location in Slovenia on Sunday 7th November

Thank You Very Much for this Video Marko, its great to hear myself sounding nice and loud in Slovenia. 73 Hope to catch you again on HF and the Satellite Bands.

NOAA 19 Over The UK Sunday 7th November 12.45 utc

HO-68 Mode V/U (J) FM Voice Repeater

I continued chasing the Satellites yesterday and managed to get into HO-68 before I called it a day. I caught the HO-68 pass on video which can be seen below. Enjoy!

During this pass HO-68 is operating in FM mode. Contact is made with SW6KRV, UT3NW & ES5QA whilst the Satellite is at a distance of around 750 miles from the Station of 2E0HTS.

AO-7, VO-52 & AO-51

In between cleaning my motor cycles, I have spent today in and out of the shack as I have been closely monitoring the various Satellite passes over my QTH.

I started the day early making QSO via the AO-7 Satellite at 08.44 utc with three stations from Europe - 9A2EY, EA1BYC and ON5NY.

The next "Bird" I worked via was VO-52, where I made QSO with OZ2SAT & DL7UHF at around 10.32 utc.

I then tried my luck again at 16.11 utc where I got into AO-51 which is an FM Satellite which always proves a bit more difficult than the SSB Sats that I worked through earlier. Despite the European pile up and only one station working at a time via the FM transponder, I still managed to work S57ORG who was quickly followed by ES5QA. I heard many other European Ops calling through the bird during the pass, as usual it was chaotic but still lots of fun.

To work the Satellites, I am still using my reliable home brewed IO-10 dual band Sat yagi with its 30º fixed elevation (seen on my QRZ page & this blog).

I have big plans for next spring when I shall hopefully set up my recently acquired Oscar 435 30 Element X beam and 145 Yagi which will be controlled by a GS5500 Azi/Ele rotator (seen in the picture below). I will still be keeping my IO-10 El set up at this QTH as we are in the process of obtaining a second QTH. There I shall be installing some nice/big antennas for both Satellite and HF work. The Sat antenna pictured above is a sneak preview of some of the new equipment & antennas that I have been putting together recently for my new/second shack. Fortunately for me I have more HF antennas on standby waiting to be erected at the other QTH next spring. I am looking forward to posting more detail regarding this in the near future but for now you will have to imagine what I will be up to hi hi.(Besides changing nappies and being a Dad!)

NOAA-19 Weather Watching

Today's weather Satellite Image courtesy of NOAA-19, decoded by 2E0HTS using Radiocom 5.2 software.

The UK can be just about seen in the centre of the decoded image. Yorkshire (my QTH) can be seen quite clearly with little cloud cover especially at the coast. Spurn point in Humber Estuary can easily be seen when you zoom in on the image.

Fellow Yorkshire folks - Enjoy the Sunshine!

The 2010 CQ World Wide Contest

Once again the Bands have become a mass of squawks and rumbles as Radio amateurs around the World battle it out across the HF bands trying to work as many SSB phone contacts amongst the racket of zones and signal reports. This is of course the very popular annual CQ WW Contest.

The main objective of the CQ WW Contest is for radio amateurs around the world to contact other amateurs in as many zones and countries as possible within 48 hrs. The World is divided into a total of 40 Zones. The Bands used during the contest are all bands, from 1.8MHz through to 28MHz, except for WARC bands.

I enjoy this Contest very much as it coincides with the anniversary of when Louise (M3TLL) and I first dated, Louise lets me play radio every year during our special weekend, as long as I pamper to her every need in between which is easily achievable hi hi.

During this year’s CQ WW Contest, I don’t believe that radio conditions were as good as previous years. I did not hear the volume of regular DX stations that I am used to hearing. I also noticed the higher end of the HF bands closing down completely in the early evening.

Despite poor conditions I was able to work some nice DX such as, Canada, USA , Kazakstan, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Senegal, U.S. Virgin Is and lots of Europe.
Despite my hard efforts which comprised of an FT1000mp MK-V and a CW160 & Hustler vertical antenna, I only managed 13 out of the 40 Zones before The Dog nearly left home. At this point, Louise was also considering chatting to the milk man. So with that in mind hi, I decided to call it a day a couple of hours shy of the finishing line which was 12 midnight local time.

Before I did, I managed to catch some Stations up and down the Bands on video (seen below) during the CQ WW Contest. Hope you enjoy watching the CQ WW video from my shack. 73

Todays NOAA 19 WX Satellite Image of N.Africa - Europe - Arctic Circle

Image received at 12.30 utc
Below is a screen shot of my computer screen as signals are received from the NOAA -19 Satellite on 137.100 MHz(fm)
To do this I use my IO-10 Satellite beam coupled to the Yaesu FT-847. The signal is fed to my P.C via a soundblaster sound card to be decoded into the image seen above.

Shack to Shack

I recently received the provisional Results from the IOTA 2010 Contest which took place back in July. I took part in this years IOTA Contest for the very first time really enjoying the whole experience and to my recent surprise doing quite well considering my low output power. I entered the Fixed, Single Operator, Unassisted, Single Sideband, 24hr, Low Power Section of the contest (a bit of a tongue twister to say the least). The shortened abbreviated version can be seen below with my score and position.

11 - 2E0HTS - EU005 - Great Britain - IOTA FIX SOU SSB 24H LP - 143 - 57 - 68913

Follow this link to see the full IOTA 2010 Provisional Results .

Other recent activity has been mainly on the HF bands especially 40M, 20M, 17M and 15M. Over the past week I have worked some nice DX using the FT1000mp MKV and recent CW160 antenna, the good propagation has provided some excellent openings on the higher end of the HF bands. On 15M, I have worked into Brazil - PY2DN & New Zealand - ZL4LP, On 20M I worked several stations from the USA, including - WX3B. On 40M Saudi Arabia - HZ1BL and the USA - N9NC as well as other USA stations were worked throughout the week. I picked a few of the stations out of the log, many thanks to all other Stations from near and far also worked throughout the week.

I have also been active via the HO-68 and VO-52 Satellites, where I managed a couple of nice little pile ups as I worked a few Stations out of Europe during one of the many passes. I also got into AO-7 for the first time which is another Satellite I am going to have to find more time to play around with.

The past three evenings has rekindled the fire for the 2M band as I have heard spectacular openings all over the band both on SSB and FM. I was able to work into Germany on 2M FM making QSO with DL1EBQ due to the Tropospheric Ducting that has been taking place. I have also made plenty of QSOs down into the South of the UK on both FM as well as SSB. The band has remained open this evening and looks like it will stay open until tomorrow. Check out theforecast and see for yourself.

And Finally The Big Story
2E0HTS is proud to announce that he is a Father to be, as Baby "hts" will be arriving early next year around the 25th of Feb. My lovely YL - M3TLL is doing a brilliant job so far and I will be starting He or She off with Ham radio as soon as there is a voice hi hi, watch out for an up and coming new baby ham. 73 from a happy 2E0HTS.

Nice openings into VP8 - Falkland Islands

I recently added some more radio gear to my ever growing collection which comprises of a few more antenna's and a Ft-1000MP Mark-V to help bow the shack table some more.

I strung up a Carolina Windom 160 by Radio Works last weekend which joins my collection of home made delta loops, wires, beams and verticals. You can never have too many radios or antenna's hi hi.

Since the the CW160 was up I have made lots of great QSO,s on 80m, 40m, 20m, 17m, 15m & 12m. I have yet to try it out on 160m, 30m & 10m but the results so far on the other bands have been very surprising.

The antenna is 265ft long and is suspending by trees in a more or less straight line and it is nice and stealth like not causing any complaints so far which always helps to keep things peaceful.

The new addition - Yaesu Ft1000MP MK-V fine tunes the antenna well using the onboard atu, the antenna is less than 2:1 at worst across all of the HF bands and is at 1:1 on 160m without the atu in its present configuration.

I've put good signals into K, VE, CO, 7V & CU on 18m using the CW160 and WX, K, TR, VO, VA, CO, & VP on 20m. VP also on 12m. On 40m & 80m the CW160 is working as expected putting out a big signal whilst receiving a very low noise level, I have heard plenty of JA coming in on both 40m & 80m at around 5/7 signals.

The highlight of this weeks radio activity from the shack has got to be working TR8CA - Gabon on 14MHz and best of all was VP8LP - Falkland Islands on 12M where I got to work bob for a second time at a distance of 8000 miles.

I got lucky again Saturday evening on 14MHz and managed to work VP8DLB also on the Falkland Islands. The picture below shows the MK-V receiving VP8DLB - Gary at 5/7 through the CW160 which at the time was the strongest performer out of my Hustler 6BTV and Delta loop which I kept switching between.

I am really enjoying some of the nice openings that have been happening of late with QSO's over very long distances becoming a daily occurrence, I have also worked a few nice openings into VK from the mobile again, whilst driving to work in the mornings.

Hope to catch some of you somewhere on the bands, thanks for passing by & best 73. Good DXing!

Mary Kathini; Priestess of Lakeview

It seems as though our Father likes the name Mary. He gives it to the most wonderful of people. There is the Virgin Mary mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene the first to see and hear the resurrected Lord, Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus who is the example of always waiting on the Lord and Mary who washed the Lord’s feet.

I would like to introduce you to another favored woman named Mary; Mary Kathini … Priestess of Lakeview. At present Mary lives in Lakeview which is one of the poorest suburbs in Nakuru Kenya. We met Mary on our second missionary trip to Kenya when God began to extend His Kingdom to the residents of the Nakuru slums. What I remember first about Mary is her quiet demeanor, sweet face and explosive smile. Mary truly loves God. Although Mary is never showy or dramatic about her relationship with Christ, her love of Him can always be felt.

This first series of pictures taken in 2007, reveals the face of a pleasant looking woman with a smile that seems to hide some secret source of happiness. Later we would find that the source of that smile was neither her social situation or financial circumstances; but a deep and abiding hope in the goodness of the Lord.

Mary lives with her 3 of her 5 children in the poorest part of the city of Nakuru. She rents a four foot by seven foot storefront and lives in two small rooms behind the store. Now this might not sound like much, but she is on the high side of life in the slums. Many of her neighbors live in much more dire circumstances. Mary’s “elevated status” is due to the fact of that Mary is a very hard worker and a bit of an entrepreneur. Her little store is supplemented by raising a few chickens, selling charcoal and at times taking in some sewing work.

When Mary started coming to LakeView Village Community Church two and a half years ago, she jumped right into the work of building up God's people. According to the gospel she heard and took to heart she began taking care of those less fortunate than herself. She lives only about 50 yards from the meeting place and is known among her neighbors as one you can go to when you need help. After her baptism Mary began to grow spiritually and it wasn't long before her adversaries began to notice. 

One evening on the way to visit a church members house before I taught that night, we noticed a police truck outside of Mary’s apartment and store. We didn’t think much of it as the police are called to that area often. After the home visit we headed toward the building the little meeting place and noticed the police truck was gone. The teaching went well, but all through the meeting I could tell Mary seemed anxious about something even though her face was glowing. I asked her if she wanted to share anything and she quickly jumped up and said yes. Her incredible story reveals the deep and abiding faith of this wonderful godly woman.

It seems as though Mary was in her room behind the store when she heard someone shout something from her back yard. Before she could get up and check the disturbance, someone began to kick her back door open. The force of the violent kick caused the door to swing into and break her sewing machine. Quickly two massive police men entered the room and demand that Mary come with them to the police station. Upon asking why she was being arrested Mary was told that she was being charged with selling milk without a license. Now Mary didn’t even know you needed a license to sell milk as she had been doing it for some time. None of the other little “kioskes” (little shops) had one. It is more than likely she was “turned in” by a disgruntled local shop keeper who was jealous of Mary’s business. It is relatively easy to bribe the local law enforcement officers to carry out your wishes for a price. Bribery is almost a cultural way of life in Kenya.

The week before this incident the Lord had led me to teach these precious people on the priesthood of the believer.How we were to be priest before being anything else. Mary took it to heart and did what many of seem incapable of doing….she believed it. All that week she meditated on her priesthood.

As the two policemen ushered her to the front door and the gathering crowd, Mary stopped and remembered the teaching from the following week. She was a priest of Christ. As she did she turned to the policemen and said…. “I am a priestess and would like to pray to my God before you take me.” Then dropping to her knees amidst two confounded policemen, she asked her ever watching Father what to do. She told him that she didn’t know that she was doing anything wrong and asked Him not to let the policemen see the milk on the table not two feet away.

Like Christ being confronted by the religious hypocrites of old, Mary continued kneeling and waited on her Father’s reply. Quickly He spoke to her heart. Arising she turned to the policemen and said;... “where is the evidence of my wrong doing?” The policemen looked at each other then looked around the room to find some milk. Neither of them could see the milk sitting on the table right beside them! They replied that there seemed to be no evidence. Mary then told them it is wrong to break into her house, destroy her sewing machine and arrest her falsely, and that she didn't even know it was illegal to sell milk. The policemen again looked at each other and then let go of Mary’s arms. They then turned and sheepishly said; “We are very sorry” … “Please do not complain to our superiors!” Mary looked at them sweetly and replied … “It is OK because my God has put His Spirit of forgiveness in me.”

The policemen quietly left the house and drove away probably wondering who her God was. Mary testified to the church that night that what was being taught was true and could be trusted. Everyone in the room clapped, cheered and praised our Father.  That is how Mary Kathini became known as “Mary Priestess of Lakeview”. Oh…  and the next week Mary got her milk license.

When we started the Micro Financing program called F.I. S. H. (Funding Indigenous Self Help), Mary was among the first to receive a loan. Then as before, her faithfulness and hard work became even more apparent. Receiving on Sunday morning eight thousand shillings (100 dollars and 46 cents American money); Mary was at the market buying supplies Sunday afternoon. We saw her downtown and we stopped and got a picture of her receipt. She carefully spent every penny to increase her business and over the next few months paid every shilling back. This enabled others to partake of the F.I.S.H. program. One hundred percent of what is contributed to the F.I.S.H. program goes into the hands of needy people.

As a result of Mary’s faithfulness over the last few years, miracles have begun to take place in her life. One of the biggest of these wonders is when someone gave Mary a plot of land to build her family a house of her own.

Now you might ask how Mary will afford the materials for a house. Mary never asks those kind of questions. She just starts with what she has and trust that God will provide whatever else she needs….like He has always done. These pictures are Mary taking us out to the house she is building from the materials God has already provided. She and her children are currently making all the bricks for her new house and have planted a small crop of corn. Half the house is already done. She told us that day when we return in six months, she and her children will be living in it.

While visiting the building site, Amma told Mary that we wanted to take tea in her new house as soon as it is finished. Mary said; “no need to wait; let us take tea now!” Then to our delightful surprise she pulled out snacks, cups and a hot thermos of Chi tea. After giving thanks and praising our wonderful Father we had a wonderful love feast in Mary’s new house.

There are other wonderful stories about what God is doing here but this is one of the best. Our hopeful desire is to see other deserving people like Mary help themselves. It is also that others like you and me… get the chance to take care of our brethren. 

     

   "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them,

'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me."  ( Matthew 25:32-40)

May our Father send His Son to find His "green" pastures are full of sheep .... and not goats.

HI FI

As well as Ham Radio I have had a history of playing music - DJing on local community broadcast stations. I was involved with a local station for over 15 years before I got my amateur radio licence, broadcasting live to about 250,000 listeners three times a week never missing a show.
So as you can imagine I have an extensive collection of Vinyl recordings. To sum it up, if I ever melted them down I would have enough plastic to manufacture 10,000 hand held microphones.

On a more serious note I try to spend the odd weekend playing some of my records and at the same time I have the PC interfaced to my sound system allowing me to convert the tracks to mp3.
I have had my "HI FI" equipment for over 20 years and it still sounds as solid as ever. It is connected to some PIONEER CS-777 speakers powered by a DENON PMA350 amplifier. I still have some 22" base boxes fitted with horns that I can "string up" if needed for venues etc.

I obviously don't listen to music when I am active on the bands but in the future I might consider using some of my HI FI equipment such as a mixing desk and a graphic equaliser in the shack. I think it could be interesting to see how I can experiment around with my audio settings. A mixer will allow various microphones and the rig-blaster to be easily faded in or out when required using one output/mic lead. I will also have the capability of recording stations directly to my PC with instant replay possibilities.

So a next project in amateur radio brought to me whilst listening to some good old Reggae!

As far as making QSOs I have had quite a few good long path QSOs into VK recently from both the shack and the mobile on my regular favourite band - 20M.

Up here in the North of England I've found the best time to work long path stations seems to be from 7.00 utc up until 9.30 utc.
I have also been regularly hearing good openings into JA and State-side on 17m quite a lot lately during the day time.

Hope to catch some of you on the bands during the evenings and weekends. I will try to post a bit more regularly again now that the Summer is almost at an end (my motorcycles will be getting less of my attention).

73

Eden

Perhaps one of my favorite things to do in Africa is to travel across the Kenyan countryside and take pictures of the land and its people. Most of the pictures you will see in this blog are shot from the van windows. Not all of them turn out but the ones that do give a real feeling of what rural life looks like here in Kenya. I wanted you to visualize a little of what we see driving across this beautiful country.  It will be minus the smells and speed bumps along the way but I think you’ll touch the magic.

Taking our ladies to work in the Kenya Relief Clinic in Magore gave me ample opportunity to capture some of Kenya’s breathtaking landscapes. It’s a thirteen to fifteen hour drive from Nakuru to Magore and back again. We have made it twice now in five days. I am sure that Amma, Joy and Amy have already brought everyone up to date on their wonderful time at the Brittany House of Grace and the Kenya Relief Clinic. They worked very hard assisting the doctors and were somewhat exhausted when we picked them up at Brittany House of Grace. Driving to Magore and back again we were able to see a lot of the beautiful Kenyan countryside and its lovely people.

One of the first things that you’ll notice about the Kenyan landscape is that you can see for miles and miles in any direction. The sky seems unusually enormous. The lack of smog and large industrial parks allows the sky to reveal its true colors.  The blue is constantly changing hues and the sun is free to tint the clouds or to let them be their own true snowy white selves. The patterns formed by small farms and huts nestled among the trees and scattered among the rolling hills and valleys are unbelievably enchanting. The whole countryside looks like a Hobbit shire from Lord of the Rings.

I have always been fascinated by the social interaction of market place societies. Everywhere you look people are talking to and interacting with each other. Life in rural Kenya demands cooperation. It seems to always be filled with people laughing, arguing, fussing and filling the air with the sounds of life. It’s so unlike our own country with its self sufficient way of life. But here in Kenya, amid third world country conditions, people seem happy to need and enjoy one another.

Everywhere you look people are coming to and from the marketplace. On one side of the road there are ladies gracefully carrying their burdens atop their head (notice the woman carrying the bricks). The other side is filled with laughing, chatting children in groups of ten or twenty walking to school. And everywhere in between men pushing or (if they're lucky) driving little donkey carts laden with ponderous loads.

The area surrounding Magore is covered with sugar cane and is home to George’s tribe the Luos. Almost everyone you come across is chewing on small stalks of sugar cane. I tried some and found out why so many do so. We stopped on the way home from picking up the ladies and bought some of this very popular treat. It’s absolutely delicious when you get the hang of extracting the sweet juice. Of course when you stop to buy the sugar cane you automatically run the risk of being overrun by a small army of people carrying a whole grocery store up to the car for you to purchase.

We bought a few sections of sugar cane from a very delightful elderly lady who upon seeing we were Mzungus (white people), quickly stripped the pulpy green outer layer with a few whacks of her incredibly sharp machete. The next step was taking a bite, sucking all the sweet stuff out and spitting the remaining fiber out the window. It took a little while to get the hang of it but it was well worth the trouble.

Another of the beautiful sights to see while traveling to or from Magore is the huge tea plantations. These tea fields cover miles and miles of fertile Kenyan farmland. They date back to the British colonial period of Kenya’s history. The rows of slave quarters now serve as housing for the thousands of workers who pick the bright green tea leaves. The fields look like a well manicured lawn as the small new tea leaves are harvested constantly. Kenyan tea is some of the best in the world. Half way home we stopped at a very old and famous “tea house” in Kericho. Amma and I took a walk around the place while waiting for our food and snapped a few pictures of the local flora and fauna. The lady in the center of the picture is Teresa. She is a missionary we met in Nakuru that wanted to hang out with us.

Many of the highways in Kenya are relatively new and the men who drive the massive two trailer combos are not used to the increase in speed limits. As a result, on any trip you will probably see overturned trucks. The one below had just flipped and lost its cargo of logs. If a truck is over turned and the fuel is leaking out, word spreads quickly that free fuel is available. This results in large crowds with buckets and cups trying to scoop up the puddles of gas or diesel. Two years ago a fuel truck flipped and a large crowd surrounded the overturned tanker in hopes of obtaining free fuel. Tragedy occurred minutes later when sparks from the truck’s battery ignited the fuel. The resulting explosion left scores of people dead and many more terribly burned.

It is not hard to believe that humanity had its beginning here. The unbelievable beauty of the countryside touching the immense and breath taking sky is reminiscent of the pictures of the Garden of Eden. Driving down the highway to our home in Nakuru we became lost in wonder at the beauty of land and sky.

The more we looked the more we began to long for the heart of our Father to be revealed in this earth. What might this world have been if we would have just listened and trusted His Word? Surely the whole world would have been much like what we witnessed today. Bwana Asi Fiwi

David Noah