Brazil Recap + Africa!

Hey there Loved One,

The Meesh and I are officially in Africa! We arrived on Wednesday and have been having a blast. But first, a quick Brazilian recap.

Ilha Grande:
This place is pretty ridiculous. It is about 3 hours away from Rio, and is only accessibly by ferry. The main walkway is the beach. Our first few days were a bit rainy, but all things considered, it was still awesome. We hiked many hours through the jungle, over the mountains, and through the woods, to a beach called Lopes Mendes; one of the top rated beaches in Brazil. We also found a natural pool where many of the local islanders were playing. We joined in the fun and jumped off of many a rock. Some other highlights including snorkeling, where we saw lots of huge starfish, and building an incredible sand structure which you'll see below. All in all, it was a really relaxing, enjoyable week.

Sao Paulo:
We arrived in Sao Paulo late Sunday night and were greeted by Rev. Jonas (a connection of a connection of a connection). He and his family graciously welcomed us into their home and for the two days we were there, completely humbled us with their generosity and hospitality. On Monday, we visited an orphanage named Lar Boa Semente. They house, feed, and clothe 11 children under the age of 3. When they are ready for school, they are educated and mentored holistically. The government in Brazil takes these abandoned children and sends them to this orphanage, but provides zero funding. They rely solely on donations. We took some photos to help with promotional purposes to hopefully draw more donors and potential parents. It was a very moving, beautiful experience to hear about their ministry and to be able to interact with the volunteers and children.

Here's a link to a photo album (you may need to copy and paste it):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2043296&id=187700907&l=fa72720d2f

We also had the opportunity to tour a good deal of Sao Paulo with a family from their church. It was so nice to be in a car and not in a rickety bus/train/plane/etc. It's hard to describe how humbling it is for a family who doesn't even know us to take us into their home, feed us, and go out of their way to show us their city.

After Sao Paulo, it was onto Africa!

We've been thoroughly enjoying ourselves thus far and will provide a proper update soon. Today:
-I had my lunch stolen from monkeys (the first time my bread, the second time, my apple)
-We hiked through the Zambezi River to the edge of Victoria Falls (more on this later)

Tomorrow we are rafting down the Zambezi (class 5 rapids), and will be bungee jumping off of Victoria Falls on Sunday. Booyakasha. Michelle gets nauseous when talking about bungee jumping, but we'll be going tandem, which should make it especially entertaining.

We love you all much and thank you for your thoughts/prayers/updates!