Safari! July 16, 17, 18

          Early Saturday morning, we left the guest house in Nairobi and traveled five hours south to the Serengeti Plains of Kenya.  We were staying on the Masai Mara Preserve for a short safari.  Saturday afternoon, all day Sunday, and a sunrise drive Monday morning... breathing in the beauty of Africa.
          The drive was amazing, too.  We rode in a safari van with six other friends of ours.  Along the journey, we stopped in the Great Rift Valley (which stretches from Israel to Mozambique).  We explored the curio shops and ate local snacks.  We were "off road" for the last two hours of the trip, bouncing over dirt roads.  Our eyes were wide, and we'd occasionally squeal with delight as we started spotting wildlife roaming the fields -- zebra, gazelle, and three giraffes!  We passed Masai tribal villages and saw their brush enclosures for their livestock (built tall to keep out lions, hyenas, and other predators).  The Masai were out herding their livestock, wearing their red tribal robes and ornate necklaces.  The entire scene stretched out before me took my breath away.  Every thing was SO different from the poverty and filth we'd been in for the past week.  Down in southern Kenya, it was spacious.  The air was clean.  I am immediately thankful that God has given us the opportunity to experience two very different Africas.
          We arrived at our lodge - the Mara Leisure Camp - and were assigned rooms.  Matt and I were lead down a meandering path to a very large tent.  Yes.  A tent.  This tent, however, was unlike any I've ever seen.  It was built on a solid foundation with wood floors.  We had a bed and a large bathroom, but the walls were canvas.  Power was run by a generator at specific hours of the day.  I felt like I'd walked in to a dream!  Our tent door was a zipper, and our tent faced the game preserve.  THIS was my kind of camping!  Of course, we were definitely in the heart of wild Africa. Three women in our group saw a Black Mamba (very poisonous snake) hanging outside of their tent on the way to their room.  The Masai who walked them to their room went back to get his machete, but the snake slithered away before he could return!
          The Safari experience itself was simply beyond words.  We rode in safari vans, and the roof would pop up so we could stand and see out as we drove.  We saw animals living their life on the Mara, and we were fortunate enough to get a peek at a sliver of their lives.  On our safari, we saw lions, hyenas, cheetahs, a leopard (which is a very rare sighting, apparently), zebras, giraffes, hippos, wildebeests, crocodiles, water buffalo, ostriches, gazelles and other African deer, monkeys, baboons, and birds.  It was incredible!  We watched the sun set over the African plains and experienced a sunrise the day we left.  We ate lunch down by the hippo pools and walked along the Mara River (with an armed ranger!).  We got to learn about and observe a few Masai warrior tribal dances (Matt actually got to join in and learn the impressive Lion Dance).
          For me, the safari was a chance to experience the gloriousness of God's creation AND a chance to process the work we'd done the week prior.  I prayed, journaled, and discussed my experiences with my teammates.  The short safari was such a great way to wrap up our adventure in Africa.
          On Monday, after our sunset safari ride, we packed and loaded up the vans to begin our journey back to Nairobi.  A 50 hour trek lay before us.  Our drive to Nairobi, our flight to London, an eight hour layover, and our flight to Phoenix.  My mind reeled as I realized that our trip was coming to an end.  It had gone so quickly.  And yet my life will never be the same...