I know that is has been awhile since we last posted, but we have been busy and having so much fun! Someone will post soon about our time in Malindi thus far, but I am going to give you all a glimpse of our time while on Safari.
We left early Wednesday morning to go to Masaiimara where the safari was located. It was about a 6-hour drive with a few stops in between. When we arrived to the Masaiimara grounds, we had to stop to register our van to go on the grounds. Our vans were instantly bombarded by women from the local tribe Masaii, trying to sell us things they had made. They were what the typical person would imagine that Africans would look like. They were wrapped in Congas (big pieces of colorful fabric) and had beads all over there body. Specific to the Masaii tribe, the members have huge holes on their earlobes which make their ears hang down almost half way to their shoulders. It was overwhelming to see all of them and also how they live. I personally found it sad that extreme poverty and ignorance of the Lord surrounds the safari grounds containing people who are on vacation with great wealth. The contrast was so obvious to me and made me realize that they need the Lord just as much as anyone and they are being ignored. This is no one’s specific fault, but more just indifference about the situation which needs to be addressed.
From the entrance point, we drove around some on the safari grounds and then were taken to our hotel, Masaiimara Serova. As we drove up, all of our jaws dropped. I personally (I don’t know about the rest of the team) have never stayed in a hotel so nice. We were greeted with hot towels for our hands and taken down a beautiful wooden bridge to the reception area where we were given drinks while we registered. The hotel had a buffet for every meal, a pool, badminton, ping pong tables, kayaking, and so many activities for our stay. We stayed in tents, but they are not the typical tent which you would think of. It had wooden floors, wonderful bathrooms, and large beds.
Throughout the next two days, we would have an excursion in the morning and an excursion in the afternoon. We were able to hang out at the hotel during our down time which was so relaxing. We went swimming, lounged around, and played games during our breaks. During our excursions, we were able to stand up and look for animals the whole time because the tops of the vans popped up. The landscape was a lot hillier than I had imagined. There were lots of shrubs and tall grass. Most of the trees were the ones like in Lion King with the flat tops and not too tall. We saw so many different types of wildlife like a leopard sleeping in a tree, vultures, hyenas, lions, giraffes, zebras, water buffalo, hippos, elephants and much more. Some we only saw at a distant, but most we got to see up close. The coolest thing (which I think most people would agree) was seeing about 10 lions feeding on a water buffalo that they had killed. We were literally like 10 - 15 feet away from all of them. We also saw a large male lion with a big gash on his face and side which we assumed was from the fight to kill the water buffalo. The male lion walked right by our van and was laying right next to us. On the outside of the circle of lions, there was one lion protecting the lions feasting from about 20 hyenas which had come to eat also. The hyenas were all surrounding the lions waiting for them to be done so that they could eat the scraps. There were also vultures in the tree beside the dead buffalo waiting for some leftovers also. I could have sat there for hours watching them and it was definitely my favorite experience of the trip.
Obviously there is probably so much more to tell, but those are the main highlights of the safari. We all felt so blessed to be able to have this mini vacation in between MITS and Malindi. It was a really good time for us to relax, sleep, and regain energy for the next chapter of our adventure. We are now in Malindi and enjoying our time here as well. Another team member will write about that soon.
On a personal note, two days ago while at the 9 Poles Village in Malindi I dislocated my ankle climbing a tree. It obviously was not the smartest idea and I regret that decision, but I can only make the best of the situation now. It automatically started swelling and by the end of the afternoon it looked like I had a tennis ball on my ankle. Thankfully the Becks (missionaries who started 9 Poles) are in town and took me to the hospital the next day. The doctor was able to pop my ankle back into place, but I have a cast and am on crutches. It was not what I expected my last two weeks of the trip to be, but I am in high spirits. I honestly feel so blessed though to have such a wonderful team. They have all taken care of me and helped me in any way possible. They truly have servant hearts and I don’t know what I would have done without them. Also, I wanted to make a personal shout out to Jeremy for being such a gentleman and sooo helpful to me. I rode his back everywhere I went the first day and he was there whenever I needed him. He was proactive and just so sweet in helping me try to be comfortable in a very uncomfortable situation.
Please keep us all on your prayers that we may continue to serve the Lord through our actions and words. We are getting tired, but would not trade this experience for anything. We are so thankful for the support and love that you all have shown us during our time here.
Gig’em and God Bless,
Laura
No comments:
Post a Comment