Pics: Safari!

Kenya Safari!

So I got to go on a 3 day safari!! It was really cool. The price at first set me off. Sheesh, couldn't i rent my own car, rent a tent, and just go??? saving about $200??? but then i thought, well, i guess i don't quite know where to go, where to camp, its not exactly like America... so i paid my money and went. [Hunt story below:]
It was great.
We slept in these little pup tents - like at girl scout camp (or boyscout, i guess). cement floor, army tent around you. rickety little cots, with a thin mattress... no blankets, pillows, or towels... so i'm thankful i had mine!!! it was chilly at night. but the STARS!!! WOW. What a show. God is AMAZING. He is like an artist, who brings out His BEST masterpiece and lets us watch... but when you live in the city you don't get to see the whole masterpiece, b/c our own lights dim out His... hmmm... that sounds like a lesson.

I saw about 7 shooting stars one night, it was so cool.

I wanted to go out and see the sunrise over the African plane, but our guide said very sternly, "you can not leave the camp for ANY reason." It made me want to rebel. I'm glad i didn't. The next day, after our safari drive, he stopped by a sign, 4th row down, 3rd in, basically saying "here was killed a british university man, who went out to look at the sunrise, and was mauled by an elephant." Sheesh. I didn't realize elephants could maul you. so i was thankful for my warning from my guide, and even more thankful that i didn't rebel. :)
We saw wilderbeasts (they're on Lion King, the Disney movie, when the baby Lion, simba? almost gets run over by all those migrating wilderbeasts, and where the dad dies... actually, speaking of Disney movies, they REALLY do a good job. If you never get to go to the Great Barrier Reef or on a Safari; its cool, just get the Lion King and Nemo - they really look like how the drew it in the cartoons! Well done, Disney artists!!! You did your research!! 


The wilderbeast migration was going on during the time i was there; saw no big stampeeds, but saw them grazing out in the fields...); Zebras (God is SO CREATIVE... i see NO evolutionary advantage to being striped bright white and black; they don't blend in at all... they're just amazingly stunning - i think God was really showing off. He's good.); Elephants from afar (i only got pictures of their poop, i didn't put it on the blog, maybe later); lots of deer-looking things and fox-looking things and funny looking birds walking around (some with really pencil-thin legs that looked like they would bend out of socket at any moment) and vultures, eating dead stuff. 


We actually saw a nasty, bloody, half-carcass of a wilderbeast over by a momma lion and her cubs... i'm glad they got to eat, but was also glad to not see the demise of it. 


On our last morning, we saw a teenage lion cub and mom tracking down a small pack of zebras - baby plus 3 adults... all the safari vans (there were always vans around, usually 10 in a pack, and the drivers communicated by radio, to let the other drivers know there was a lion over here, or pack of giraffes over there) circled in to see the pending action... our driver told us there was going to be a hunt. Are you kidding me??? 


Sure enough, the cub and momma were tracking in thru the brush, like cats sneaking up on a mouse... and the poor zebras, esp baby zebra... then BAM!!! baby lion springs into an all-out sprint, gaining ground fast on the zebras. They break out into a panicked gallop, with baby zebra definitely the slowest, but she's doing a good job for her size.... 


the lion cub is charging in, and they are about 3 feet from eachother, zebras running away in a horrible, win or DIE, game of tag... i thought baby zebra was done for. but amazingly enough, the zebras somehow pulled ahead, and lion cub, found itself out-run. Whoah. The distance b/w the 2 separated, and the lion stopped and waited for his mom. 


She came up, slowly and making each step count; i could only imagine the little cub knew he was going to get it... she passed within 4 feet of our van - i couldn't believe it... and went over to her son... she smacked him around a bit (have you ever seen lions do that on those nature shows? they get up on their back paws and bat around at eachother in the face)... and then they walked off together. I didn't feel too bad for them. I was happy for baby zebra. As we drove away, our driver laughed as he looked back in his rear-view mirror...

he said that some of the vans were trying to herd another zebra pack into the path of the lions so they could see another hunt!! it didn't work, but i thought that was mean! but kind of funny.

We also saw some really fat hippos lounging down by the river bank when we went on a safari walk (and that is a skull of one of them i could have been eaten by!). i almost got attacked by a monkey at lunch... he was trying to steal our food, and i tried to show him who was boss, so i told him i could step on your tail, and i did; lightly... i wasn't scared of any monkey. He REACHED OUT and WENT FOR ME!!! AHHHH!!!!!!!!!! i was really scared of that monkey! i yelped and ran over to our group, my heart was beating a million xs fast!!! i could just imagine me in a hospital from monkey rabies and have to cut my trip short. wouldn't that stink. but thankfully, God protected me from my stupidity, and the monkey didn't keep chasing after me.

The coolest thing, besides the lion hunt, was a big group of BEAUTIFUL giraffes walking right up to our van, and then keep walking on... they are GRACEFUL creatures. wow. Their legs flow in this beautiful movement, like they're swimming or dancing or something. You would think they would be gangly and ugly, but no, they were seriously the most graceful creatures i saw out there.

The final pics are of the Massi people (i hope i spelled that right)... they are one of the 42 tribes of Kenya, and their favorite color is red. All the Massi boys wear a red cape, and it is SO COOL to see this BRIGHT, FIRE RED out in the middle of a grassy expanse, with dark brown skin... i mean, the red just explodes!! it is beautiful. 


So i met and got to become friends w/ one of the Massi warriors, and we had a great conversation about God and His amazing creation of all the stars... he knew about Jesus, which was really cool to hear. I pray that God would draw this young guy and his family/tribe close to His heart and they would follow after Him. 


They did a traditional dance, and had a jumping contest... they are famous for jumping high to impress the ladies. :) Then we taught them how to play / throw a frisbee the next day. It was fun.

I also met a great group from Europe; Scotland, England, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland... fun to have conversations with other young travelers; and to hear their points of view... it was really nice to be with them all!!! (oh, and the last pics are of our fire; nice! and a sunrise, i did get to see, but from the van!, and a LION tooth!!!! yes, its real. The Massi boys become true warriors when they kill one of those... they protect their goats and cows from them... like David in the Bible!!! Impressive.)