Kenya=Incredible

I feel pretty confident in saying that after what D-rae and I have done the last week, we can figure out any situation and do pretty much anything. We set off on our first real traveling adventure of our four months here, and it was quite the adventure. The week started with spending three days in Kampala with our team, savoring our last time with the Fouts. We stayed at a hotel called the American Club, and it is pretty American. The food is pretty good, and there's even a picture of George Bush in the lobby. The weekend was full of swimming, or getting thrown into the pool in all of your clothes on(thanks Nick), playing tennis, playing cards, and spending time with our friends. We went to the airport Sunday night to say goodbye to the Fouts and that was a pretty hard thing to do. There were a lot of hugs and tears, and I left feeling pretty empty.

God's timing is perfect though, and thankfully Des and I had a fun trip to look forward to after saying a hard goodbye. We were so thankful that we weren't just heading back to Mbarara the next day, but instead we were taking off on an adventure of our own. We spent Monday in Kampala, hanging out at a bookstore in the mall, drinking our first Dr. Pepper since May, and I got my first haircut in Africa. That night we went to the airport, flew to Nairobi, and spent the night in a hotel in downtown Nairobi. I didn't realize how western and modernized Nairobi is, and let's just say I was a little overstimulated by all the flashing lights and big buildings. I've been in Africa too long...

Tuesday morning we set off on the 6 hour trip to Masai Mara, the game park where we were going for our safari. This is supposed to be one of the best places to go on a safari in the world, so needless to say, we were pumped. We were the only two people going on a safari with this particular company so it was just us, our awesome driver Peter, and Imraan, the owner of the company, in the bus. We felt kind of like royalty and were definitely a little spoiled by being the only ones. We drove through the Great Rift Valley much of the drive, and the view down into the valley was incredibly beautiful. The roads were awful though...probably the worst roads I've ever seen in my life. The curvy, steep hill down into the valley was also really dangerous. There was a wreck on it two days before we were there where three tourists died, and we actually saw another death on the way back. This was one of the many times on this trip that I thanked God for his protection and realized how lucky we are to have a God who takes care of us.

We got to Masai Mara in the afternoon and went straight out for game drive #1. Within 45 minutes we had seen giraffe, elephants, lions, and a leopard, which are pretty much the big things to see. Yeah it was awesome and I think at that point I had already decided that the money we spent on this safari was well worth it. Imraan has been going on safaris since he was three years old and he's only seen a leopard six times, so we were really lucky. Peter was an awesome driver and would drive off the paths, which is definitely frowned upon, just so we could get better pictures. We were close enough to touch almost every animal that we saw. It was awesome. I also saw one of the prettiest sunsets of my life...and yes, I took a few pictures.

While on our safari, we camped out in tents at a campsite that is right next to the park. Again, we were the only two people there, and there were actually more people staying there to take care of us (cook, guard, guides). Each night we would shower, eat an awesome dinner, then sit out by the campfire listening to crazy stories and looking at the amazing stars. Sidenote: I really think the stars are better here in Africa.

One of the craziest things about the safari was that we had two real Masai warriors guarding our tent each night. No, no...not from humans, but from the animals that occasionally wander into the campsite from the park. The park isn't fenced in so the animals pretty much have free room, and some of the stories that John, one of our Masai guards, told involved him running from both elephants and lions within the campsite. Imraan and John heard lions roaring nearby each morning and even followed them one day. Probably not the smartest idea if you ask me. Don't worry Mom...I was safely asleep in my tent at this point.

Wednesday was filled with three more game drives and lots of lions. It was really great to just be out in God's creation and experience it in such a new and cool way. I have to admit though that I am pretty awful at spotting animals while on safari. I told Des that it was my goal to just spot one animal before she did. Some of it might have to do with the fact that I tend to get a little distracted by the scenery and my new obsession with acacia trees (they were all over the place). So the safari went a little like this...D-rae "Oh there's some more giraffes. And some elephants over there. Oh yeah and don't miss those lions." Me "Ooooo....Look. I just spotted my 37th acacia tree." Yeah I'm pathetic. Thankfully my safari partner has awesome eyes.

My favorite part of the safari was when we visited a real Masai village Wednesday afternoon. This village is exactly what I picture when I think of an African village. All of the huts are in a little circle, surrounded by a fence-like structure. The Masai warriors all wear red because they are such fierce warriors, and they are also the people that you see on National Geographic that make big holes in their earlobes. We got to watch (and participate) in both the men's and women's dances. We also watched them make fire from sticks...yeah, it really works. It was an incredible experience. I can't even begin to put it into words, and this is getting lengthy already so let me just hit some highlights. D-rae and I tried to jump as high as the warriors...didn't work. We were both made chief for a few minutes. The chief of the village asked if I was married yet...awkward. We were able to truly see inside the life of a very culturally preserved African village. It was awesome and well worth the trip.

The safari ended on Thursday and we drove back to Nairobi. Peter took us to the airport, and we ended up spending six hours in the Nairobi airport because our flight was delayed. I got some coffee from the Nairobi Java House (Africa's version of Starbucks), and for a few minutes, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. We also spent a lot of time people watching and playing a fun game we invented called "Guess my nationality." We're getting pretty good at guessing where people are from. However, people here are really bad at guessing where I'm from. This one guy at the Rift Valley lookout point asked if I was from Holland. I mean c'mon. Imraan told me I don't look American, but maybe Australian. Must be the blonde hair....

Friday was definitely one of the most interesting days of our journey. We had to go grocery shopping in Kampala before heading home to get some things that we can't get in town here. We had a cooler bag for all of the meat that we were buying, and we were just praying that it would stay cold on the however long trip we had back to Mbarara. This was another one of those times that I thanked God for his protection as I was riding through the crazy streets of Kampala on a boda-boda (small motorcyle), squeezing between cars, with my huge hiking backpack in between me and my driver, while holding the cooler bag and other grocery bags as well. I feel pretty sure that you all would've laughed at me. My boda driver was a little acrobat and he squeezed through some spaces that I'm honestly not sure how we made it through. Check that. I am sure. The whole time in my head I was singing, "God will make a way, when there seems to be no way..." It's true. He does.

We had our first experience with taking the public buses back to Mbarara. We've been lucky enough to be able to ride to Kampala and back with our team members so far, but this time we were on our own. Everyone has made public to sound so awful so we went in expecting the worse. As we drove up to the bus park, people immediately started grabbing our bags and taking them to their bus. In fact, two men almost got in a fight over my bag because they both wanting my business. We finally got to a bus and sat on it for an hour and a half waiting for it to fill because the buses refuse to leave until they're completely full. The four hour trip to Mbarara wasn't nearly as bad as everyone made it out to be, and it was $7 so you can't beat that.

Whew...that was long. Sorry to get so wordy and so detailed, but I just want to share all of these incredible, and funny, experiences with all of you. It was an incredible trip, but I've never been so happy to see little Beco Hostel in all my life. When we landed back in Entebbe, I turned to Des and remarked how good it felt to be back home in Uganda, a place where we know some of the language, we know our way around, and we know the people. Uganda is home. That seems weird to say, but I'm so thankful that I can say that and truly mean it. God has blessed us so much in our time here so far. I feel 100% comfortable here in Mbarara, and he continues to bless us with experiences and relationships that make us love our life here even more. God is good, and he is taking care of us always.