Monday, July 12th -- Into the Wild

One book that I read this past year is called "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer. His main character Christopher McCandless graduated from Emory University and cashes in his savings as he flees from his comfortable home and town to hitchhike to Alaska. McCandless said, "So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun."

Today Julia and I left Nairobi to travel to the Masai Mara for our safari. We woke up at Steve's apartment, ate a delicious breakfast of eggs, toast, and a mango. We were picked up by a taxi at 8:00 am to take us to Wilson Airport. We met a few interesting people who were on different mission trips and were going on a short safari before coming home. We flew on the Safari Link line on a small plane that said across the side, "Your wings to the wild!" After a shaky flight, we landed in the middle of nowhere. Looking out the window the entire time was not the best idea for my stomach even though I have never gotten motion sickness I was on the verge of it happening for the first time. Thankfully, I was fine with some fresh air! I could not believe my eyes as I stepped off the plane into a field of dirt and tall, straw savannah grass. Forest green Jeeps were lined up with guides waiting to greet their guests. Sammy, our guide, is from the Maasai tribe. He was covered with beautiful, colorful jewelry and a red kanga.

On our 30 minute drive to our camp, we saw SO much wildlife. At the gorgeous camp of luxury tents, we met the rest of the staff and the other travelers. After being part of the mission work in Kenya and completely immersed with the culture, I now feel like I am a complete tourist on the safari. We ate lunch in the main tent and unpacked. We went for a drive that evening from 3:30 pm - 7:00 pm. Some of the highlights from today included seeing: a buffalo drinking at the river, zebras, giraffes, elephants, hyenas, and exotic birds. We spotted a leopard, which is very rare to see, eating a wildebeast. Leopards eat 3/4 of their prey before carrying the remainder of their prey up a tree. Cheetahs cannot climb, and they look like they have brown tears coming out of their eyes. We saw parts of the wildebeast migration! We saw a female lion lounging with her four cubs all sleeping on to of each other in a pile. We also spotted a train of elephants, each baby was following their mother. From our tent, I heard hippos grunting as I went to sleep and woke up. Each of our tents has a Masaai guard who carries a spear!

I am surrounded by the grace, strength, and beauty of nature. Being in the region where civilization was born and with people from around the world is wonderful. The captivating place I am in makes it unquestionable to doubt the presence of God. This is the ideal was to unwind and reflect of the past 5 weeks. I need to really think about and process all that I have done and learned and figure out how I will adapt my life in certain ways when I arrive back home. I keep thinking how important it is to "trust in the truth" as a source of guidance. This beautiful place and increible animals are pieces of reality that so many people do not get to experience or even value because they are so far removed from most societies. It is crucial to value their importance even if you're not personally seeing them. Already on the safari, I feel like I am Karen Blixen from "Out of Africa" in this majestic place. It has made me think that working for National Geographic or the Discovery Channel must be incredible. The other travelers are our camp are great. One family from London is here with their two daughters. One of their daughters is teaching for 2 years at a school in Rwanda so they are here for a visit.