It's a Wild and Wonderful Life: The Wild Side...

This past weekend, Kelly, Mark and myself had the privilege of going on a Maasai Mara Safari along with our new friends also visiting at Tenwek: Seth, Laura, Shelly, and Barbara. We left on Friday and stayed until Sunday. What a great time we had!!! We had been told that this place was nice, but we had no idea what to expect. Our housing for the weekend were tents. Now these aren't the tents we are used to in WV and KY. Mark and I felt like we were on a second honeymoon. See some pictures of our room below.

When we first walked up onto the porch of our tent, the first thing we noticed were the hippos in the river just outside of our tent. These hippos provided loads of entertainment as they were very vocal and playful. Each morning we were awakened by someone coming to our tent with coffee and hot chocolate. We would go on a morning and an evening safari. Once we got back in the evening, there would be a hot water bottle in our bed keeping it nice and warm for us. Talk about service! The meals served by the resort were amazing and included things like steak, lobster, and lamb. Laura and I even had the luxury of an hour long full body massage during our stay. It was much appreciated, especially after the bumpy "roads" we traveled to get to the resort and then out on excursion! All the staff at the resort know you by name. I have never been treated with such service. It was truly an amazing experience.

As for the Safari...we saw all kinds of wildlife! We saw rhinos, hippos, leopards, lions, giraffes, baboons, zebras, worthogs, topi, a cheetah, cape buffalo, all kinds of different species of antelope, jackals, hyenas, etc. We even got to witness a cheetah trying to chase down a baby antelope...however, mama antelope stepped in a scared off the cheetah, it was amazing. It was interesting to watch all the animals stand still and keep their eye on the cheetah. It was also interesting to see a lot of the animals grazing in the same fields. You would see a giraffe surounded by zebras and antelope, all living harmoniously together. Although giraffes were not an uncommon site, I never got tired of seeing them. I am still amazed by their size and surprising elegance.

Once again, I am reminded of the size and power of my God. How creative he must be to design all these animals. Each with special skills and characteristics that help them survive in what can be a hostile environment (as we saw with the cheetah). The Maasai Mara is so vast and so beautiful, you can see God's brush work through a beautiful sky, a rainbow following an afternoon rain, a perfectly placed tree, or the amazing camoflauge of the animals. Our group was reminded of the Garden of Eden and what an incredible place it must have been for Adam and Eve to begin life.