To begin with, I feel that I have soo much to write about, but alas I will have to split it up some. So! To begin with my birthday was amazing! Almost beats my top birthday...almost :)
For this long weekend a trip to Masai Mara was planned. There are two trips throughout the school year that the SM's are able to go on. One we have to pay for ourselves, the other the school takes care of. I chose to pay for the Mara trip so that I can go on Mount Kenya (can't wait!) There was a total of 23 of us who went on the trip, which was a really good number considering our vehicle could only hold 25. When I first saw our ride it reminded me of a tank. No joke! Big, and boxy. But surprisingly it was really roomy and comfortable inside. That is until we started driving. Just FYI the back of a vehicle when driving down the road with many speed bumps, uneven ground, and pot holes, is NOT the place to choose to sit your rump. Oh man, my back is still recuperating from those hits. After about 5 1/2 hrs and a couple of bush breaks, we made it to the camp site. If there was ever a blustery day this was it. Tents were flyin everywhere when we tried to get them nailed down. To say the least Friday night began very nicely, not only did we have a free place to sleep but the food Yani made was great. And yes,. I do believe Yani is right when she says that camping food is better and therefore we eat more then we should. Haha I'll have to put up the pictures of the staff with our food babies. Oh so bad haha.
My birthday fell on Sabbath which was a blessing in and of itself. Going into the park I was expecting to see things right off the bat. I've been told that the Mara is practically the "it place." But for the first few hours it was starting to drag. I had seen a lot of animals when I went to Amboseli so as Tyson would say my safari virginity was gone. But oh did we have fun laughing and just being random in the truck.
Most of us know about the big five, lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants, and buffalo. I had seen at least 3 out of the 5 when i went to Amboseli. (granted the lions were a ways away.) But oh man, did I get a great gift! As we are truckin along some beat off path another safari car pulls up to ours and our driver Joseph and the other start running off in Swahili. None of us had any idea what was goin on, but the next thing we knew Joseph is flyin us down the road. Now granted Joseph had been just cruzin pretty much all day but now we were goin fast! The next thing we know we are stopped under a tree. A tree? What do we want to look at a tree for? Because....there was a Leopard! Yep, up in the branches was my first Leopard. Most of us could only see it's hind end, but it was soo cool! There were cars comin from everywhere to see it. Crazy! After we took some photos we started on our way again, and what's the next big thing we see? Lions!! Right by the side of the road :) They weren't worried to walk by the cars or anything. And they are huge! It was soo neat! After leaving the park it was time to get ready for worship and supper. And unbeknownst to be some people had some tricks up there sleeves!! After helping with supper I went and ate dinner by the fire. Apparently Yani and talked with Jess and Tyson about keepin me away from the kitchen some how. So by the time I get there what do I see? A pitch black room (we had no electricity) but for the flicker of candles and all the staff and students singing Happy Birthday. I can't remember the last time I felt so bashful haha. Yani made me brownies with Reeses in it...the best! I got a card and happy birthdays and hugs. The best thing I could ask for.
What amazed me the most was just how blessed, happy, and loved I felt. I mean here I am away from "home" and yet I felt more at home and more content then I have in awhile. I was wishing I could be with my friends celebrating or wishing that I was somewhere else. Looking at the stars that night I could just feel all of Gods love around me, and I knew that He was going to be with me and bless this coming year for me. God is just so good!
My gifts didn't end there. The next morning (Sunday) we were told that we could go into the park for a couple more hours. It started off really slow again with not much excitement. That is until a safari vehicle told us about the Leopard. That's right I was going to see 2 Leopards. This one was on the move, which made it more exciting. She was so elegant and couldn't care less about the 38 cars that were circling her. I took lots of pics on Dereks Nikon D50 which was sweet! After seeing her we ran across some Elephants, one which had a calf. The calf was soo tiny, it had to be a new born. After driving some more we came across a Cheetah and her cub! It was soo neat to see them in the wild. And yes I probably am rambling but I can't help it!! It was awesome!
The day ended with us driving back to Maxwell and learning how to play 7-up thanks to the help of Tyson and Jess. Haha man that was just such a good trip and I know I'm forgetting so many things but there wouldn't be enough time to write it all if I did. So this is a blip (ok a long one) of my 22nd birthday in Africa :D one that I will never forget.
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