More animals, lots of mud, and 5 hours in the car. Sebina's slumministry.

After a nice overnight rest in the tent rooms, we left early this morning for tea and a 6:15 am game drive.  As Mike stayed behind for yesterday evening's drive, today Martha and Jeff stayed behind.

Elijah our driver handled the van (top heavy with all of us standing up looking out the top) quite well considering the torrential rains we had the previous night.  The roads and tracks weren't in great shape.  I think I mentioned yesterday's driving rain, the slipping in the mud, the doing 180's (accidentally), all in the middle of a large and frenzied herd of wildebeest and Cape buffalo.   We fondly refer to that as bowling for wildebeest.  Thankfully we bowled a gutter ball.

The drive this morning started out with the usual zebras, wildebeest, topis, and gazelle.  We spotted five giraffes that passed right in front of our vehicle.  Still graceful!

Then Elijah took us down a road and Daniel spotted the elephants.  They were retreating, so this is the best photo I got of them.  

We hunted around for a while, finding warthogs and Grants gazelle, then went looking for lion.  We found a cheetah instead.  This one just having had breakfast and knowing full well that the paparazzi were mobbing her from their funny looking vans and land rovers.  I'm glad she already ate!

We sighted several other animals, but this isn't National Geographic or Mutual of Omaha.  So I'll get on with the blog.

We headed back to the Fig Tree Camp for breakfast buffet, pack up, and leave.  What a nice place--I wish we could've stayed longer (maybe another day or two, if I were on vacation).

On the way out of the park, this guy was sighted and shot (with a camera, of course).  He is a Kongoni, or a Hartebeest.  

Next was our 5 hour drive back to Narobi.  We passed a few Masaai villages on the way and I saw many wearing bright colors, standing in a circle, and jumping up and down.  Martha said they were dancing, probably for a church service.  It was only then that I realized that today is Sunday.  It still doesn't seem right because we are in another universe, upside down, and we have been going to a lot of church, if you've not been keeping up!

Speaking of things, above, named Hartebeest, I thought my friends Dave and Mike would appreciate that beast and this photo below.  This is the Intelsat station sitting in the Rift Valley just west of Nairobi, which we passed by.  I read up on the history of this station a little, and it seems that even this has been impacted by African politics.  It is, however, operational, from what I understand.  Sitting on the equator, and talking up to geo-synchronous orbit, and from this shot looking nearly south, you could look at the photo and fairly easily determine what Intelsat birds (communications satellites) they are talking to.  Of course if you really wanted to know, maybe you could look that up too.  I am suprised that I was able to work in some satellite lingo in a blog like this!  (I have another shot showing them to be about 90 degrees in elevation from each other).

We got to our lodging, Mayfield Guest House, checked in, and left quickly for our meeting across town with Sebina, our friend working in one of the Nairobi slums.  But traffic was hung up in a big way.  

So, remember my post from last week, and I briefly mentioned that a VIP government official was coming to Kericho to visit?  Rumor had been that it was the vice-president of Kenya, or perhaps even the president.  Well, apparently it was the president, because when he flew back to the airport today, they literally blocked all of the traffic so he would have a clear route back to the office or his house or wherever he was headed.  

We made our way around it eventually, only to get hung up in traffic in the slums!  We took a back road to get out of that--good thing we had a 4x4--I never thought we'd need to 4x4 just to get through an alley way in a major city.

Our plan had been to watch Sebina work with a young men's group she has going in the slums, and to give her some clothing and two balls that she could use.  Abandoning that plan, we made arrangements to meet her at a Java House restaurant for dinner.  Here's the meeting group, sans Amy, who took the photo.  We have, left-to-right, Elijah (driver), Jon, Sam, Martha, Hazel, Mike, Sebina, ministry secretary Panina, and ministry chairman John.  Mike explained Heart of Africa's purpose and philosophy to the board, and then we discussed her purpose, vision, and values, (well, my words, but that's what we discussed); and it's to transform people's lives by helping them learn marketable skills, and come to know the Lord.  Something like that, but she's still working on the language with her board.

It's been a long day, and our team is looking for the second wind.  I think it will come after we get to Entebbe tomorrow.  I was just telling Jeff this evening that I like the idea of rough edges being polished off (of me), but it's no fun feeling the sand paper.  I'd rather be back in my element doing my thing and not be changing.  I'm speaking not only of group dynamics, but also of seeing God's church in a very odd-to-me culture.  Being received as visitors here, as a visitor, doesn't mesh with the way I culturally expect to be received.  And that's tough.  I'm constantly thinking "if they only did things our way" or "why do they think this way?", knowing that that thinking has been tried before, and this country can develop with it's own culture.  I keep thinking of my friend Daneen's solo mission to a rough area for a whole year, and what that must have been like.

I think we will make it.

We will be excited to get back next week, but are also excited to find out what's yet in store.  God Bless.