Safari Day!!! :D

Early morning!!!! Goodness! I woke up around 5:30am this morning in order to be out to the van by 6am. :) We prayed before we left and I was awarded the warthog today! :)

We headed out about 6:15am to the park and may I say the drive there was absolutely beautiful!!! Wow. I took so many pictures and they're all gorgeous! We had to drive down this HUMONGOUS hill/mountain, meanwhile having a spectacular view of the Great Rift Valley. (FUN FACT: the great rift valley runs all the way from Kenya to the Red Sea in Israel. :) soo cool.) There were also plenty of beautiful scenery pictures on the way there. There are tons of acacia trees that are my favorite. They really make Africa look like Africa to me. Haha. When I see them I think Africa. :) (FUN FACT: there are over 40 different kinds of acacia trees. The most popular in Kenya is the yellow acacia.)

We arrived at the park around 9:15 am and to my surprise there were monkeys and baboons welcoming us at the entrance. I heard they get pretty aggressive if they know you have food. So we had to make sure and keep our food locked in the vans. Haha. Now a cool thing about these vans is that the tops raise up so you can stand in the van and look out and take pictures. It was really cool. :) Also, on the way there, Ellen and the others were saying how hard it was to spot a lion and especially close up. So I prayed and asked God if He would allow us to see a lion. Sure enough, as soon as we went through the gate about 500 ft. from the entrance were FIVE lions, just chillin on a fallen tree. :D It was so awesome how God answered my simple prayer! And they were much closer than anyone on the team had ever seen! God listened and provided us with that beautiful sight. :)

We then proceeded to the giant lake where we saw Zebra and storks, cranes, pelicans, flamingos and many other birds by the water. Here we got to get out of the vans and walk around the marshes. I got to get about 5 ft from a Zebra! It was awesome. We traveled on and saw 3 different kinds of gazelle, buffalo, water bucks, other kinds of birds, and white rhinos! :) we traveled through the park and made it to Baboon Cliff where ironically we didn't see any baboons haha, but the view was stunning. I could stay there for hours and just look at God's beautiful creation. What I saw is the world the way God had intended it. :) simply beautiful. We continued on and came upon some giraffe and more gazelles. It was finally lunch time and on our way we saw warthogs more birds and zebra and lots of buffalo. (FUN FACT: the buffalo are one of the meanest and most aggressive animals in the park. It would take 5 lions to bring one down.)

For lunch, it was a surprise! John, our driver, wouldn't tell us where or what we were going to be eating! We finally arrived at a place called Flamingo Hill Camp. It was absolutely beautiful! It was like a resort! And the food!! Omgoodness! It was the best meal I have had since I got here. Fresh fruit, fresh fish, pasta, curry, rice, fresh veggies, and this awesome bread called "Non" bread. It was an Indian dish. It cooked in this clay oven that was just like a big round block of clay with a hole at the top and she would roll the dough and then stick it to the side of the oven and it would stay and cook. It was soo good! Yumm! We then got a tour of this beautiful place! Wow. If you need a place to stay in Kenya, I suggest this place. Although, its about $300 US dollars a night... But I think it would be worth it for a few nights. You could come out of ur tent/hut and see wildlife, right there. (a fence in between of course, but still really close)

After lunch it was time to go back to the guest house. So we headed out and I took some more pictures of the scenery on the way back. It started to rain and when we got through it you could see in the mountains where it was coming down.

Wow. It was just beautiful and awe inspiring. Words cannot describe to you and sometimes my pictures can't either. I hope to have those up soon. :)

We ate dinner at the guest house and then had our meeting about what we're doing tomorrow. A lot of the adults are helping the older kids with resume and interview advice, while Bekah is doing crafts and a movie with the kids and then we will probably do more home visits. :)

Wake up call at 7:30am. Tomorrow is my last day. :(( I will be leaving Kenya around midnight Kenya time, back to the USA. I will stop in London half way there and then arrive home around 5pm Sunday evening. And then school starts the next day! Haha. (cuttin it close, aren't I? Haha)

It's bittersweet, but I have had a blast! I have learned so many things! Like today, I realized that there is nothing wrong with silence. Even when you are with someone and you can't think of anything to say... It's ok. Sometimes just being there is enough. A lot of the times I feel awkward during those random silences when neither of you can think of what to say.. But it's ok to have silence. :)

The thing I will probably miss most is the people in Kenya, then the scenery and then the beautiful weather. :) God has definitely blessed me and this trip and taught me many things about his people and about myself. I cant wait to see what more He has in store for me. :) I know He has been protecting me and it's because of all of the prayers. So thank you! :) God will bless you as well! :)

Have a great night/day! ( whatever time it is over there. Haha) Talk to you later. :)