Safari Part 1

Hi everyone,

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back on and send another update.  Its been hard to get back on these last few days after getting back from the Safari to be able to post.  But the safari was amazing and such a great time for the team to be able to rest and relax and get a little pampered.  We started out leaving the YMCA on Tuesday morning and took the 4 hour drive with our guide and driver through Nairobi, out the Great Rift Valley and into the Maasai Mara for the safari.  The drive there was very bumpy but extremely rewarding in being able to see much of the Kenyan country side and small villages.  The Kenyan infrastructure is definitely not the best and the majority of the roads were filled with bumps and potholes and dirt.  Our driver didn't really seem to mind it that much so we sped through around 60 mph, which definitely made the ride just like a roller coaster.  Leaving Nairobi we broke through the mountains and came across the breathtaking view of the Great Rift Valley, a gigantic valley plane that crosses 5 countries and gives way to the Maasai Mara and the Serengheti of Tanzania.  As we drove further from Nairobi we slowly passed town after town that seemed to get smaller and more primitive....the land was just dotted with these little towns that seemed out of a Western movie, a single row of stone buildings with a bar, hotel, and butcher shop intersecting a dirt road.    When we passed the last outpost town we started coming across Maasai villages and herdsmen as we started entering into the land surround the Mara.  More or less the Maasai are the Amish of Kenya and still live as they did hundreds of years ago.  They are nomadic herdsmen by trade and the men spend their lives watching the cattle and goats in the land as the women take care of the food preparation, children, and building houses.  Maasai culture has definitely changed in the last several decades, but they use to be a fierce people who required all their men to slay a lion before they can marry and build a house.  I kind of wish they still held this tradition and that I could somehow be invited to join them in this tradition.  They still live a harsh and very simple life though.  As we passed by all these villages it reminded me of what it must have been like for the men of the Old Testament, for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  A life spent always moving and taking care of the animals in the harsh sun and conditions.  I think seeing this has helped me to appreciate the parables in the Bible about Christ being a shepperd for his people and how they hear and follow his voice.  After passing through a dozen or so villages we finally got to the gate of the Maasai Mara Game Reserve and entered on our way to the Keekorak Lodge where we were staying.  

I wish I could write more but we have to get ready to go to the Kibera Slums to visit a school we have been in contact with.  These slums are the 2nd largest in all of Africa and home to some 1.5 million people in the area the size of central park.  It is definitely going to be eye opening and a very interesting experience.  Write more later.