Jambo, Jambo Bwana - Hakuna Matata!

What a great weekend!  Friday morning, a group of 7 of us left Tenwek to go to the Fairmont Mara Safari on the Masai Mara National Reserve.  This group consisted of Mark, Emily, and myself as well as four other short term visitors: Seth (from Portland), Laura (from England), Shelley (from Washington), and Barbara (from Florida).  We had heard great remarks about this place from others that had gone previously, but I don't think we were really expecting what we got.  Let me just say that this weekend is at the very top of my "Best Life Experiences" list and I can't wait to do it again!!

The tents we stayed in - not your typical tent!

 

The inside of the tent Laura and I shared

This resort was a 5-star resort by my standards, definitely the best tent I've ever slept in!  We had the absolute best service from our room attendant, our server at all meals, and our safari driver.  Our beds were turned down after we returned from our afternoon safari and they had heated water bottles in them to keep us warm during the chilly night.  Then, our room attendant gave us a great wake-up call with a hot chocolate (or tea or coffee) delivery each morning - now that's my type of morning alarm!  Everyone there knew our names and greeted us by them each time, even people who weren't officially taking care of us. It was kind of creepy wondering if they had our pictures posted somewhere that they had to study prior to our arrival to know who we all were so quickly, but I think these people are just super smart and it really did make the experience that much better.  They all took wonderful care of us! We also had a large amount of hippos out in the water around the tents that liked to keep us laughing with their loud snorting (see picture below of them all napping) and we were warned to zip up our tents tightly at night otherwise a monkey may be trying to break in. Talk about being a light sleeper for a couple nights!

My lunch plate - Masai beef stew, chicken, rice, cabbage, potatoes, and in the center is Arrow Root

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Mark's birthday celebration at dinner Saturday night

So we arrived Friday around noon and ate lunch outside which consisted of a buffet of wonderful foods as seen above.  I know it would surprise some people to know I ate most of that stuff on my plate but it was all so delicious! Maybe I'm secretly African on the inside as much as I love their food, hmmm... We then went on an afternoon safari for about three hours. It was so amazing seeing the animals out in their actual habitat rather than behind a fence at a zoo.  You get to see how all different animals interact together rather than separately and it was peaceful.  We had a wonderful 4 course dinner that evening with soup, salad, entree, and dessert.  Everyone else had steak and I had spaghetti (I was having pasta withdrawals!!) and it was all so yummy.  Saturday morning we started on our safari at 6:15 AM and stayed out for four hours while also getting to enjoy a picnic lunch out in the middle of the game reserve with zebra, gazelle, and other various animals around us.  We arrived back for lunch and a extended rest (Laura and Emily even got massages) before heading back out for the afternoon.  Dinner that night consisted of us all getting lamb - my first lamb ever - and then a birthday celebration for Mark consisting of great singing by the staff and a wonderful cake! The title of this blog is actually from the first song they sang to him before singing 'Happy Birthday' and we've all been singing it since, it's very catchy.  Sunday morning we got to enjoy one more safari before a wonderful buffet breakfast and heading back to Tenwek.   Overall, it was a great, relaxing weekend and I just simply enjoyed the drives seeing all that God has created. I spent our twenty minute drive back to the resort just staring out over the miles of creation I could see and being so thankful for the chance to have this experience. We all stated several times upon viewing the animals and the beautiful scenery that we don't know how anyone can see all of this nature and believe that it all came to be any other way than by God.  No explosion created all that majesty!  It was truly breath-taking.  God is SO good!

 Hanging out with the rhinos :)

 Giraffes playing around by "necking" (kinda like tag-you're-it)

 Cat-napping?!

 Enjoying our breakfast picnic with the wildlife

 The safari gang: Seth, myself, Emily, Mark, Laura, Barbara, and Shelley

 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth. - Genesis 9:16

 Pride of lions, 9 total

 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. - John 1:3

 Cheetah on the prowl - we watched him chase down a baby antelope but momma antelope got in his way and stopped him.  All the other animals all stopped when the cheetah was around and just watched!