It's been a while since I updated! That's mostly due to lack of internet access, sleep, time, and american outlets to charge my computer! Saturday morning eleven of us from our group got up early and headed about 2 hours south-ish(they never knew what direction, they just knew which direction to point to) to the Massai Mara reserve! We arrived at Ngerende lodge by noon and were greeted by their staff and the Massai tribe men! That was quite the surprise. They welcomed us with an interesting dance and chant and made us join in.
After some chanting and dancing we went to our "tents". They. were. awesome! There was 7 tents and each one overlooked the Mara River which was FULL of hippos! They would hang out in the river all day then when it got dark they traveled out of the river to the plains to eat. We would wake up in the morning to hear the hippos splashing and grunting in the water. After we settled in we ate an amazing lunch outside and headed out on our first safari.
The first game-drive did not disappoint! We saw zebras, impalas, water buffalos, gazelles, and giraffes! The giraffes were by far the coolest and we were even lucky enough to catch some roaming across a field at sunset.
The first wildlife we saw up close!
As we were driving up we spotted some more giraffes walking across the plains.
A sunset shot. We actually got really close up to them but I loved this shot!
After we got back to the lodge they took us to a surprise "bush dinner" where the chef, Isaac, made us a traditional Massai barbeque dinner which consisted of a lot of lamb! I discovered some of the meat lacks some taste b/c I'm so used to marinating everything but it was still pretty awesome!
The following morning Kari, Mary and Michael Taylor, and I got up at 330am (we'd only finally gotten in bed at midnight) to catch a ride to our sunrise balloon ride! We drove another 2 hours through plains, over a river, and down rocky mountains through the pitch black morning until we came up on a large field being lit up by our hot air balloon! We quickly hopped in the basket and our pilot, Peter, took us about 20 miles through the Massai Mara park and into the Serengeti plains! I can't even tell you how unbelievably beautiful the sunrise over the vast land was!
As our 1 hour long ride came to an end it was time to land. Due to winds and lots of termite hills it made for a difficult landed so we crashed...I think Peter was embarrassed but we all decided we wouldn't have had it any other way; it was pretty funny. Once we landed we walked about 5 yards to where they had set up breakfast for us. A chef served us pancakes, waffles, sausage, potatoes, fruits, bread, and even mimosas! The four of us plus Matthew (our driver got a free ride; he loved it) sat there and ate our breakfast with the elephants behind us and took it all in. I'm not sure I've yet to comprehend how beautiful this was. Certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity.
An African sunrise.
Breakfast in the Serengeti? Don't mind if we do.
After breakfast our drivers Lazarus and Matthew took us on an impromptu safari. We came within 10 yards of elephants and even saw about a 4 day old elephant. This was one of the highlights of this trip. We saw baboons and our one and only rhino sighting. After this we came upon a Massai village and Lazarus felt we had to visit so we did! I'm so so glad we did. It is absolutely CRAZY the way these people live. The women of the tribe welcomed us with another tribal dance and chant. We met the chief and two of his nephews(they consider themselves brothers but I informed them they were his nephews; they didn't understand ha) showed us around the village. We went inside on of the huts which were made of cow dung and mud. The woman make the huts, slaughter the meat, take care of the children, and make all the crafts they sell. The men just protect...Basically, being a Massai woman does not sound fun. These people eat only meat (not wildlife; just the animals they raise) and even drink the cow blood. Nasstyyy. They live as polygamists and each man has so many cows that he uses to "buy" their wives. Cattle is their means of food and a symbol of their wealth. The chief bought his first wife for 15 cows (typically it starts at 5) and then bought 5 more wives. Their village is made in a circle and each wife has their own hut that houses themselves and their children. The man of the family rotates each night which wife he sleeps with. Every night they fill the front part of he hut with small lamb and goats and in the center of the village they fill it with 200-400 cows! They use them as protection. If a lion came in the night the animals would not only be alarmed and wake the family but they would eat the animals first and not be hungry once they got to the family. Crazy but smart! After we toured around their village they took us to where they sell all the crafts the women make. I bought a few things. This was a super eye opening experience. I would never and could never live this lifestyle but I was so impressed with how they live and survive.
Got so close to this guy! We drove off quickly once he turned and looked like he may head right for our car...
Elephant crossing. This little guy was only a few days old!
In the village and in front of their view! That's a pretty nice front yard.
The Chief of the village.
Our welcome from the Massai women. All were married and all had lots of kids!
One of the chief's wives huts! We got to go inside. Very small, smelly, and full of flies.
Little girl in front of her hut. I said "Jambo!" and she smile big and waved.
We eventually got back to the lodge, took a short nap, showered, and met the rest of the group to eat and go on another safari. This was game drive when we finished seeing the "Big 5". The big 5 consists of lions, elephants, rhinos, buffalos, and leopards! At this point we'd seen elephants, a rhino, buffalos, and one female lion. I was ready to see some big male lions and leopards! Honestly, I was most excited about the leopard...just ask Mary. I freaked out when we finally saw one and she pretty much made fun of me all night. We actually got to see a pride of lions and the later we found two male lions just snoozing in the bush. Our game drive had come to an end and we were heading back to the lodge in the dark. We were driving through some bushes and turned a corner and a leopard popped right out in front of us! He was just as startled by us as we were by him! I'd pretty much told myself I wasn't going to get to see one and then there he was! Unfortunately, it was so dark I could't get a picture, but I promise I'm not lying!
Lion pride. There were two moms and 6 little ones! They didn't mind us at all!
Two males we came across later in the day. We were stoked to find them!
We saw lots of other fun animals too like jackals, hyenas, dikdiks, warthogs (pumba!), meerkat looking things, and many many others. The following morning I elected to sleep and pack before we left rather than going on the morning safari. A lot of other people did, too. After a long week at the hospital and constantly going at the safari I need rest. I slept about 7.5 hrs which was the most I'd slept the whole time. It was much needed b/c Kari and I had a long two days of travel ahead of us.
We were in two land rover things. This is the second group going through some crazy terrains!
This was our drive the Ngerende. We saw these kids running through the field in the distance just to wave to us as we passed. The love "white people" haha
The view on our drive to Negerende. This is Bomet, right next to Tenwek. It's beautiful.
On Monday we drove back to Tenwek and surprised Whitney, Lisa, and Leah (three of our nurse friends who came for the second week of surgeries). We got to hang out and eat some lunch with them before driving back to Nairobi to catch our flight. We drove a total of 6 hours, then had 3 flights. The first one to Amsterdam was 8 hrs. We had a 5 hours layover then got on a 10 hr plane ride to Atlanta. There we had a 3 hour layover and had to go back through customs and recheck our bags. Then about an hour flight to Nashville. We arrived home at 550pm which was 250am tenwek time. All that travel and only cat naps on the plane made us sleepy and jet lagged! I was greeted by my wonderful parents at the airport and came home to a clean condo and two of my best friends, Kara and Mary Hunter, surprised me with balloons, a sweet card, ice cream and BELLA!! I really miss everyone at Tenwek and wish I was there to care for this little ones they are operating on this week but I really loved my shower and my 15hr slumber! Please continue to pray for those still in Kenya doing surgeries. The nurses leave on Sunday I think and will be exhausted. Kristen B and Rebekah especially have worked like crazy. Pray for them as they've worked 12 hour shifts every day since last monday. Pray for Leah, Whitney, and Lisa also as they work long hours and wrap up the last few days of surgery. So proud and happy to be a part of this team. Thanks everyone for loving on us!!!
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