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| Typical street on market day |
Day 14, Monday, October 13, 2014 … Mass at 6 a.m., then we all piled into the bus for the 6-hour ride to Kibo Safari Tent Camp just outside of Amboseli National Park. It was a fairly nice ride, and along the way we saw giraffe, antelope and zebra in the wild. The park borders Tanzania and is at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, over 17,500 feet high. While it was shrouded in clouds today, we did get a
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| Our "Tent" at Kibo Safari Tent Camp |
At 3:30 we drove into the game park … and you would not believe the animals we saw … hundreds of zebras, some giraffes, a couple wart hogs, hundreds of wildebeests, hundreds of elephants, some hippos, some ostriches, some cranes, many ibis’ (especially around the elephants), a hyena, monkeys, guinea fowl, many baboons (one that tried to “court” Julie just outside her bus window!), many gazelles, Impalas, and two cheetahs at dusk. It was interesting that during dusk, the elephants, zebras and wildebeests all migrated across the road in front of us, all going in the same direction … don’t know where but they seemed to have a destination in mind for the evening! It was all very exciting and quite amazing to see so many wild animals!!!
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This afternoon as the bus pulled into the entrance of Amboselli Park to get tickets, a half dozen Maasai in brightly colored dress carrying arm-loads of jewelry, spears, ornately carved bowls surrounding the bus trying to convince us to purchase some of their wares. They were very persistent, and several of the group did get good deals! We returned to the Camp close to 7 o’clock and all stopped at the bar for a drink. The group is getting to know each other quite well … it’s really a wonderful group … and we just had a great time celebrating the incredible time we’ve experienced these past two weeks plus today’s safari. Dinner was great … Of course this place is geared to pleasing the tourists … but it certainly is fun to be waited on hand and foot in a very, very lovely “safari”-type place.
After dinner we were treated to a Maasai dance around the fire pit. This area is home to the warrior Maasai tribe, probably the most well-known of the 42 Kenyan tribes because of their dress and culture and the notoriety of being warriors. They are generally very tall and slender, are somewhat nomadic as they herd their goats and cattle to areas of grass, often walk with a long stick, and often wear bright red cloths around their body and, ceremonially, very ornate beaded jewelry. The dance/prayer of the 8-10 young men draped in red cloths was energetic, chanting and yelling their songs, jumping higher and higher. They pulled several people from the group to join them, including Bob and Jessica. It was very entertaining.
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| Maasai Prayer Dance |
Day 15, Tuesday, October 14, 2014 … The electricity is shut off at night, but the generator started up again about 5:20 this morning, so we were able to take showers, get dressed and pack with lights on! After a delicious meal (with omelets, no less … the first time since we left home), we were back on the bus for safari at Amboselli Park, though we took a different route this time. Once again, the animal sightings were incredible … we watched a lioness lay there and just look at us for quite some time. We saw many, many elephants, zebras, gazelles and wildebeests. We saw a few giraffe, a herd of water buffalo, a dozen or more hippos grazing and another dozen or so in the water as their ears and noses pop up for air every minute and a half or so. We saw some water bucks (like deer), a couple impalas, quite a few ostriches, a wart hog and a lone hyena. We also saw a group of baboons running parallel with the bus for quite a distance, a couple monkeys, a huge flock of white pelicans, some cranes and many, many different kinds of birds. How amazing to see so many animals just running wild!
We arrived back at the Camp about an hour before lunch was ready, which gave everyone time to either go swimming in the pool or sit around the lovely patio area with a Tusker (beer) and socialize some more … it’s been fun as the group has gotten to know each other better. We had another delicious lunch, then loaded the bus with all our luggage on top for the long trip back to Nairobi. And long it was … traffic was extremely heavy during most of the trip, making the journey to the St. Mary Magdalene Retreat House almost 6 ½ hours long! The traffic jam in Nairobi itself about did me in (fumes, etc.), so it was a little bite to eat and off to bed (Bob’s going to 10 p.m. Mass).
Days 16 and 17, Wednesday & Thursday, October 15 & 16, 2014 … The retreat house is beautiful. Morning Mass, Breakfast, then some quiet reflection on our pilgrimage as we walk the beautiful silent prayer areas consisting of a chapel, a church, meditation areas on God’s love, pain and suffering, the Stations of the Cross. The verse that struck my heart when reflecting on my experiences was from 1 John 4: 12 “If we love one another, God remains in us; and His love is brought to perfection in us.” To me this is a perfect reflection of who we are in the partnership, in our families, in our neighborhoods and churches. Bishop Mulharia even drove all the way from Kitui to bid us good-bye. He is a remarkable man!
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| The delegation, Bishop Mulharia and several Kitui priests St. Mary Magdalene Retreat House Nairobi, Kenya |
After a little shopping (at another Walmart-type store in Nairobi … I was very disappointed that we did not get to a “market” to shop for souvenirs), we spent a little time with the group having a beer before driving to the airport. After getting through security, etc., we did do more “shopping” but only bought the remaining gifts needed because the prices were so high. Once again there was time for a dinner and Tuskers before boarding. I did get some sleep on the long, cramped, 8-hour flight to Amsterdam, then a 4-hour layover in Amsterdam killing more time, and finally a rather pleasant 8-hour flight home, landing in Minneapolis on a beautifully day with the fall colors at their peak, about 12:30 p.m. on Thursday. Jessica’s dad picked us up … it was bitter-sweet having to come back, but the fall colors were so beautiful!
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