Today we were supposed to get an early start to get to Nairobi National Park and start our safari before the sun rose. Mike had arranged for us to have breakfast at the hotel at 5:20 so we could hit the road by 5:45. Lets just say that sometimes things don't work out and end up being stories that will be remembered for a long time. For more info, ask one of the boys about what they remember most about that morning. We did end up getting to the park right before sunrise, so we were all excited about the potential to see the Big 5 (Lion, Elephant, Rhino, Leopard, and Water Buffalo).
The safari seemed to start a bit slow, as many of the animals seemed to still be sleeping, but not too long after the sun came up we started to get some good views of the animals. It was like a big game of hide and seek, as we were trying to find them in their natural habitat. One clue we had that helped us find more things to look at was trying to find other groups of cars. Usually if there was a group of them, they had spotted something. One of the first animals we got to see was the rhino, which was a big surprise. Some of the people who had already been on safari let us know it was really rare to see a rhino, and by the time we were done we had counted at least 15! Mike and Trisha are really good tour guides, as at one pit stop, Mike brought out a pitcher of home made coffee that he offered to each of the cars. It was a huge and pleasant surprise that made the trip that much better. We made the pit stop so that some people could use the bathroom, but because we had 3 cars parked, other park visitors thought we spotted something so they came over to see what was going on, although it was just a few guys trying to relieve themselves. It was a pretty funny experience. The big highlight for most of us was we got an up close look at a lion in the wild. It was literally 5 feet away from our cars. Everyone was so pumped to get so near to it!
We also got a small walking tour to go look for crocodiles. We were escorted by an armed guard down a nature trail to see if there were any in the nearby river. We were fortunate to see one get a bit to eat. It was a sight to see, and hear. There were also some Maasai women selling some of their crafts near the trail so some people tried to use their advanced negotiating skills to get a good bargain, but the women were pretty tough in their own negotiating skills.
After the driving portion of the safari, we were able to go to a rhino and elephant orphanage. When these animals lose their mothers at an early age, they are basically given a death sentence. So the orphanage is able to rescue them and raise them until they are ready to be set free into the wild with a good chance to survive. Sometimes that takes many years, but it was amazing to see the dedication of the staff, some of them even sleep in the same room as the animals to make sure that they receive their feedings on time. It was fun to watch the elephants and baby rhino enjoy their morning meals.
Then we went to the giraffe center to get a chance to be up close and personal with some giraffes. Upon entering, we were telling one of the workers how we saw all of the big 5 except for the leopard, and he was very surprised that we saw a rhino. We must have had God's favor because we saw so many! We were able to feed some of the giraffes and learn about all of the different types of giraffes that roam the plains in Africa. Some of us were a little bummed that we didn't get to experience it the same way that Pastor Barry had in previous trips. He had us all primed to buy carrots and have the giraffe eat them out of our mouth, but they don't do that anymore. Oh well, it was a lot of fun being so close and feeding the giraffes.
Before dinner we went to a local mall to do some souvenir shopping and grab a little dessert. We even got to see a puppet show put on by the mall staff. Then we made our way to a Chinese restaurant to have dinner with Pastor Tobias, whose church we would be attending and speaking at tomorrow. All the boys really enjoyed getting to see so many animals as this was something they were all looking forward to going into the trip.
