#33 July 11th and 12th- Saturday and Sunday

-Safari
-Lodging at Red Chili
Today was the day of the big Safari. Bill and I got up early and took a good run through the county side. He is a really cool guy. We both read through the Shack recently and so we talked a bit about how we see God. I’m so humbled to be on a teaching team like this. The teachers I work with are so bright and talented. It’s always a temptation for me to back off and not use my talents when I’m around great people. I guess this is a fear of being compared, but I’m realizing more and more that it’s not about comparison; it’s about loving others and meeting their needs.
We had a very good breakfast of chipati and omelets. One thing that you live with every day here is dirt, and lots of it. But, this weekend, I experienced more dirt than usual. At around 10:30 we left. Before taking of, I picked up two paintings that I had commissioned. One is of a family of lions; it didn’t turn out that well. The other is much better. It is an image of an African woman with a basket on her head. Inside the basket there is the continent of Africa. I think the symbolism is especially potent. Men in this society have it relatively easy. Women are sometimes characterized as lazy, but it’s hard to understand why. They carry water on their heads, wood in their arms, and babies on their backs.
I’ve never in my life traveled a bumpier road, than the one to the safari at Murchisan falls. It was a bone jarring, nauseating, dusty, and lengthy ride. To make things worse, out driver had only one mix tape with Hero from Julio Iglesias, Not a girl from Britney Spears, My Redeemer Lives from Crystal Lewis, Drowning from some boy band, and a few other songs that we heard at least 20 times each. I actually got sick enough to chuck out the window at one point. When I did, the teachers were very helpful to me. They handed me wipes and gave me some water. From that point forward, I sat shotgun, which was more like riding on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland than my previous experience in the spin cycle. Murchisan Falls is called Paraa. It means place of the hippo. The park is breathtakingly huge. As we entered we came upon a family of giraffes. We were very close. There must have been 20 or so. In addition there were Jackson’s Hartebeests and the Ugandan Cob (gazelles). We rode through the park, wide eyed, as we came across elephants and warthogs. Eventually we arrived at the Nile….THE NILE!!!!

We took a few pictures and hopped on our boat to tour the Nile and see the falls. Along the way our guide Emmy pointed out some of the important features to notice. There is a bird called the Red throated bee eater. It is so beautiful. It is larger than a hummingbird but darts around like one. I think if the Holy Spirit took the form of a bird, this would be the one. Ok, I’ve been reading the Shack and I’m thinking a lot about how God reveals himself. I tried to capture as many pictures and videos as I could, while still enjoying the moment. One image I didn’t catch was a crocodile opening his mouth wide and lifting his tail. Only Emmy and I saw it, but I could have sworn I heard God whisper, “That one was for you Jon.” It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. The falls were nice, but it’s really the wildlife that makes this place special. We saw hippos in a huge family group. We startled them and some of them ran on the ground in front of us. It was pretty awesome. We also saw an immense family of elephants; easily 30. That was incredible, but far off. I loved the smooth ride on the river boat. It was a lot like the Jungle Boat Tour at Disneyland without the cheesy humor. I learned that there is a tomb for a white person, who thought it was a good idea to jump over the falls, but the suction got him and he was splattered on the rocks below. We learned the Ernest Hemmingway crashed in a plane near the falls.
We had chicken curry for dinner and I called it an early night because we had to get up before dawn for the last portion of our trek. We took a short ferry ride across the Nile….THE NILE!!!! and we headed out on our journey. On the way we picked up a ranger to help us spot the animals. The best part was riding on top of the mutatu. Even though it was bumpy, it wasn’t as bad a riding inside. We saw elephants, baboons, assorted gazelle-like creatures, water buffalo, water bucks, hippos, warthogs, and giraffes. The size of the reserve is hard to describe. The landscape is peppered with palm trees and termite mounds. The Ugandan Cob’s coat of fur matches the color of the termite mounds perfectly. I have an appreciation for nature that I’ve never experienced before.
The ride back was a repeat of the way there minus the nausea. (Thanks Mandy for the Dramamine)
Back at the homestead John Magee put together a poker tournament. Ryan ended up winning and Annie came in a close second.
I’ll share that in the morning I woke up to what sounded like rainfall. Matt and I stepped outside expecting to see a downpour. What we saw was something entirely different. More to come……