MORE ABOUT AFRICA

I realized that I didn't update you on much else except a little bit about the Safari. I have a little more time now than I did yesterday so I'll give you a few more details!

I've been advertising Bethany to the max, by the way (for all you Bethany people reading... you should be very proud of me!!). I have both my T-shirt and bunny hug to wear out here and everyone asks where that is and I have lots of opportunities to talk about it! I can't say, though, that I've had anyone seriously interested in coming... I guess I'll have to work a little harder!

Last Saturday we went on a hike in the wilds of Africa with some of the RVA students. It was a fairly intense hike! First we went to some hot springs and then climbed practically straight up the side of a mountain to get to another path that led us into more forest and on our way to a waterfall. We followed our fearless leader, Emily, along the river, climbing over rocks and trying to avoid falling into it! The hike took about 6 hours from start to finish. I know, I told you it was pretty intense!
The waterfalls that we hiked to.
This is just a small waterfall at the hot springs.

Sunday we left for the safari. We had the delightful opportunity to spend 5 hours on some prime Kenyan roads... ha ha. They were horribly bumpy and dusty. After driving and driving, we entered the game park and shortly after, drove into the incredibly beautiful oasis of our "tented camp".. but you know all about that!

Tuesday morning we woke up for a 6:30am game drive (the last one of the safari). We had just come out of the the driveway to our camp when we spotted a group of lions feasting on their night kill. It was just like National Geographic! The road was right beside them so we could hear them growling and chomping... wow!

This Elephant came AWFULLY close to our van. We actually had to move the van forward so he could walk behind. He didn't want to deviate from his path!

There were a whole bunch of Hippos in this spot. I was amazed at how HUGE they really are. My perspective when I first saw them was that they were pretty far away but then one of them partially came out of the water and it was massive! Heather says that there are more people who die from Hippo attacks than from Lions in Africa.

The sun setting over the Mara.

Heather and Me in front of the sign at our Tented Camp.

My camera ran out of batteries and I haven't gotten around to buying new ones yet. The pictures on both this post and the last are from Deb's camera. She takes amazing pictures! You can also check Heather's blog (linked on the side) for more pictures!