Lions, and Tigers, and Bears Oh My! (Well...Not Reaaaallly)

Well guys, I know this sounds 100% cliche...but honestly words can't express how my last week went! I can saw it was incredible, awesome, amazing, and majestic....but it still doesn't capture it all.

This last week we traveled to the Maasai Mara for our first safari! Like I said, words can't capture everything. The pictures can't even capture it all! Being out in the plains, in the Savannah, by the river, wherever we were...the feeling can't be captured. All I know is that, yes, I did cry a couple of times, okay?!

We had a three day adventure and man it was quite the adventure! The first day was probably the most exciting. We got to see all of the major safari animals (lion, zebra, elephant, giraffes) and then some. The coolest thing was that our van saw a black rhino. In reality, it more of looked like a black blob that was a rhino shape, but through binoculars it was definitely a rhino. Black rhinos are super rare to see, only 12 in the entire park! They like to be isolated, and are not social at all...but we got it see it! That was cool.

The first day we also got really, really close to a pride of lions. It was INCREDIBLE. I won't say how close I personally got to them, but I'll just say that there was no zoom involved in the pictures! Terrifying and exciting and very exhilarating!!

I loved experiencing the beautiful planet that our Heavenly Father created for us. It is such a testimony to me of the love that He has for us because He took the time to create such an inexplicably beautiful and diverse world. I really was in awe of it all. I am so grateful for and so very, very blessed to be on this earth at a time when I know of my Savior and where I have the opportunity to see the beautiful creations that Heavenly Father has made!



MAN POINT: THIS WORLD IS BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING, WE ARE SO BLESSED. AMEN.

Fun Fact: The Masai Mara lies in the Great Rift Valley, which is a fault line some 5,600 kilometers (3,500 miles) long, from Ethiopia’s Red Sea through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and into Mozambique.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I'm an AZUNGU!

Image
Muli Bwanje!! That’s the most common greeting here in Malawi. Azungo means white person, and is the word I’ve heard the most this past week. It’s what all the kids and most adults will call us when trying to address us and get our attention. Our first day here, there were a bunch of children at recess and they all started to chant at us while we were across the street “Azungo, azungo, azungo” until we looked and waved at them. And that’s how it’s been pretty much every day since.   The kids are insane. No exaggeration. And yet they still have my heart <3 Right now it’s harvest time here in Malawi, and so everything has their crop drying out in the sun in front of their houses and nobody takes anything from anyone. I’ve never felt unsafe at all, and it’s so cool!. Honestly, the kids are the ones you have to keep your eye on haha. They ask you every time you see them is they can have you water bottle because they can sell them/trade them for money. I was walking with m...
Read more

..."There's Always Gonna Be Another Mountain"

Image
The top of the summit! Literally in the clouds I looked fear in the face this week and then conquered it....and honestly I couldn't be more proud of myself! This week we had our first excursion, which was climbing Mount Mulanje and summit Sapitwa Peak. In case you all were wondering in Chechewa Sapitwa means "Do Not Go There", and yes we went there! Sapitwa Peak is the highest peak bin Southern tropical Africa and the 3rd tallest peak in all of Africa. This experience was probably the hardest thing that I've done that tested me both physically, mentally, and emotionally. However, now I feel like I can do anything!  So, the hike was a 3 day hike and we did 12 miles the first day, 15 miles the second, and 8 miles the last day. And these miles weren't just casual walking miles. On the first day, we went up equivalent of 500 flights of stairs, and that was just day one. There were also points where we had to rock climb freely (ie, without any rope), and it trul...
Read more

Paradise, People, and Parties

Image
From the safari a few weeks ago, we headed over to a place I sincerely hope is heaven! We spent the week at Zanzibar Island in Tanzania. Holy moly it was BEAUTIFUL. Perfect temperature, beautiful ocean, island vibe…it was incredible. We spent a lot of the time on the beach, and visited around the island. As part of that, we went on a spice tour. I learned that Zanzibar is known for exporting a lot of spices, and we learned all about them. It was lots of fun! Then they fed us a delicious lunch that had so many flavors it was the best thing I’ve ever had. Another thing we did was swim with dolphins. It was lots of fun, but definitely not what I pictured. I had pictured it being serene and calm and we’d just slide into the water and swim with them…well turns out it’s not that way. We were in the middle of the ocean and waves were huge, and we would jump in and swim with the dolphins for a few seconds until they swam away. Then we’d swim back to our little boat, get in, and start it ...
Read more