Saturday - A Very Full Day!

We began our day with breakfast at 6:30 and by 7:30 were on the road to Lake Naivasha for a safari.  This is a unique experience, since we got to ride in boats out to the main lake, passing a few hippos and many types of birds in the process.  The word Naivasha means “cold water” since the lake is spring fed.  The animals were all brought to an island in the middle of the lake for the filming of Out of Africa about 30 years ago.  The “Big Five” predators were also there for the movie, but then were rounded up and relocated to other game parks.  Since there are no dangerous animals, other than the hippos which are the most deadly of all, we were able to get out on the island and walk among the giraffes, water bucks, gazelles and zebras, with no fences separating us.  I’ve done this several times before, but it’s so amazing that I love coming back for more.  One highlight of this trip was that we saw several eagles during the day.  Our guides for our 2 boats would whistle and then throw a fish in the water.  About half the time, an eagle would swoop down from a nearby tree and snag the fish.  We were fortunate to get some outstanding pictures of this that I will post when I can.  After the safari, we had a great lunch outdoors, supplied from the kitchen of the lodge at the park headquarters.  On our ride home, our driver took us to the oldest tea plantation, dating back to 1910, for late afternoon tea and biscuits, which is what the British call cookies.  It was excellent and most of us bought some loose leaf tea to bring home.  The planation was gorgeous; the original home has every flower and plant known to man and a lawn that was so lush it felt like walking on a soft carpet.

We worshipped with the other teams when we got back to Rosa Mystica, since most of them would be traveling on Sunday to outlying areas and wouldn’t get a chance to go to church.  It’s always a very powerful service, with every person in the room being a committed Christian that has answered Christ’s call to spread the Gospel to all nations.  After services, the team had dinner and went to the Nakumatt across the street for supplies.  I was blessed to finally be able to take Catherine’s mother up on her invitation to come to dinner.  Last year, as told on the blog in other postings, I had taken Catherine and her family from her son’s high school graduation from St. Paul Lutheran in Concordia, Missouri back to Austin to show them our city.  Last November, I was the only team leader on the trip and couldn’t break away for dinner.  It was a wonderful experience, with incredible food.  Mama (a term of respect for all older women in Kenya), told me through Catherine that I am her son, after she had nearly hugged me to death.  She has Catherine and her sisters, and I am now Catherine’s brother, I guess.  I told Mama that I didn’t see a picture of her new son on her wall, so we took several pictures together and I will make sure one of them is hanging on her wall on my next visit.  What a wonderful evening we had, sharing lots of laughs and hugs.  Mama has been telling all of her Bible study friends about her driver for the last year, and it is really neat to know that they have all been praying for me all this time.  I slept very well.  Doing that on the first Saturday night is very unusual, my first few trips it was Monday or Tuesday night before I had a really good sleep.  I think the fact that we packed every minute of Saturday with activities was the reason.  I talked to the rest of the team this morning and they all slept the good sleep of someone that is thoroughly exhausted as well.  What a blessing!

We are getting ready to pack up for church now and we need to check out of Rosa Mystica, since this will be our last night here.  We breakfasted this morning with the other teams and then had a group sending prayer that was very powerful. Lots to do right now.  More to come!