Safari, So Fun!

So, yes.  We're still spending some time catching you up on our time in Rwanda.  

And, actually, much of what we did over that month will continue to be just for our family to enjoy in picture albums and written stories about how God led us and protected us and bonded us together.

But, there are definitely a couple of days I want to share with you, because they are just amazing!

When we traveled to Kenya to process Gabe's visa, we had an extra day or two, while we waited on appointments.  So, we got to explore Nairobi (in other words, we ate at AMAZING restaurants and shopped in multiple MALLS!), and we even got to travel outside the city to spend a day on safari at Lake Nukuru!

And, as God does, He had this day perfectly timed.  

Because the night before was rough.  Without going into all the details, we had some major trials happen while we were gone.   There were many tears shed, and truly, we had to give some things to God that we could not control or change.  It was hard hard hard.  And, the night before this safari, was kind of an emotional low for us.  We prayed and prayed and asked others to pray with us (which they so faithfully and amazingly did!).

And, the next morning, we left before the sun came up to see the amazing animals of Africa.  

Needless to say, I wasn't seeing any kind of correlation.  But, then, as we drove along the Great Rift Valley, I was overwhelmed with the sense of how BIG our God is.  And, this got stronger as the day went on, as I stood on the very ground where animals like zebras and giraffes walk and make their homes.  Where God created these beautiful animals in such creative ways, and was allowing us this moment as a family to witness it and treasure it.  It was as if He was whispering to me, "I am bigger than you could ever comprehend.  I see each animal on the great plains of Africa and know their needs and desires.  How much more do I see YOU and know what YOU need?  I am the GREAT I AM.  Rest and enjoy Me today!"

Well, that's exactly what we did!  It was the BEST day and we soaked up every minute of it.

As I mentioned, we started before dawn.  So, you can see that the guys in our family were pretty sleepy on our drive.  :)  We were glad to see that Gabe is just like his daddy and can sleep like a champ!

 When we arrived, the monkeys were already waiting for us in the parking lot.  They were like squirrels in America.  Just hanging out all over the place, trying to find snacks and make friends.  :)  This one has a tiny little baby hooked to her fur!

 Here are the girls, ready for the adventure!

 And, they stayed like this the whole day!

It took a little bit for the girls to really realize that these animals just live out here...that we were in their natural habitat.

In fact, there were gates at the front that had a rhinocerous painted on the outside.  Carlie said "Look, there's where the rhinos live!"  And, then 5 minutes later, when this zebra crossed the ROAD at the front gate, Abby Kate said "I guess the zebras have to go back behind the gate now."

Hilarious to realize how used to the zoo they were!  :)

The rest of the pictures really don't need words.  They're just cool.  :)  Mark was the photographer of the day, and I really can't tell you how many hundreds of pics we had by the end.

A cute little zebra family!

Those are hundreds of flamingos!

 We kept a list through the day of what we saw...some of them, we didn't even know the names of before our guide told us!

 The view from the top!  I love this picture of Carlie, standing in awe.

 Our family of six in Kenya!!

 One of the only pictures Mark and I have from the last few years, I think!

 The monkeys were playing with each other.  I could have watched them forever.  It's fascinating to figure out what their games are!

 Guess what song we sang when we saw the water buffalo?  Veggie Tales fans know...

 And, our favorite part of all...the giraffes!!!  They are so graceful and beautiful!

 It is so amazing to watch all the animals living together in one big open space!

 The big treasure of the day was seeing two different families of rhinos!  Our guide said they are usually hard to see during the mid-day like this, and are usually alone.  (So, you can imagine how many pictures of the rhino bottoms we have!)

 At the end of our {very long and fun} safari day, our guide mentioned going to the lake to go on a boat ride and see hippos.  Everything in my tired body wanted to just say no.  But, when can you EVER go on a boat ride in the middle of Africa and see hippos?!  So, off we went!  And, I'm SO glad we did!

 It was like a meeting ground for all the birds!  It was crazy!

 Gabe's view for the first half of the ride:  propped on a lifejacket in the bottom of the boat.  The boy was tired, but he sure loved the vibration of the boat!

 And, this was one of our favorite parts.  Our guide would point out the fish eagles in the trees.  Do you see him way at the top?

Then, he would whistle and throw a fish in the water next to us.  And, the fish eagle would come flying toward us!

 And, out of nowhere, he would practically land on the water in a split second, pick up the fish, and soar back up to the trees.  Mark was the awesome photographer who caught this series of pictures.  SO amazing!!!

I told the girls that we could definitely check off Nature Studies for our homeschool for the whole month after a day like this!!  (By the way, have I mentioned how GLAD I am that our kids got to go with us on this journey?  They saw it all...the hard, the sad, the frustrating, the awesome, the happy, the JOYFUL, the grace, the love...they learned so much about another culture and another country, but also about God's heart for the orphan, and about His power!  Lessons I could have never taught them in school.  :)

 Even Gabe got to enjoy the afternoon and see the animals.  He actually loved being in the wind, and was so relaxed, hanging out on the boat!  (Now we know even more how much he loves being outside, in the wind, or in the water.  It's his favorite place besides the bathtub!)

And, now for the crazy cool part.  We saw so. many. hippos!!  They were in families also, and the guide taught us alot about the habits of hippos.  Did you know that the baby boy hippos have to be hidden by the momma hippo, because the daddy will try to kill him?  So, he is always separated from the family until he is older, and they end up living in "boy groups" as bachelors!  There is also, of course, a male leader of the family, and there is even extended family members in one group.  But, most of the group are females and their babies.  SO COOL to see it firsthand!

 This one was communicating back and forth with the guide, who is obviously on the water with these hippos every day.  It was very clear that they knew each other.  :)

 It was one of my favorite days of our month gone, and still one that we love to look back at and "ooo" and "awe" at all of our pictures.  This world is an amazing place and I'm so thankful we got to explore this part of it!

"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?  You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.  You made him ruler over the works of Your hands; You put everything under his feet:  all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.  O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!"  Ps. 8