Monkey Business

The Kenya Diaries (vol. 27)

July 22, 2006

Kevin's Turn

Today we went on a safari to Lake Nakuru in the seminary van. Fr. Johannes told us that we were going to Jurassic Park, but we didn't see any dinosaurs. Instead we saw lions, white rhinos, water buffalo, water bucks, impala, Thompson's gazelles, zebras, wart hogs, baboons and vervet monkeys. The monkeys were very playful and cute, and would eat out of our hands. There was one teeny baby, and another one that came right in our van and sat on our steering wheel. He looked like he was about to drive away.

We came across one giraffe who was crossing the road right in front of our van. He turned and looked at us when he got to the other side. Wow, he was very tall and beautiful!

Mama said this: The giraffe was so awesome -- bigger than life, and everyone was taken by the majesty of it. I grabbed my camera only to have it indicate "dead battery." When I reached for my spares, I found that my camera bag had tipped over and its contents strewn all over the floor. Not one of my finer moments.

**Note to self -- Next time there is a technical glitch, let it go and savor the present moment, rather than worry about capturing proof of that moment for the future.

When we got to the lake we got out of the van to see the flamingos. There were thousands of them! It was very windy and cold, but it was fun to walk around.









Our van was quite cramped because besides our family we had two priests, five boys from the school (Joel, Dennis, Charles, Gilbert and Johanna) plus Gardencia the secretary. Fourteen of us, plus a guide! After lunch I got to keep all fourteen bottle caps for my collection -- JACKPOT!

Our guide told us that water buffaloes are the most dangerous safari animals because more people have been killed by them than any other African safari animal.

Today was a really fun day. Thank you, Jesus, for sharing all your awesome creation with me! Amina.