Sabbath at the Nairobi Game Park
NAIROBI, KENYA – I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion, I saw a lion…
Ok, sorry to go all 5-year-old on you, but yesterday was a wonderful day! No, it’s hardly ever good when you have to be up and ready to leave at 6:30am, but in the case of a safari on Sabbath, it’s awesome!
So, like I said, we left Maxwell’s campus at 6:30am to get to the park by 7 o’clock. I decided to ride in the Rusenescus’ mini-SUV with Valerie and Limuel because they had a hatch on the room of their car, making scoping animals extra-easy. After waiting for clearance at the gate of the park for a solid half-hour, we finally got in and started exploring.
Now, the experienced MAA staff somewhat scoff this park because it’s not as nice as Masai Mara, the world-renowned game park in Kenya, or because you can’t look at the animals without seeing the skyscrapers of Nairobi behind them. However, the inexperienced Chris Webb found the whole thing to be amazing, worlds better than any zoo in the states. It still takes up a huge area (44 square miles) and exploring it fully is definitely a full-day endeavor.
When we got in the park, our three SUVs (the Rusenescus, the Hartzells, and the Thomas’) split up to be the first to find something significant. We were on our way to an area the Rusenescus have seen lions when, there, just in the middle of the road, was a lioness, cub in tow, walking on the road towards us! We couldn’t have been more than 50 feet from them – in fact, when Lari Rusenescu saw them, he slammed on his brakes and turned off the car as quickly as he could, as not to disturb the mother feline or her baby.
The thing looked at us for a fe
w seconds, evaluating if we had plans to hurt her young. Apparently, she wasn’t sure, because she moved towards the cub and attempted to pick it up in her mouth, keeping it safe from us. However, the ADD cub wouldn’t have any of it, so it wriggled and jiggled so it could walk, too, just like a big lion. The mother finally gave up and continued walking on the road towards us.
This whole time, Valerie and I are sitting on top of the roof of the vehicle, legs in the hatch, shooting pictures non-stop at our company. I think I ended up with 50 shots of these two, but they were definitely worth the space. The pair continued walking towards our vehicle, until the mother again felt uncomfortable and shooed her cub into the high grass, next to the road, so we couldn’t hurt it. She walked past our car, and when she was far enough past us, the cub hopped back out onto the road, never more than a step from mom.
At first view of the animals, we had called the other two vehicles on a radio and informed them of what we were looking at, and by the time they showed up, the lioness had passed us on the road by another 50 feet. We followed it down the road a little more, until the mom got really nervous and moved to walking in the grass with the baby. After a few more minutes, she and her young finally disappeared into a gully, far from our sight.
Valerie and I were pretty pumped about seeing her, especially first thing in the morning. The Rusenescus said that sometimes, they come out and never see lions, so to get at them first thing is wonderful! We moved on from that spot towards a place where zebras hang out, passing a few velvet monkeys and an (ugly) ostrich on the way. There were probably 100 zebras walking around, making their way into a straight line on the left side of the road. It’s true: You really do see zebra everywhere here. It got to a point that, if I saw some, I wouldn’t even point them out to the group. So what? The fact that natives look at them the same way they look at donkeys has severely ruined zebras for me. They’re cool, but not lioness cool.
After that, we moved across the park, looking for something else interesting. We found one (just one) rhino near a watering hole across the park, so we tracked him for a while. When we finally gave up, we drove another direction until we bumped into a 2
00-member herd of water buffalo, taking a break at an oasis watering hole. They are, quite possible, the ugliest things I’ve ever seen. They look like cows, except their horns curl up at the top of their head, reminding me of the wigs that our George Washington and our other founding fathers wore in the early days of our country.
We eventually drove through the herd, an incredibly uncomfortable experience. These guys would look up at you, disrupting their eating/drinking/stinking it up/making vile noises, and they’d square their bodies right up with you. And like, 25 of them would do it at the same time, so they all looked ready to charge at a moment’s notice. I was very pleased when we got away from them.
Throughout the rest of the morning, we saw a few hartebeests, few more ostrich, gazelle, a couple of giraffes (very cool – very slow, very cautious, not very entertaining… but very cool), more ostrich, elands, some impalas, some antelope, and some more ostrich. Right when it was getting really warm (and I was just beginning to burn), we met up with the other cars and took a lunch break under some shade.
Two vehicles decided to call it a day after lunch – the Rusenescus and the Hartzells – so I decided to go back on campus and get a shower and some rest instead of watch animals the rest of the afternoon. I saw just about all the cool, famous animals that Africa had to offer. On Thursday, I saw the five baby elephants, and then two baboons running along the side of the road, so really, all I need to see is a hippopotamus and a couple more primates, and I think I will have got all the famous ones. A pretty successful first safari day, I’d say!
After a shower and a little rest, I spend most of the afternoon chatting on MSN and editing pictures I’d just taken. I’ve got a nice little collection, and I hope to upload them to Flickr at the beginning of next month. When the Thomas’ came back, around 7pm, we headed over to their house to have popcorn and fruit salad for supper, and then back to the apartment I headed. I almost joined some of the guys at the gym for a volleyball game, but I was tired and wanted to be online in case my dad needed help calling me on my cell phone. After a solid half hour of calling, I got the phone to ring, twice – but it died after a few seconds of usage. Hey, at least we know it works!
I was invited by Lauran Merginio, the guidance counselor/travel arrangements guy/Bible teacher to run into town at noon and pick up the first batch of students, so I’ll be heading off to do that pretty soon. On the way out, I am hoping to pick up a charger so I can actually talk on the phone to my family. Then, after that, Chris Webb ends and Dean Webb begins!
The butterflies are now there. I’m getting a little nervous about how I’m going to deal with students and if I’m going to know the right way to do stuff and all that, but I’m sure I’ll be fine. This is why I came here; now, my ministry begins. Take care, all!
-cw
Ok, sorry to go all 5-year-old on you, but yesterday was a wonderful day! No, it’s hardly ever good when you have to be up and ready to leave at 6:30am, but in the case of a safari on Sabbath, it’s awesome!
So, like I said, we left Maxwell’s campus at 6:30am to get to the park by 7 o’clock. I decided to ride in the Rusenescus’ mini-SUV with Valerie and Limuel because they had a hatch on the room of their car, making scoping animals extra-easy. After waiting for clearance at the gate of the park for a solid half-hour, we finally got in and started exploring.
Now, the experienced MAA staff somewhat scoff this park because it’s not as nice as Masai Mara, the world-renowned game park in Kenya, or because you can’t look at the animals without seeing the skyscrapers of Nairobi behind them. However, the inexperienced Chris Webb found the whole thing to be amazing, worlds better than any zoo in the states. It still takes up a huge area (44 square miles) and exploring it fully is definitely a full-day endeavor.When we got in the park, our three SUVs (the Rusenescus, the Hartzells, and the Thomas’) split up to be the first to find something significant. We were on our way to an area the Rusenescus have seen lions when, there, just in the middle of the road, was a lioness, cub in tow, walking on the road towards us! We couldn’t have been more than 50 feet from them – in fact, when Lari Rusenescu saw them, he slammed on his brakes and turned off the car as quickly as he could, as not to disturb the mother feline or her baby.
The thing looked at us for a fe
w seconds, evaluating if we had plans to hurt her young. Apparently, she wasn’t sure, because she moved towards the cub and attempted to pick it up in her mouth, keeping it safe from us. However, the ADD cub wouldn’t have any of it, so it wriggled and jiggled so it could walk, too, just like a big lion. The mother finally gave up and continued walking on the road towards us.This whole time, Valerie and I are sitting on top of the roof of the vehicle, legs in the hatch, shooting pictures non-stop at our company. I think I ended up with 50 shots of these two, but they were definitely worth the space. The pair continued walking towards our vehicle, until the mother again felt uncomfortable and shooed her cub into the high grass, next to the road, so we couldn’t hurt it. She walked past our car, and when she was far enough past us, the cub hopped back out onto the road, never more than a step from mom.
At first view of the animals, we had called the other two vehicles on a radio and informed them of what we were looking at, and by the time they showed up, the lioness had passed us on the road by another 50 feet. We followed it down the road a little more, until the mom got really nervous and moved to walking in the grass with the baby. After a few more minutes, she and her young finally disappeared into a gully, far from our sight.
Valerie and I were pretty pumped about seeing her, especially first thing in the morning. The Rusenescus said that sometimes, they come out and never see lions, so to get at them first thing is wonderful! We moved on from that spot towards a place where zebras hang out, passing a few velvet monkeys and an (ugly) ostrich on the way. There were probably 100 zebras walking around, making their way into a straight line on the left side of the road. It’s true: You really do see zebra everywhere here. It got to a point that, if I saw some, I wouldn’t even point them out to the group. So what? The fact that natives look at them the same way they look at donkeys has severely ruined zebras for me. They’re cool, but not lioness cool.
After that, we moved across the park, looking for something else interesting. We found one (just one) rhino near a watering hole across the park, so we tracked him for a while. When we finally gave up, we drove another direction until we bumped into a 2
00-member herd of water buffalo, taking a break at an oasis watering hole. They are, quite possible, the ugliest things I’ve ever seen. They look like cows, except their horns curl up at the top of their head, reminding me of the wigs that our George Washington and our other founding fathers wore in the early days of our country.We eventually drove through the herd, an incredibly uncomfortable experience. These guys would look up at you, disrupting their eating/drinking/stinking it up/making vile noises, and they’d square their bodies right up with you. And like, 25 of them would do it at the same time, so they all looked ready to charge at a moment’s notice. I was very pleased when we got away from them.
Throughout the rest of the morning, we saw a few hartebeests, few more ostrich, gazelle, a couple of giraffes (very cool – very slow, very cautious, not very entertaining… but very cool), more ostrich, elands, some impalas, some antelope, and some more ostrich. Right when it was getting really warm (and I was just beginning to burn), we met up with the other cars and took a lunch break under some shade.
Two vehicles decided to call it a day after lunch – the Rusenescus and the Hartzells – so I decided to go back on campus and get a shower and some rest instead of watch animals the rest of the afternoon. I saw just about all the cool, famous animals that Africa had to offer. On Thursday, I saw the five baby elephants, and then two baboons running along the side of the road, so really, all I need to see is a hippopotamus and a couple more primates, and I think I will have got all the famous ones. A pretty successful first safari day, I’d say!
After a shower and a little rest, I spend most of the afternoon chatting on MSN and editing pictures I’d just taken. I’ve got a nice little collection, and I hope to upload them to Flickr at the beginning of next month. When the Thomas’ came back, around 7pm, we headed over to their house to have popcorn and fruit salad for supper, and then back to the apartment I headed. I almost joined some of the guys at the gym for a volleyball game, but I was tired and wanted to be online in case my dad needed help calling me on my cell phone. After a solid half hour of calling, I got the phone to ring, twice – but it died after a few seconds of usage. Hey, at least we know it works!
I was invited by Lauran Merginio, the guidance counselor/travel arrangements guy/Bible teacher to run into town at noon and pick up the first batch of students, so I’ll be heading off to do that pretty soon. On the way out, I am hoping to pick up a charger so I can actually talk on the phone to my family. Then, after that, Chris Webb ends and Dean Webb begins!The butterflies are now there. I’m getting a little nervous about how I’m going to deal with students and if I’m going to know the right way to do stuff and all that, but I’m sure I’ll be fine. This is why I came here; now, my ministry begins. Take care, all!
-cw
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