Essay | “Today, I was charged at by a rhino.”

NAIROBI GAME PARK, KENYA - “Today, I was charged at by a rhino.” Statements like that are things that the normal person cannot say. However, after today’s game-drive adventure, I can now chalk it up on my list of accomplishments.

After church and lunch (potluck brought to yours truly by the wonderful Filipino families up the hill at the Division), the afternoon activities were a choice between a 2-or-3-hour Veggie Tales Marathon or a trip into the Nairobi game park. I, of course, chose the latter.

We got into the park and, within the first 10 minutes, were blessed to see lions. We drove to a section of the park, where if you look off to the right, the front, or the back of you, all you see are tall grasses and sky. If you look off to the right side, however, you see a halfway dried-out river bank, tall trees, and 3 mother lionesses (with their 6, at the least, baby cubs), searching for food.

===

If you’ve never been on a game drive, you don’t understand the hierarchy of animals. It’s common to see half a million zebras walking around the park, pretty much where ever you go. You almost have to try and avoid them. They’re interesting the first few times you see them, but eventually, they become annoying blobs on the landscape that catch your eye just before you realize, “Oh, it’s just a zebra.”

Next come the ostriches. They’re ugly. You try and avoid them, for the most part… unless you’re Valerie and Mrs. Thomas on a game-park day, when you try to find their abandoned nests and steal borrow their eggs. (Thanks again, Val, the egg is AWESOME!)

Following that group, the deer-like animals. Whether their elk, elands, bushbucks, buffalo, hartebeests, wildebeests (which you must purposely avoid in the Mara, lest that’s all you see), antelopes, impalas, or gazelle, they’re cool whenever you see them, good for a few pictures, but not the apex. Even giraffes, as beautiful and graceful as they are, are only good for a few minutes worth of watching before looking at your watch.

The second best things to see are the “big guys:” elephants, hippos, and rhinos. Elephants are my personal favorites of all of the creatures you see; by just observing the way they move, how they respect their women, what they do, you can see how some say they’re the closest relative of humans. Hippos are ugly, but pretty cool because of their size and ability to hide all but their eyes under the water. Rhinos? Well, I hadn’t seen any (until today – more to come…) except from long distances, but they seem to be cool guys. Sure, they’re know to charge at vehicles “threatening” them, pounding their 2-ton bodies into whatever they can, but they’re still an animal you want to get close to.

Ah, but the cats always hush up the entire vehicle. Cheetahs are cool because of their incredible speed, and while I haven’t had the chance to actually see one run, I’ve been told that it’s a breathtaking sight. If you’re fortunate enough to even see a leopard, let alone get a picture of it, you’re an incredibly lucky person.

And if the cats are the straight-flush of safaris – not too likely, but among the best to hope for – then the lions are the royal flush. I don’t know if I’ve ever returned from a drive, or seen someone return from a drive, and the first question asked isn’t, “Did you see lions?” They’re definitely the kings of the jungle, no doubt, as well as the king of the expedition. As long as I’ll live, I guarantee, I’ll never forget seeing my first on that first Nairobi Game Park drive, when the momma and her little cub materialized, before our eyes, on the road in front of us. No words were spoken as the two crept up the path, feet away from our car, before moving safely into the tallgrass to avoid any suspicious movements. The image is burned in me forever.

So while our sight wasn’t as dramatic, it was definitely worth taking the peek. Seeing 3 mothers and more than a half-doze cubs was undoubtedly the highlight of our afternoon.

That was, until I accidentally caught a sight on the way out.

===

We drove around a while, catching loads of deer-like animals, more zebras, and even a few rhinos from quite a ways away. While I was closer to the big one-horned trucks than I’d ever been before, I didn’t want to cross it off my list of “What I’ve Seen In Africa” yet. I wasn’t close enough.

More driving, and finally, it was time to return home. We headed towards the gate and drove quickly, wanting to make it home by Vespers and supper. As we bounced along the road, we beheld more elands and hartebeests, a trillion more zebras, and countless miles of Africa savannah.

As we were about ready to hit the last stretch of road before leaving the park, my eyes wandered to the huge cumulonimbus cloud, hovering miles away behind us in the African sky. The azure sky clashed with the pink and orange radiance of the sun, lighting up the sky into colors I can’t even begin to describe. It was hard to focus on the scene with the things impairing my view, however: tree, tree, stick, tree, branch, tree, giraffe neck, branch…

Suddenly I realized what had just passed my vision. I forced out the words – “Hey, um, animal… uh, a giraffe!” – and the bus slammed to a stop. Mr. Thomas reversed the vehicle, and we all took a moment to admire the gorgeous animal with that incredible sunset behind it. After a few moments of staring, Mr. T started up the vehicle again, and we were off home…

But, again, without warning, the bus smashed all it’s weight on it’s front wheels. I snapped my head around and caught a small glimpse of a humongous rhinoceros, charging towards the automobile’s right side. Being on that side myself, I braced myself for the inevitable thud that would knock everyone out of their seats. However, before impact, Mr. Rhino apparently changed his mind, and he whipped around the other direction, darting into the bushes.

How the scene in the bus changed in seconds. This thing – gray, pure muscle, with an enormous single horn jutting out of his face – couldn’t have been more than 10 feet away from us, running at full stampede. In fear, we had all turned away to avoid the smash. But now that he was heading away, 20 lenses pointed at this colossus’s end-quarters, snapping as many shots as our cameras would allow. What an incredible (and instant) change of thought!

When pulses had returned to normal, the bus started up again, and we pulled through the final gates of the game park. The pit-stop to examine the last two beasts had set us a few minutes late, and we were told to sing some songs in substitution for Vespers. As songs of thankfulness and praise to God floated in the air, I could only close my eyes and whisper my own prayer of thanks to the Lord for all the beautiful sights he’d blessed us with during the afternoon.

-cw

All pictures in this piece, blurry and clean alike, are brought to you by the letters CW.
Translation: I took these myself.