On My Own; Safari #2

Well, this was a uniquely fun day. Lando, the GI fellow, is still on a mission trip and Jack, the surgery resident rotating on the endoscopy service, took a vacation day. That left me to do the procedures myself. We usually do 5 procedures before lunch, sometimes going into the lunch hour (yes, hour) to get them done. Well, we did 6 of the 7 scheduled procedures and I saw 4 patients in clinic before lunch and still had time to do the last one but the GI lab staff wouldn't hear of it. Now, that is what I call MGG efficiency!

The charge nurse is on annual leave so the staff took advantage of it. I went to see two hospital consults and told them I would make a decision about the need to do procedures by 4 PM (regular hours are until 5). I got back (fortunately to tell them we didn't need to do anything) at 3:45 to find the lights out and doors locked!

I took advantage of the free time to start this entry early rather than late at night in anticipation of being on call for medicine tonight. As I think I mentioned, this is the part of this assignment which really has the potential to stretch me big time from a medical standpoint since I don't do general medicine, they have diseases with which I'm not familiar and they have lots of sick, and I mean sick, folks with limited resources.  I'm only on call 5 nights the entire month but, as it works out, 4 of them are over the next 8 days beginning tonight. So, I would ask for focused prayer that I am able to be of help to those He puts in my path. Another example of Him putting us in positions where we cannot avoid acknowledging His sovereign control. I feel like such a weenie after hearing the stories of not only the early pioneer medical missionaries but of the current staff and the things they are able to accomplish with the facilities they have. I'll share some of that next week.

But now, to part two of the safari!

After about 9 hrs in a vehicle including travel time to the savannah, we arrived at our camp. This is the reception area where we were met with cold towels and juice.

After walking through a small hut which houses a gift shop and a business office, you come to the main lodge. As you'll see, the landscaping plan is to keep things as natural as possible. There are no fences to keep the animals out. In fact, I think I mentioned the owner showed us were the elephants had chomped on trees in this area the previous week.

 Off to the right was the dining area. Three great meals per day.

Off to the left was a lounge, bar and fireplace. Straight out between them was a large deck.

This is a view from that deck showing the section of river which as been dammed to give a permanent body of water used by, among other creatures, about 30 hippos. For size comparison, there are two on the water near the left bank at mid distance and several on the bank just to the left of them.

Here's a closer view of our pets. You probably know more people are killed by hippos than lions or elephants.

 Here's our hut and the path leading to it which is simply a strip of grass cut to allow passage. You can see our nearest neighbor to the left, lots of untouched space.

 A view from our deck. From here we could watch a host of the animals we saw on safari.

The interior was a single open space with a half wall separating the bathroom which had a tub and shower looking out the back of the hut. Designed to look like a tent, it was constructed of a lime based material without cement to be more environmentally friendly. Just quoting, don't know the details.

Enough of the accommodations,  let's get back to the animals you came to see.

 This is not your Indian domesticated water buffalo. These guys are aggressive.

 Lots of giraffes in groups of 3-10

 We saw two, single males about 50 yds away but were not able to get close to a herd of about a dozen we saw in the distance at another location.

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 The only lions we saw were a pair of young males lying under brush to keep cool. This shot was taken from about 20 feet in an open vehicle. Nice kitty!

 Man and beast living side-by-side. The Masai people are semi-nomadic, building corrals out of branches of trees to house their cows at night, grazing their animals with the wild life by day. Lions are still a threat; they appear to prefer cows ?easier to catch. There was a report two cows were killed in another area on this day. The government pays the Masai $300/cow lost to prevent the Masai from seeking revenge and killing the cats.

 Here's a hippo forging the Mara River, the main body of water from which the park gets its name.

 Hippos are like alligators in FL, they can be found anywhere there's water. This is a pond we estimated to be less than an acre in size where we counted 17 hippos. The pond is covered with a green water plant.

 Crocs in the banks of the Mara.

 The Mara R. The crocs on are the near left bank for size comparison.

 One of the few hyenas we saw. Always running. We elected them least favorite animal seen. Obviously, we didn't see any snakes who clearly would have walked away with prize.

A troop of baboons. Aggressive so not approached. This was from about 100 yds.

 Some of the birds of Kenya, for which none I know names. There were lots more but moving too fast. Kenya has the second largest number of bird species of all the countries of Africa.

 Along the Mara.

 Big enough to take down a young Thompson's gazelle

Also saw what appeared to be a type of guinea fowl, doves, swallows, quail.

That's it for the safari. In the next couple of days I'll show you around Tenwek then share some stories of the folks I've met here.

Thanks again for caring and for your prayers. They have been a great source of encouragement and comfort to me. 

Blessed to be,
Yours and His,
Ed