Truthfully, I don't remember what happened this day. Aside from finding out that we were going on our safari the upcoming Friday, rather than next month when we all thought! But here's some photos from today:
(@ Amani - Fred representing Milwaukee!)
(@ Amani - Joseph)
(@ Amani - Wycliff)
(@ Amani - Becky loving Micheal)
(@ Amani - Wycliff, Fred, and Simon)
(@ Amani - Precious Enoch)
(@ Amani)
(@ Amani - Martha)
(@ Amani - Frank)
Thursday - July 12th
Less than 24 hours until my 3 day safari - that's all I've got.
Friday - July 13th
Well, I woke up at 4.30 this morning, because our ride was leaving at 5! My cold apparently came back, which caused a little damper on the ride. I had to be sure to bring rolls of toilet paper for my nose.. There were 8 of us total, and Lindsay was also sick - I'm kind of thankful it wasn't just me. Anyway, we had an 8 hour drive ahead of us, and of course I wasn't able to fall back asleep at all. I suppose it's okay though, when I'm in the car here, I can never take my eyes off of what's going on around me. I never would have imagine Uganda to be so lush and green. And I absolutely love the number of small towns we drive though, it just never seems to get old for me. Our first stop was at the equator, how cool?
(@ Uganda - The Equator)
The most exciting experience was seeing zebras! They don't actually live
in Queen Elizabeth Park, due to the grasses being too long there. So,
they hang out and graze on some farmers land along side his cattle.
Which I think is kind of funny. Anyway, Wilson, our amazing driver,
drove off road and parked the van for us to get out. Which means, I was
walking around with the zebras, it was an incredible thing. Also, I was
finally able to use my zoom lens I bought before my trip - woo. But, I
never imagined myself ever being able to live out this dream of mine.
They're such beautiful animals, kind of larger than I expected, but you
can tell they're solid muscle.
(@ Uganda - Zebra)
(@ Uganda - Zebras)
We finally arrived at Simba, where we were staying for a couple of
nights. It's not part of the park itself, but it was really nice. They
were dormitory style cabins, so we were all together. They also have a
nice restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was
exciting when I got to sign the guest list, and was able to walk around
the place:
(@ Simba)
(@ Simba)
(@ Simba - [currently in love with this photo])
(@ Simba)
(@ Simba)
Saturday - July 14th
(This day was jam packed) We woke up around 5.30am to be ready to go on
our "game drive" by 6. On our way to the park we saw our first elephants
of the trip. Wow, what an incredible sight. They were in the distance,
but knowing that I'm looking at an elephant in the wild was such a
beautiful thing. It kind of took my breath away momentarily. After
paying, the first animal we saw were lions - there was a mother and 3
cubs! Other than that we saw a number of buffalo, water bucks, warthogs,
and kobes. The lions were at a distance, but they are in the middle right hand side of the photo:
(@ Queen Elizabeth - Lioness and cubs)
(@ Queen Elizabeth - Amazing sky)
During the drive, we stopped at a beautiful lake for photo opportunities
obviously. Not to mention, bask in God's creation, sheesh. Here's the group
I traveled with, the man in the middle being Koja Wilson - koja meaning
"uncle" in Lugandan. Lauren decided to dub him Koja, and he felt quite
honored, what a sweet man.
(@ Queen Elizabeth - Megan, Josie, Becky, Lindsay, Koja, Myself, Emily, Lauren, and Tori)
(@ Queen Elizabeth - Kobe)
Next, we headed for our nature walk. We made one stop before though at a
gorge where you can pay to track chimpanzee's in the wild, how amazing
is that? If I had more time and money, that's something I definitely
would have done! But, while we were there, there were swarms of
butterflies, and knowing me, I couldn't resist.
(@ Gorge)
(@ Gorge)
Finally, we got to our nature walk. We walked through a forest, and
learned about what the local primates eat, and how the local people used
to hunt and whatnot. I was more captivated by the light that was
shinning through the high tree tops, and by the little beauties found
amongst the big things. Along the way, we came to a bat cave.. and
anyone who knows me, knows I absolutely hate bats. However, I feel this
was almost a once in a lifetime thing, so I don't know where I found it,
but I managed to muster up enough courage to stand 5 feet from hundreds
of bats. The cave itself houses around 100,000 lives bats. When
standing near the cave you could feel the heat that's generated by all
of those little animals living in there, and the smell was extremely
potent seeing as there's 100,000 bats worth of guano. As much as I
dislike them, these guys were a little cute:
(@ Nature Walk)
(@ Nature Walk)
(@ Nature Walk - Bat cave)
(@ Nature Walk - Bats)
(@ Nature Walk - Bats)
(@ Nature Walk - Praying Mantis)
(@ Nature Walk)
After our walk, we headed for our boat ride at 3.00pm, which is where we
saw more animals..! But on the way there, we came across these
little guys hanging out in the road:
(@ Uganda)
(@ Uganda)
FINALLY at our boat ride, basically, I took way too many photos - so I'm only posting a few..
(@ Boat Ride)
(@ Boat Ride)
(@ Boat Ride)
(@ Boat Ride)
(@ Queen Elizabeth)
(@ Queen Elizabeth)
And this is how we ended our night. After this, a family of elephants
walked in front of our van. What an emotional thing to experience, I
can't even begin to explain what I was feeling exactly. I can honestly
say I'll probably never be in as much awe as I was in today. I'm so
blessed to have had this opportunity to see all of this in person. Aside
from people, my heart also belongs to animals - I was raised to love
and appreciate them, and chances are, I'm going to raise my children the
same way. Because God made them to be so unique and beautiful, I have
no idea how anyone can think that anyone different created them, and the
world in which we all live.
Sunday - July 15th
(@ Uganda)
(@ Uganda)
(@ Uganda)
When we finally arrived at our destination, we found out that our "caves
and waterfall" wasn't exactly what we had in mind. In order to see both
the caves and waterfalls we had to hike through the jungle - which was
pretty amazing. However, I was completely unprepared for this, so I had
to keep handing off my lens to the tour guide while I found foot holes
for me to place my feet in while climbing down a steep hill with only
branches to hold on to. The waterfall was wonderful, it was exactly what
I think waterfalls should be, it led to a little pool that I would have
loved to take a swim in. But, in order to see it from the front, we had
to climb behind it, I definitely got a little more of Africa stuck on
my shoes, seeing as I was trekking through mud at this point. After the
waterfall, we headed back the way we came, but went past our entrance
point to the first little cave. The tour guide told us the story of the
people who used to live there, and what the legend of the cave was. Then
we headed to the bigger portion of the cave, which was also full of
beautiful greens and browns. Once we were out of the jungle, we stopped
at the van for some water before the second part of our hike. I decided
to bring my camera bag, that way I wouldn't have to awkwardly carry my
lens around with me. But, I come to find out that the second part of our
hike thing was a legit hike. We hiked up a large hill, and the view
from up top was beautiful. It was awesome to have my size put in
perspective. Up there, I was so little, so insignificant. It's just
amazing to know that we have a purpose somewhere in the world, no matter
how small we are. This whole weekend, I've been thinking a lot, about
who I am and why I am where I am. It's hard not to, when you've seen
such beauty firsthand, and have felt your heart dramatically grow in
size. I will never be able to express how blessed I am, and despite how
insignificant my size is in the world - I'm very significant to some.
Anyway.. we walked to a lake, which had a beautiful backdrop of a
enormous hill - I would consider it a mountain personally. But, we find
out that we're about to hike up that giant anthill. It was 1,600 meters,
which is roughly around 5,000 ft. The hike up was not an easy task for
me because, 1) I couldn't breathe the way it was due to having a cold,
and 2) I decided to tote along a 15lb backpack. Silly me, had my laptop
in it, which made the hike up almost unbearable. I kept telling myself,
imagine the photos I'll get when I'm on top. And let me tell you.. the
view was beyond worth it. I've never experienced something like this in
my life. I couldn't believe that I was honestly a part of what was
happening - because truthfully, I probably wouldn't have done something
like this at home. But, have a look at the beauty I was exposed to:
(@ Uganda)
(@ Uganda)
(@ Uganda)
(@ Uganda)
(@ Uganda)
(@ Uganda)
(@ Uganda)
Overall, it was an incredible weekend. It
definitely blew any expectations I had out of the water. So thankful
for an awesome God, clearly I get my appreciation for art from Him -
because His creations are intricate, colorful, and inspiring. I know
this has been super sappy, but I'm just so in love.
Monday - July 16th
Not too much happened on the Amani front today, except it was "Dress Up Day" again:
Monday - July 16th
Not too much happened on the Amani front today, except it was "Dress Up Day" again:
(@ Amani - Jonah the Lion)
(@ Amani - Joseph)
(@ Amani - Pumpkin Innocent)
(@ Amani - Jacob the Pirate)
Seeing their excitement to dress up, brings absolutely so much joy to my heart. I'm so thankful for all of the smiles they bring me every day. I don't think I'll ever get tired of what I do every day. I'm in so much love.
Tuesday - July 17th
Tuesday - July 17th
Today we celebrated Benja's 5th birthday! We had a little get together
which included cupcakes and kool aide. It was fun having all of our boys
and girls outside waiting for cake, just waiting patiently. They sure
do love their sweeties, almost more than I do! (:
(@ Amani - The Boys)
(@ Amani - Michael praying for Benja)
(@ Amani)
Wednesday - July 18th
The only thing I really have to talk to about today was my time spent with Joseph. He was sitting on my lap, and I told him that I was very tired so I rested my head on his shoulder. And whenever I would pick my head up, he'd look at me and say "Auntie, lay down!", so I would. And he began to talk to me in his 2 year old jibberish, just talking and talking. Honestly, I cried a little. I think this is my favorite moment I've had since I've been here. He's such a naughty little boy, but I know he has a huge heart. And he's definitely worked his way into mine. I've talked about him before, and I'm sure I'll talk about it again. I can't even begin to explain the love I have for this child, all of his temper tantrums, crazy moments, and unnatural amount of su su included. He's so amazing to me in many ways.
** Sorry for the lack of actual blogging - I've just been really exhausted lately, and this blog post has been actually quite overwhelming, due to the number of photos I've included.
The only thing I really have to talk to about today was my time spent with Joseph. He was sitting on my lap, and I told him that I was very tired so I rested my head on his shoulder. And whenever I would pick my head up, he'd look at me and say "Auntie, lay down!", so I would. And he began to talk to me in his 2 year old jibberish, just talking and talking. Honestly, I cried a little. I think this is my favorite moment I've had since I've been here. He's such a naughty little boy, but I know he has a huge heart. And he's definitely worked his way into mine. I've talked about him before, and I'm sure I'll talk about it again. I can't even begin to explain the love I have for this child, all of his temper tantrums, crazy moments, and unnatural amount of su su included. He's so amazing to me in many ways.
** Sorry for the lack of actual blogging - I've just been really exhausted lately, and this blog post has been actually quite overwhelming, due to the number of photos I've included.
I'm incredibly, incredibly happy that you got to see your hippo, among LOADS of other things of course. I can't wait to see more photos when you get home. Funny story: I saw the lizard photo before reading the caption and was like, this is amazing, I bet she reallyyy likes this one, its the colors and the macro-like feel to it, then I saw you're obsessed with it at the moment, hah. Great minds ;)) Definitely am looking forward to your return, but I'm really glad you're treating each day as its own celebration. I miss you even more than I did yesterday! See you soon.
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