DAY 8 Pastor Paul's Perspective

Day 8
What a beautiful morning. When I stepped outside to get the coffee and hot chocolate left with our wake up call, it was much warmer than yesterday morning. I got dressed and headed out for the last morning game drive. The search of the day was for leopards and a rhino would be a great find. There are only about 20 rhinos in the region now and they are pretty hard to find. We saw several lions zebras, gazelles, impala’s etc… as the morning went on. The view and scenery were incredible. The clear blue sky, mountains in the background, vast nothing other than wildlife and occasionally another safari group as far as the eye could see. The morning was coming to a close and we had spotted neither a leopard or a rhino. As blessed as we have been seeing things it wouldn’t have surprised me to find a leopard and a rhino in a tree. As I realized that our time was coming to a close and we had seen neither, we were coming up on crossing the river again in the jeep. I had a thought of something else I had heard about on these excursions, but had no desire to see. As we were getting ready to cross, the thought popped in my head that just maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to see one in the distance since this was my first safari---what was I thinking. Surely it was lack of sleep. We crossed thru the river and saw some birds and the hippos downstream, but nothing else. Almost a relief now I guess. Just about over. I was up taking some scenery pics and capturing some of the view at times. I can’t remember if I was up or in my seat at the time, but suddenly Raphael, our guide, slammed on the brakes and the Jeep came to a screeching halt. I thought surely an elephant or giraffe had run across the road in front of us. NOT! A python was slowly inching its way across the road. It was at least 8 foot long w/estimations up to 10+. I wasn’t about to get out and measure it. In the midst of the screams, I got some pretty good pics and video footage. I think some of our group and guides enjoyed watching me more than they did the snake. Can’t wait to share it!!! After watching for what seemed like hours, we had to move on to get back and have breakfast, then to pack to fly back to Nairobi. Breakfast was great and we headed in to pack. We said our goodbyes and then we were driven out to the landing strip. Thank God they were flying the big plane today!!! No motion sickness. I actually slept most of the way back in to Nairobi. There the rented bus picked us up to take us back to the Kibera Kids Center. We got back there and started packing before lunch to be able to spend some time with the kids and get headed out. Before lunch, the children from the school and the free school gathered for pictures and some goodbye songs. It was sad to realize that the end was drawing near. After they finished singing and taking pictures, the kids from the free school were given candy, a rare treat for all the kids, even more so for the ones in the free school. We went in for sandwiches, chips , and banana fries. They were pretty good! After that it was back upstairs to finish packing, get the room cleaned up and “finalize” the disk. I’m sure that Paula told me to, but I 4got! Afterwards there was still some time to take some footage and pics before cleaning up to head for dinner and the flight. I went around the room with those that were upstairs and got each of them to say their names. Hopefully the video picked up some of the names better than I did. Some of the group played soccer with them, others played some other games and just visited for a while. Finally it was time to get cleaned up and packed up. Everyone met outside with luggage ready to go and the Kids Center children were all gathered there for the farewell presentation. The songs were beautiful. It was heartbreaking to realize this was our final moments with them. After they finished singing, they blew a group kiss and went through the group telling us all good bye and “love you”. It was just about toooooo much! The children then carried our luggage up the hill to load it in the van and see us off on the bus. They were all standing at the gate waving as we pulled out, our final good byes for this trip. Just outside the gate there were folks working on the apartment buildings, a group of teenage boys, playing soccer, women headed in from who knows where back to the slums balancing their load on top of their head, working gardens, etc… As we headed into Nairobi, there appeared to be hundreds of people walking back home to the slums from work. There is no way to capture all the feelings to share. We had one last meal with the Womble’s at The Java House, a somewhat Americanized establishment in Nairobi. I got a cheeseburger, fries, and milkshake as my last meal there. We headed from eating to hit the Nairobi airport. Again, an experience that is indescribable. We told Jim & Debora Womble goodbye and lost ourselves in the crowd. When I got through at the ticket counter, a nun decided to turn around and I almost knocked her down. Not a good note to leave on haha. We waited in the terminal for time to board our flight. I had to check my carry on, because the attendant was going to throw so much of it away. I told him I had already checked two and he assured me that it was no problem. I’m just praying that all 3 pieces are waiting on me in Atlanta!!! We boarded the KLM flight and they served us some kind of soup and some kind of salad for supper. Interesting. I had a few claustrophobic moments on the plane when they pulled the cart beside me and there was no room on either side of me, but I went back to sleep to dream about my date with the python and all was well.
This is officially Day 9 now and I am trying to finish entering my thoughts in the airport in Amsterdam. We saw the Amsterdam sunrise. It was nice and bright! We have about a 3 hour layover, just long enough to be here and shop a little, but not enough to be able to head out for a brief tour. Our group divides here. Some are headed back to DC after a few hour layover, and some to Chicago after a longer lay over. We will be flying back into Atlanta at some point? Who even knows what day it is now? We have already gained 2 hours back and will gain the other 6 back somewhere between here, Atlanta, and the ride home to Pell City. Since the process of leaving began, (even though I think some of us considered throwing our passports out the window so we could stay), I am ready to get home, see Paula, the kids, call the rest of the family, catch up on the church family and get things back to normal. No, things will never be normal again.
As with every trip I have taken, I know that a part of me will never leave Africa, the place of the fallen zebra that will stay in my mind forever, and a BIG part will always be with the Womble’s and Kibera Children’s Center, with those who prayed for me, not to mention a part of me that I hope will go home with each of the group. Thank you Br. David Ray for continuing to tell me at Camping Conference that I needed to go. A ‘Thank you’ to all of the group for putting up w/me and a special thanks to Tyler, the 16 year old who put up with the old man snoring on the trip J. Thanks to the Baltimore Mission and Company for all of your hard work, a BIG thanks to Bishop Ronald Martin- “Big Daddy and Miss Lynda” (I felt that I already knew you through the kindred spirit of Margaret Gaines), and to the whole DelMArva Region for the impact you have made on the ministry in Kibera, not to mention Michael Ray, and then the Chicago Boys - Michael and Pastor Sam Abbott. Pastor Sam, you were much better behaved when we worked Bible Quiz together at assembly. I guess I will wrap up for now. I’ve spent more money than I needed to in Amsterdam. What a TRIP this has all been. I hope that my words have just somewhat conveyed the depth of it all. And I will close with, yes, “I needed Africa more than Africa needed me!”