Weekend Safari
Last night we got back from a great weekend camping safari. One of the best ways to deal with the sacrifices one makes to live in Africa (being far away from family) is to make sure that we enjoy the blessings of living here. Living five hours away from a great game park (Penjari in Northern Benin) is certainly one of those blessings.
One of the things I really enjoy about safari is that I get away from home, work, and my normal duties to a great distraction. It’s not the same kind of relaxing as Coconut Grove where I just go braindead and enjoy the ocean and my family, it really engages the brain. It is great to let go of how to handle a mother who is mistreating the orphans she has taken in in a culturally appropriate way and just focus on the beauty of your surroundings and the wonder of seeing a lion walk across the road just a few feet away from your car for a couple of days (I know that was a horrible run-on.) My favorite moment this year was when Michal and I were standing in the back of the truck, Mark was helping Maddie learn to drive, and I looked to my left to see an elephant placidly having a snack among the trees just beside us. It was rejuvenating to share that moment as a family, and to enjoy the company of my little girl! It was soothing to sleep in a tent with only the sounds of nature lulling us to sleep. It was relaxing to eat around a campfire and enjoy talking with Matt and Grace each night.
On our way back, we stopped to swim at a waterfall. You have to climb up two levels of rocks, but there you find this lovely swimming hole fed by a huge waterfall. We swam, climbed up on and jumped off of rocks, and basked in the sun.
So, I’m not posting pictures because we didn’t take many. We have decided that it’s much more relaxing to us to just enjoy the moments than to try to capture them. However, we are so grateful that we have been given those moments to enjoy!
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