SAFARI TIME!

            Those American Doctorate of Physiotherapy students were just too much fun! So, my friend Tracy, and her friend Alana, and I went on safari with them. WHAT A TRIP IT WAS!
           
            We saw things that friends of mine who have been in Africa for over 19 years have never seen! So let's list a few:

- Twenty-two lions chilling in the shade across a river (we were only able to get about 200 yards from them)

- Over 100 different elephants in different family groups. The behaviors they showed us were priceless! From a mother kicking out an adult son who needed to grow up (and then he pitched a fit and she spanked him!), to the matriarch becoming angry with us for being too close and throwing a huge tree at us…then we drove like stink! You do that when two other elephants charge you!!!

- Puku foreplay initiation (a sort of impala looking creature), then "shut down" by the female: "Go sleep on the couch!" One of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life! Guys, don’t try that at home.

- a cape buffalo chilling in the river next to those twenty-two lions…he didn’t give a darn!

- Twenty plus zebras did a bit of a circle dance around us then galloped off into the sunrise, very ballet like.

- Two leopard cubs playing with a freshly killed mongoose, it could have been their first kill.

- Dung beetle rolling…DUNG! There were poop jokes, lots of poop jokes.

- Male leopards stalked, and KILLED (so much killing!) a PUKU! To see the whole affair start to finish is really very rare! BUT WE DID!

- Have you heard of African wild dogs? They are the second most endangered species in Africa next to the rhino. So we watched a pack of six go by. Totally acting like dogs. Dragging their wormy butts through the dirt, scratching their backs on the rough rocks…chasing their tails! They were such dogs!

- Three female hyenas scavenging a hippo carcass…then one of them jumped for my leg and aimed to bite my right foot off…AWESOME!

A very special person made this trip possible. I had brought money from home to do this trip, but expenses in Malawi are high, especially when your beater of a car breaks down from all the 4x4 driving needed to do village outreach. For me, there was no expectation to go; yet, this someone out of the generosity of her heart gave me $500.00. This was such a gift!

Before the trip was done we made friends with some German and British travelers on safari with us. There was even a chance to share my testimony with a devout Buddhist. I love talking about God with strangers. It was a very special trip!