June 15: Safari

I tried not to. I really tried.

But I failed.

This past weekend, while I was on my African Safari (that's fun to say), I simply could not resist the temptation to play "The Circle of Life" from the Lion King on my iPod. It just felt so appropriate.

Cliche, I know.

Our Safari Weekend was like a trip to an unending zoo. Imagine the most beautiful rainforrests, cloud capped hills and mountains, moss and green foliage EVERYWHERE, all beside an enormous lake that attracts almost every species of wildlife out of hiding. We spent our day at Ngorongoro Crater standing out the roof of our Land Cruiser, driving from one set of foot prints to the next. We managed to track down individual animals like elephants, giraffes and African buffalo, as well as herds of zebras, wildebeests and impalas. We even saw a pride of lions resting beneath the mid-day sun. They had just finished eating one of the aforementioned buffalos, whose carcass one lion was finishing off some 50 yards away.

As the sunset, a brilliant pink and orange glow illuminated the animals grazing below, and I looked out and thought,

"Wow. I am IN Africa."

My prior worries of immunizations, plane tickets and malaria medication were long gone. At that moment I wasn't thinking about taking any more pictures of the animals, nor about my lesson plans for Monday, nor my LIFE plans when I return to America.

For second, I was simply present.
Not to mention mesmerized.

It was so refreshing to breath in the freedom of the plain at sunset and to simply bask in the beauty of God's creation. It reminded me of something I had just read in Isaiah:

"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field will clap their hands."

Isaiah 55:12

Needless to say, I slept pretty peacefully that night.