Safari Before You Die!

I have been blessed with the opportunity to have been on a safari when I was 16 years old. I was on a trip to Kitale, Kenya to see my parents’ good friends LeRoy and Judy Curtis who were missionaries there. Part of the the trip included a small plane ride with much turbulence to Masai Mara. We arrived on a small strip of dirt lined with locals selling souvenirs to tourists. When I say locals, I mean a small group of tribesmen and women. We were in a very remote area. I had no idea what to expect. We made our way to our lodge, which was incredibly classy. We were truly at a resort. I later saw this very same place on the reality show Survivor as a reward for Big Tom and tatooed Ethan.
Once we put our luggage in our glorified tents, my Dad and companions joined me for a tour of the surrounding area. Not more than 20 yards away there was a muddy river full of sun basking hippos. There had to be 20 adults and 15 young “water horses.” As we watched them play, several monkeys climbed down trees to observe us; they were within 5 feet of us. At this point I realized we were truly on an expedition.
We stayed 3 days and 2 nights at this wonderful location. The first night we arrived we dined under a large tent in the middle of nowhere. I saw more stars there than you can possibly imagine. The food for the entire stay was quite tasty for a carnivore like me. Before bedtime we played a card game of hearts where LeRoy taught me the best technique for shooting the moon. Off to sleep anticipating an early rise to see the animals.
Loaded up in 2 jeeps, our tour guide was equipped with a rifle in case of ornery lions and wildebeast. I will never forget the fantastic scene I saw as we turned the corner around some brush. It was more awe-inspiring than anything shown on National Geographic. There were animals of all shapes and sizes as far as the eye can see. My epiphany was that if you saw this magnificent field of nature and don’t believe in God, then you never will.
Our good friend David Miller recorded it all on his state of the art video camera. We saw warthogs, zebras, elephants, giraffes, cheetahs, antelope, monkeys, rhinos, lion packs and wildebeast herds, which are considered the most dangerous animal among tribesmen there. When we arrived at the rhino pack we were invited by the tour guide to step out of the jeep to walk closer. My dad got extremely bold and walked within 15 yards of them! I don’t know what he was thinking!
All in all, it was one of the best few days of my life, and my plea to you is: go on an African safari whenever you have the money to spare. It is one of the most unique and wonderful things you can do in your entire life!