Eight thousand miles from home is a very long ways to travel. The first time I landed in Nairobi, Kenya, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Honestly, I had always said I probably wouldn’t ever make it that far, but here I was.

It was quite a whirlwind of a trip, as we visited several orphanages in a matter of days, drove the 3hrs up to Nanyuki, stayed a few days and drove the 3 hrs back to catch our flight back home. Our “guide,” if you will, was a great friend who has practically lived in Africa off and on for years, as he’s a field director for an international organization that helps orphans and orphanages. So, we were able to travel around more like locals rather than tourists, which was really nice. (Btw, Nanyuki has the best little coffee shop with delicious coffee! They have a sign that says I❤️NY, and I thought at first it said I love New York. Haha!)

The trip was both grueling at times and glorious, and I wouldn’t change it one bit, except maybe the terrifying fear I had to endure on the highways. The driving there in Nairobi and across the highways into the mountains is terrible! I told friends when we returned that it’s basically like driving in Atlanta, removing all the rules, and playing survival of the fittest! 😳🤦‍♀️😂 I was really glad we survived. Haha!

The children we met in the various homes were the sweetest, and they had the most beautiful smiles. It struck me how happy they were, and they had so little. In America, our kids often run the risk of being spoiled and entitled, and they have such an abundance. These kids had so little; yet, they sang songs, were overly grateful, and wore the biggest smiles you’ve ever seen, as if you just gave them a million bucks simply because you gave them a hug.

It truly touched my heart deeply, and I think of them so often…

The wildlife there is incredibly beautiful as well. Although, I titled this blog as such, we didn’t go on an actual safari; however, we got right in the middle of all the wildlife we could! When we went to the hill country, we stayed at a place called Sweetwater, and it’s on the Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

The day we arrived, we had driven those three hours across the highways in the most chaotic traffic, and it had come a monsoon. Not actually, but it surely felt like a monsoon as much rain that poured out of the sky. (And they said that was a light ran!) We had to stop at the gate because the guards weren’t wanting to let us go through, or something like that; we left all that up to our friend who was driving us. While we waited, we felt bedraggled and tired, and finally after about 30mins, he came out of the guard post, and we were on our way.

We had to drive through the wildlife preserve to get to Sweetwater. So, we had looked forward to seeing some wildlife, but the rains were threatening to see non of that. Yet, as soon as we began on our way again, the rains stopped, and the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, and just around the corner, a herd of elephants came walking right in front of us! Yeah, there’s no fences or cages here!

We saw several other animals along the journey, and I was just in awe that they could be that close. We definitely stayed in our vehicle! Then, when we arrived at the “hotel,” what the host told us was so strikingly funny to me that I thought for sure he was joking because we were Americans.

He was giving us instructions for our stay, and he said, “Be sure upon entering and leaving the tents, you always zip them up to keep the baboons from stealing your luggage!” I laughed quietly to myself thinking this must be something he says to all foreigners to watch for their reactions; so, I keep my composure and simply nodded in agreement with him.

Shortly thereafter, we were walking up the steps to our tent, and back behind the tents I hear these “monkey sounds” and watch in utter surprise as a groundskeeper is literally chasing off baboons!! You can rest assured, I double checked those zippers every time I entered and exited! Haha!

Our stay at Sweetwater was absolutely amazing. There was a watering hole right out front of our tents, and wildlife would walk right up to it. We saw lots of buffalo, rhinos, zebras, and more.

Before we left Africa, we also drove through Nairobi National Park, and we were able to see all kinds of wildlife there as well. I was always wanting to see a lion up close, and we did get to see a lioness resting in the heat of the day, but she was a bit far away for me to get a good picture.

We are getting ready to head back in a few months, and this time, we get to take Christmas to the kids at one of the orphanages. I am so excited! We won’t be traveling to the Nanyuki area this trip, and I will miss seeing the beautiful scenery and animals of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, but I have my pictures and memories to hold onto till the next time. Seeing the kids get Christmas presents will certainly be worth it.

(I have sweet pics of the kiddos also, but I’m not so sure I need to post those here publicly; I’ll just keep those for my memories for now.)

Last time, some of the girls made me a bracelet to take home, and I still wear it to this day. I’ve never taken it off, and it serves as a reminder for me to pray for these sweet souls in a land so far away from my own…

A few more pics from our trip…