i cannot believe we survived last night.
but for real.
i have never been that cold in my entire life-even in 20 years of ohio winters!
mark said we should put the cover on... but we wanted the full african experience sleeping under the stars... ironically we couldn't see the stars since our heads ended up being covered in blankets.
the night started out at 48 degrees, but it certainly did not end up there... i don't really think that we slept at all, we just kept trying to talk each other through it. becky would have rather been eaten by a lion or suffocated... at least that's what she said in the midst of the cold. it was probably the cold talking. ha ha i was trying to think of all the upsides to the situation.. although i'll admit this one was a challenge for me. all of the warm beds we had slept in already in africa, how many calories we were burning, and even being thankful that we weren't super skinny so we had some meat on our bones to keep us warm ha ha.
i closed my eyes really tight and was sure that i woke up hours later, but it was only 11 30. and then i was sure that i was going to die. we just could not wait for 5am to come! by the end of the night we were under 4 blankets huddling together. we shot out of bed at 5 and not a second later. we just wanted to do whatever we had to do to get into that car ha ha. taking tents down whispering in the dark at 5 am before the sun-potentially beautiful moment. it just could have been better with feeling in my hands or feet. but finally we got into the car and wrapped ourselves with blankets and headed to the park.
it was an amazing day. dusty but amazing. we just drove and drove for hours admiring the beauty of it all. the creativity-wow what a beautiful God! so detailed and unique.
we had seen zebras an antelope of every sort and lots of giraffes, but no lions or elephants. we prayed for the elephants and around 1 we found a couple in a field! as we kept driving up to a watering hole (where all of the animals congregate) we stumbled upon what becky called the elephant jackpot! along with zebras an giraffes and as always springbokk
it was unreal.
like the lion king super duper live and up close and personal.
but then they noticed us. before we knew it the mom elephant was staring us down.
mark simply said... "don't move"
she just stood there and all i could think was how little was separating me from that 2000 pound force. my heart was pounding ever so slightly... ok more like a a lot.
but it was amazing.
eventually she relaxed and we just watched them all play together. two of them kissed right in front of us...now that is a picture you are going to have to see!
then a male elephant approached from behind. it's mating season and well they don't need a reason to charge since they are just trying to show off.
so as quickly as we could we gunned it out of there before we got caught in the middle of an elephant war.
so we kept moving on the lookout for lions.
i even led us in a round of "lion of judah" hoping to inspire them out of hiding. ha ha
we didn't see any today though- boooo
but i got great photos for my dorm room!
it was just so incredible. we had muffins for breakfast....and just when we were about to make our pb&j sandwiches, we realized that the knives were in the back and there were a bunch of elephant eyeing us... needless to say.. we didn't eat lunch for fear of becoming it.
we left the park around 4 30 and headed back to otjiwarango where we will be spending the rest of the week at NAMTI (namibian training institute- in other words, their bible school).
i couldn't keep my eyes open.
the moon was sooo beautiful and i got the unrealistic picture of it. but the best part is that it is real! we killed a jacolope (forgive that spelling) driving back to get kimpossible. she had made us reservations at a really nice game lodge restaurant. that food was sooo good. had some grilled chicken and rice and soup.
we are back at the bible school now.
something becky and i learned on this trip is that we... no mostly i have serious issues with locks and keys. they just don't work for me.
at this point it's hard to decide what the most dangerous moment has been. high speed chase, angry elephants, or freezing night in the tent. it's really a toss up. but we are just thankful to be at the bible school with warm beds and warm showers again!
did i mention that half of my face is sunburned from the drive yesterday? leave it to me to only get half of my face burned.
but for real.
i have never been that cold in my entire life-even in 20 years of ohio winters!
mark said we should put the cover on... but we wanted the full african experience sleeping under the stars... ironically we couldn't see the stars since our heads ended up being covered in blankets.
the night started out at 48 degrees, but it certainly did not end up there... i don't really think that we slept at all, we just kept trying to talk each other through it. becky would have rather been eaten by a lion or suffocated... at least that's what she said in the midst of the cold. it was probably the cold talking. ha ha i was trying to think of all the upsides to the situation.. although i'll admit this one was a challenge for me. all of the warm beds we had slept in already in africa, how many calories we were burning, and even being thankful that we weren't super skinny so we had some meat on our bones to keep us warm ha ha.
i closed my eyes really tight and was sure that i woke up hours later, but it was only 11 30. and then i was sure that i was going to die. we just could not wait for 5am to come! by the end of the night we were under 4 blankets huddling together. we shot out of bed at 5 and not a second later. we just wanted to do whatever we had to do to get into that car ha ha. taking tents down whispering in the dark at 5 am before the sun-potentially beautiful moment. it just could have been better with feeling in my hands or feet. but finally we got into the car and wrapped ourselves with blankets and headed to the park.
it was an amazing day. dusty but amazing. we just drove and drove for hours admiring the beauty of it all. the creativity-wow what a beautiful God! so detailed and unique.
we had seen zebras an antelope of every sort and lots of giraffes, but no lions or elephants. we prayed for the elephants and around 1 we found a couple in a field! as we kept driving up to a watering hole (where all of the animals congregate) we stumbled upon what becky called the elephant jackpot! along with zebras an giraffes and as always springbokk
it was unreal.
like the lion king super duper live and up close and personal.
but then they noticed us. before we knew it the mom elephant was staring us down.
mark simply said... "don't move"
she just stood there and all i could think was how little was separating me from that 2000 pound force. my heart was pounding ever so slightly... ok more like a a lot.
but it was amazing.
eventually she relaxed and we just watched them all play together. two of them kissed right in front of us...now that is a picture you are going to have to see!
then a male elephant approached from behind. it's mating season and well they don't need a reason to charge since they are just trying to show off.
so as quickly as we could we gunned it out of there before we got caught in the middle of an elephant war.
so we kept moving on the lookout for lions.
i even led us in a round of "lion of judah" hoping to inspire them out of hiding. ha ha
we didn't see any today though- boooo
but i got great photos for my dorm room!
it was just so incredible. we had muffins for breakfast....and just when we were about to make our pb&j sandwiches, we realized that the knives were in the back and there were a bunch of elephant eyeing us... needless to say.. we didn't eat lunch for fear of becoming it.
we left the park around 4 30 and headed back to otjiwarango where we will be spending the rest of the week at NAMTI (namibian training institute- in other words, their bible school).
i couldn't keep my eyes open.
the moon was sooo beautiful and i got the unrealistic picture of it. but the best part is that it is real! we killed a jacolope (forgive that spelling) driving back to get kimpossible. she had made us reservations at a really nice game lodge restaurant. that food was sooo good. had some grilled chicken and rice and soup.
we are back at the bible school now.
something becky and i learned on this trip is that we... no mostly i have serious issues with locks and keys. they just don't work for me.
at this point it's hard to decide what the most dangerous moment has been. high speed chase, angry elephants, or freezing night in the tent. it's really a toss up. but we are just thankful to be at the bible school with warm beds and warm showers again!
did i mention that half of my face is sunburned from the drive yesterday? leave it to me to only get half of my face burned.
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