All creatures great and small

South Africa Team 1824 Blog
11-2-2018

"All Creatures Great and Small"


I woke up at 2am again today, having trouble getting myself back on US time. It's 8am in South Africa, so our friends there will be starting their work days. I can't stop thinking about all of them, and of all the experiences our MOST team shared.



By time the sun came up on Sunday, we were on our way to the Kruger National Park for our safari day. I have to admit I wasn't really thrilled. Being in an open-sided vehicle with wild animals around was never on my bucket list. 

            

Here's me, all beige, sitting in the middle seat, so when the feasting began the wild beasts would have plenty to eat before they got to me. The laughing lady is Jean, who had just been caught pretending to be a large creepy crawly thing on my leg.



You can see in this picture that the seats are graduated like movie theater seats so each row can see over the heads of those seated in front of them. In the front were Knut and our safari driver, then a row of 3 seats with me in the middle, then two more rows of three seats each.

Knut explained that the animals look at the vehicle as a whole being, and don't see individual people (entrees) unless we wave our arms out the windows. That made me feel better. Really, they didn't pay us much attention at all, except for the monkeys. There were a couple of lookouts in the monkey family we saw who never took their eyes off us.


Water buffalo


Giraffe


Impala, maybe? They and the antelope are called "fast food."


We must have seen a hundred elephants! My favorite.


Don't remember this guy's name, but he was impressive. Kudu maybe?


It's hard to tell from this pic, but these zebras have brownish stripes in between the black ones.


Lizard on a rock. That's an aloe plant in the background; it was huge.

We also saw a few dozen hippos in a lake (looked like grey rocks), a crocodile, two lionesses sharing an impala for lunch, a leopard sunning on a rock, and lots more. It really was a great experience, especially since everyone in our vehicle made it out unscathed.

God's magnificent creatures on display were an awesome sight, and I'm blessed to have been a part of this wonderful day.

Next blog, I'll share some observations, food, customs, and things that impressed me enough to write them down!

All things bright and beautiful
All creatures great and small
All things wise and wonderful
The Lord God made them all!

Glad to be home, but missing South Africa a bit.
Respectfully,
Linda Meier
Missionary