Patrick & Katie in Kenya: Jack & Kerry in Kenya

Hey everybody reading the blog, this is Jack, Katie’s father. Since knowing Kerry, my wife, and I would be visiting, I have had the urge to contribute to the blog. We have been here for 5 days now and have loved meeting all the children, shaking their hands, getting to know their names, trying to remember them, and meeting the fathers as well. Our stay has been incredible, one we’ll never forget for the rest of our lives. Here is a small outline of our experience so far.

It was great arriving at the airport in Kenya and giving a hug to Katie and Pat for the first time in over four months. We headed off to Bosco Boys with a 30 minute drive ahead of us. The drive was an adventure, to say the least, and Pat said, “don’t worry you’ll get used to it”. I thought we were going to die.

Got settled in that night and the following morning Fr. Mtunga asked Kerry and I to great the children for the morning session, that was fun.

The following day we attended morning mass at 6:30am and got to hear the beautiful voices of the children singing praise songs. After that we joined the fathers for morning breakfast before we ventured off to our safari.

Off we go for a five and a half hour drive to our safari destination. The ride over was better than an “E” ticket ride at Disneyland. We must have been within inches of taking out a few folk. That mainly happened while we went through a few of the different townships.

We arrived at our destination, the land of the Massai people. An Australian fellow set up a camp on the Massai land for the wuzungu (white people). We stayed in the Acacia Camp site for our three day safari stay. Omar, our driver, was great getting us there safely and Daniel, our cook, made three of incredible meals…three squares a day.

We made all together three safari runs. The first afternoon run was very general, saw a few; wildebeest, gazelles, zebras, etc. The following morning we went for a 2 hour run. In addition to the animals we saw the afternoon before (Charlie Raine you’ll like this one) we encountered a pack of elephants, either a herd or pack…I’m not sure. Omar the driver pulled up close and in the pack was the granddaddy of em all, he stood 14 ft. tall and the big guy decided he didn’t want us near his gang. So he started coming at us, then Omar decided it was time to high tail it out of there. (I wanted to stay a little longer though)

Third and final run was done that same day; we took off at about 11am for the Serengeti Plain at the Mara River. This is the spot in where 4 to 6 weeks from now will be the great migration (one of the Seven Wonders of the World). We were told an estimated 3 to 4 million wildebeest cross but this time around we only saw a few crocodiles and hippos. But to be standing in the area that we were is the same area we’ve seen on the Discovery Channel, which was very exciting for us. Pat and Katie get to do this trip again in August with Pat’s dad Tim and Kristen, lucky them.

Today is now Tuesday, a day after our safari return. We slept in because our stomachs were gurgling from all the good food we ate on our 3 day adventure. Finally got up, met Pat at Katie’s room to wash some of our dirty clothes from the week. We sat down, had some tea, and then got word that the watch dogs were out patrolling the premises the night before and got into the pig pen. The dogs severely injured 4 little piggies and killed another. We were asked by the “executioner” (Mwankie) to observe the pigs get slaughtered, we agreed! So off to the pig pen we went, Pat and myself, which is right behind Katie’s room. The only thing separating the shamba (farm) and Katie’s room is a chain linked fence and a hundred yards. I felt like we had to see it because of the many times we’ve partaken of the delicious honey baked ham during the holidays. Only Pat and I got to see it… tantalizing mustard anyone?

We have 8 more days remaining on our trip, are excited to see what those days will bring which will enrich our lives, and are open to whatever God has in store for us!

This is a city called Kikuyu which we drove through on the road to the safari. There was a marathon about 100 yards ahead from this picture, we were stuck in traffic for almost an hour. We drove on the other side of the road and the sidewalk to just get a few feet ahead. We were swerving in between people, cars, and buildings.

This is a picture of the Rift Valley. It was truly a beautiful scenery, reminded me of Hawaii.

Kerry at Camp Acacia

In front of tent 17, we enjoyed resting and writing our thoughts in our journals while enjoying the serenity of the camp.

The kids in front of tent 18

They're white with black stripes!

Patrick and Katie

The roof of our bus opened which allowed us to stand and take these pictures, it was a bumpy road though.

The King

Jackie Digg

Twiga

The granddaddy that tried to attack us!

The kids, again.

Hanging from this tree (in the middle of the picture) is the carcass of a gazelle that a leopard had for dinner.

A nursing momma

This picture shows me and Pat in Tanzania, and the girls in Kenya. We drove to the border of the countries by the Mara River (where the migration occurs). There is a large stone which the countries put up showing the border. We made it to 2 countries!