Monday

Monday March 23, 2009
1:48 PM Airplane from Nairobi to London

Yesterday morning we went on one last game drive. Early on we pulled up aside two cheetahs. They had been sleeping and stretched out and woke up. They slowly walked toward a nearby section with trees. All of a sudden one took off. I only saw it disappear behind a bush but a few members of the group saw that it took down an antelope.

We enjoyed the serenity and peace one last time before heading back to the safari club. We had the breakfast buffet and headed out to a nearby dirt landing strip. A Kenyan Airlines plane seating about 20 took us to Nairobi. We checked in to an AIM (African Inland Missions) guesthouse and got a brief drive through of Nairobi seeing the prime minister and president's offices, the memorial for the US Embassy bombing, and some of the financial district. There were places where armed military officials were patrolling the sidewalk with automatic weapons. Almost every building had bars on the windows of the first floor. The AIM mission house had barbed wire and 24 hour security. I've never been anywhere with that kind of atmosphere before.

We spent some time at a shopping area where people had things you barter for or buy. They were very aggressive about wanting you to buy things. Some of the EMI folks had fun but it wasn't a situation where I felt very comfortable.

We headed back to the mission house to get cleaned up for dinner at the Carnivore. It's a restaurant with a big African theme (mostly tourists eat there). They bring around different meats to try and there were different sauces on the table to try. Choices included crocodile (not very good), ostrich (I actually like this one the best), beef, lamb, pork, and chicken. We had a private room and did communion together after the meal. It was a neat way to end the trip.

I stayed up late with Catherine and Danny planing cards at the mission house. This morning we left early for the airport and now we're on the way to London where we will spend the night before heading home tomorrow!