Okay so we were getting ready to depart from Kenya but not before a lovely vacation that started on an African safari in the Maasaimara and an end with a quick dip in the Indian Ocean in Mombasa.

    We packed our bags on April 12th and in the morning of the 13th we left S.E.E.K never to return again but pumped for the start of a great vacation. Jared came with us and that just made all of our days to have our favorite suclolo traveling with us on this adventure. After all the 11 of us on a vacation in Kenya has ADVENTURE written ALL over it. Not to mention we work with the organization ADVENTURES in Missions. Our entire 8 month trip has been destined for adventure and our vacation was no exception. Our first travel was to Homa-Bay, with the 6 girl team in one little white car and the other 4 girl plus 1 guy team plus Jared in another small car we set off.

(Oh and side note if you can remember to be praying for Kyle and his poor sanity I am sure it would be much appreciated. One guy 10 girls, day in and day out can't be easy. But he is a trooper and being an amazing brother to us all....Thanks Kyle). Anyway we get to Homa-Bay transfer in another matatu (a van/bus thing)...oh and we get into this matatu and it is playing "Beyonce, All the Single Ladies" which seems to be our current team anthem. I knew at this moment in time we were in the right place and this had the potential to be an amazing trip. 

      We travel for a good 3 hours to Kisi, got in yet another Matatu, traveled for a good 4 hours to Naruk, then transfered into another bus on a trip that was intended to take us 2 1/2 hours which in Africa time really means 5 hours. It was okay though because on our way to the Maasaimara we passed zebra's, giraffes, guzzle and what we think might have been a lion chasing down a guzzle. It was a nice ride until the sun went down and then mzungu's (white people) just start to freak. But we kept our cool and a rough 5 hours later we found ourselves at a pleasant sketch hotel in the middle of the Maasaimara in Africa. This is like no other "middle of nowhere" that I have ever experienced before. But we quickly ate some tea and mdaza and went to bed. We awoke the next morning at 5 to get ready and set out on our African safari. The day was amazing, it was one of those days filled with the constant thought of "is this really my life". I am 19 years old and traveling in Africa on a safari looking at lions, giraffes, zebras, elephants, cheetah's, hippo's, monkeys, crocodiles, wart hogs, hyenas, baboons, hare, ostriches, dic-dic, guzzle, water buffalo, jackals, and wide open fields of African beauty. The day was magical to say the very least, I spent the day with my girls on my team and racing around with the other team in a Land Rover right behind us.Thank you all my supporters who made this day possible.

 After spending a good 12 hours out looking for wild animals (all of God's beautiful creation I may add...if you don't think God is real go on an African safari and tell me how else you think all this came to be). We went back to our pleasantly sketch motel to shower, eat and rest for the days to come were still long and we had to be up and on a bus at 3 a.m. to travel back to Narok continue our vacation travel to Nairobi, Kenya (this was going to be our little taste of America). Nairobi is the capital of Kenya and very westernized. We stayed in hostile there and just went out exploring the city. We spent every meal except 1 at this coffee shop called "Java House" so cute, so quant, and it had amazing food. I had a bagel, coffee, carrot cake, raspberry milkshake, chicken salad sandwich, cheese burger, french fries (called chips in Africa), pineapple milkshake (okay so ice cream is what I miss the most). This place was just a little taste of heaven and the foods my team and I can't wait to return home to. I will say we have been talking about food sense our first weeks in Mexico, everyday we talk of the foods we miss and add scrutinizing pain to our souls because we slowly realize for now the foods are total out of our reach. Nothing frustrates you more than to awake one morning with a longing for a massive bowl of cereal with cold milk and realizing that's just not going to happen for you...but I digress and toast with g-nuts and tea is just as fine...(mom our home needs to have cereal and milk when I return PLEASE & THANK YOU).

 Okay so we spent just 2 days traveling around Nairobi seeing the city, going to the city market for some souvenir shopping, eating some foods we have been missing and all in all just resting and making memories with each other. On our second day in Nairobi we got on an over night bus at 9 p.m. that would take us over night all the way to Mombasa, our last stop before this African vacation/adventure would end. Approaching our destination sometime around 9 in the morning we walked into our apartment/ hotel rooms that was ours for the next day in a half. Wasting no time we had breakfast, got on our swim suits, t-shirts and shorts (cause after all we still are choosing Nova's Kelly and Jimmy). We set off for the beach, the Indian Ocean...oh its' beauty, oh it's relaxing captivating beauty. My team got quick to work on our sun bathing, wasting no time we laid out our khanga's and got to sun bathing. My goals of the day..... 1)Step foot in Indian Ocean-check; 2)Soak up as much son as possible-check. Laying on the beach at one moment I opened my eye's just to look around and take in the things around me. Only I wake to see a camel right infront of me, T.I.A. Only in Africa would you lay out on the beach and open your eyes to see a camel before you.

The day ended with a wonderful dinner out...(Thank you Patty and Barry Becker). Jessica's parents put money into her account so we could all have a nice meal out. It was so sweet of them and much appreciated by 11 missionary college students eating on 2 dollars a day. The next day we woke and spent the day doing whatever we wanted. Some people wanted to sleep a.k.a ME, others went back to the beach, shopping for fabrics, but we all had eating on the agenda. You see we have this trend where ever we go we find a place with food that we like and we always go back there. So we all returned to the restaurant we had eaten at the night before for lunch, good conversation and to pass the time before we got back on a bus at 9 that night and traveled all the way back to Kisumu to meet Paul and Erin, get ALL of our belongings and travel on to Uganda.

   The process of traveling over night, meeting Paul and Erin and going to Uganda was supposed to last about 16 hours. We were suppose to get to the border of Uganda at 3 in the afternoon on Sunday. Hahaha but why get to the border of Uganda at 3 in the afternoon when you can have your bus break down for 5 hours over night only to miss your connecting bus that was going to take you to Uganda at 3 and instead get to Nairobi at 11, then get to Kisumu at 9 at night get ALL of your belongings, almost get left as you try to tell your beloved host's and friends goodbye then get on the bus to be told you are going to be dropped off at the border of Uganda at midnight and oh yeah you might want to make sure someone is there to get you because I know we (being the bus station) told you that we would take you to your destination sense it was our fault that you got stuck on the side of the road for 5 hours and missed your original bus. But we just don't want to take you to your destination like we told you that we would. That would just be out of our way.

     AHHHHHHHHHHHHH and my frustration continues with Africa and the corrupt system here, but no worries I am going to school then coming back to take this situation head on (God wiling). But praise God for True Vine and the ministry we are with here in Uganda. When we got to the border at mid-night they were there. Waiting for us with huge smiles, hugs, and reassurance that everything was going to be okay. We went through the border, got in the vans waiting for us on the other side and headed home to True vine to find bread and tea waiting for us.

    Oh we are home, we are home, we are loved, taken care of and we are home!

    Praise the living God.

Our vacation was an adventure to say the very least. I think even in the moments of travel, total frustration the huge feeling of abandonment and complete exhaustion God was there. He showed in EVERY way imaginable. I knew he wouldn't leave his children at the border so late at night with no one to greet them. 

Thank you God for always showing up.

Vacation was very good we had a great time and great more memories for the books.

 God Bless thanks for reading!