Day # 12 ~ Akagera National Park

Today was spent at Akagera National Park ~ my first safari! Akagera is located on the border of Tanzania. It is 900 square kilometers and is home to giraffes, buffalo, impalas, baboons, elephants, hippopotamus, birds, zebras...

Sophisticated hand washing. This is actually a rare thing ~ having soap in bathrooms. Oh and having bathrooms too! :O)

Kristen

Buffalo

Check out those animals ~ Brent and Charlie!

Impalas

Hippos... In Kinyarwandan, known as, "hippo-pa-TA-mus." (Accent on the TA)

It wasn't until AFTER the trip that hippos are the MOST deadly animals in the park. Good thing I was so diligent in trying to coerce them OUT of the WATER!

I love how the mamas carry their babies.

Going for a ride... It was pretty cool to be so close!

A little bath in the river... (photo compliments of a zoom lens!)

Naughty monkey

Picturesque

Our guest house... We spent the night here. It was the perfect place to relax and debrief.

The beloved mosquito nets...

Being cheesy...

Kristen and Justin ~ just chillin...

Coca

Brent and Tirzah

And this culinary masterpiece, is, I do believe, responsible for my little friends the parasites that took residence in my digestive tract. Oh how lovely.

Or possibly, it was him...

Back to Kigali tomorrow and then... back to the US of A!

Day #11 ~ Goodbye Byumba!

Today was a day of saying good-bye to the good friends we love in The Kageyo Parish in Byumba. I gave the kids one of my Bio cards from St. Jude. Promoting St. Jude in Africa!

We met with Pastor Sam to recap the week. I saw, Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth am I here for? in Kinyarwandan. How cool is that!?

One last shot...

We had lunch with the sweetest family, the mother is Pastor Sam's children's teacher. The two daughters are simply adorable and will go to Kigali with us this afternoon. They have always wanted to, "come to America," so today they will visit the American Embassy. It is, after all, American soil! They squealed watching all of the hustle and bustle while approaching Kigali. It is VERY different than their Byumba village.

Beautiful flowers picked from their garden ~ they gave each of us some to take with us.

She is one of the few kids I saw with hair! Once she starts school (next year) her head will be shaved; a mandatory part of the school uniform.

Our drive to Kigali was pretty uneventful. We were soooooo excited to go to The Bourbon Cafe for dinner. It's Rwanda's answer to Starbucks and serves Western food (at Western prices) even ice cream!!!!

Tomorrow we will head to the game park for some fun!