This post is way overdue, but I need to highlight our Kai Guy, who turned 7 last month and who got to celebrate in the best way possible: by going on safari!
What kid can say that? Only a kid living in Africa. And it was amazing. The safari itself was amazing, but just as amazing was Kai's excitement about it. He felt so special, and I'm pretty sure he needed something to feel special about. This tender-hearted boy has had to process a lot of grief and loss this year, and he really needed a Win. Going on safari definitely checked that box!
Not only were we going on safari, but were headed to Samburu - a National Reserve in northern Kenya that's been our bucket list the entire time we've lived in Chogoria. It's in our neck of the woods - just a few hours away - and has some wildlife that can't be seen in any other part of Kenya. We were pumped!
We stayed at a safari camp called Samburu Intrepids and it was lovely. My only complaint were the monkeys, which were running around everywhere and were very bold and quite the nuisance. Otherwise, it was a beautiful place to stay in the middle of nowhere. And it was hot. So much hotter than Chogoria! We knew it'd be warm because northern Kenya is hot and dry and has vast areas of desert, but we hadn't quite reached the super hot desert region. Still, Samburu was hot. I kept wishing I'd thought to pack shorts!
We arrived the day before Kai's birthday, so he woke up in a safari tent on his birthday and we all jumped in a safari jeep for a game drive first thing in the morning. The Birthday Boy chose to sit in the front seat and have the best view in the house. His smile still squeezes my heart!
We opted to have our breakfast packed and brought along so we could spend more time driving around looking for wildlife (instead of having to return to the camp in a couple hours just to eat breakfast). We ended up driving around for 5 hours and we saw so much wildlife! Our safari guide loaned his binoculars to the Birthday Boy, who took great delight in seeing things up close.
The "Samburu Special Five" are animals that can only be found in that part of Kenya. It includes: Grevy's Zebra, Reticulated Giraffe, Somali Ostrich, Gerenuk, and Oryx. We saw all of them and the excitement in the jeep was palpable!
Grevy's Zebra
the largest zebra species;
has bigger and rounder ears than the Plains Zebra;
has an all-white belly;
endangered status
Reticulated Giraffe
has a distinct pattern from Maasai giraffe and Rothschild's giraffe;
endangered status
Somali Ostrich
has a blue-gray neck and legs
(instead of pink neck and legs like the common ostrich);
this particular group consisted of youngsters all together
and being watched over by a couple mothers
Gerenuk
can stand on its hind legs to reach more vegetation;
sometimes called the "giraffe-necked antelope"
Oryx
has distinctive black-and-white facial markings;
both males and females have incredibly long, straight horns;
endangered status
When it was time for breakfast, our driver brought us to a delightful and breezy spot along the Ewaso Ngiro River, complete with elephants grazing just across the river from us. We were surrounded by hungry and inquisitive birds, waiting for crumbs to drop so they could swoop in and grab them.
Most of the birds were starlings, but a red-billed hornbill stopped by also. We saw many, many hornbills in Samburu - kinds we'd never seen before, including the eastern yellow-billed hornbill (like Zazu in The Lion King!) - but this particular one was particularly close and we marveled at this beautiful creature as it watched us eat.
And of course we took the customary family photo in front of the safari jeep! I love doing this so we can remember all the stages our boys have been in on these adventures. I remember well the very first time we took our boys on safari - we had a 4-year old, a 2-year old, and an 8-month old baby. The preschooler and toddler were full of excitement and wiggles, and the baby nursed and slept in between being mostly unaware of all the incredible wildlife around us. It was the beginning of many safari adventures, and now these boys can take care of themselves in the jeep, and know how to be quiet around wildlife without being reminded, and don't need to sit on Mama's lap all the time, and don't need me to bring a diaper bag along. Everything is just so much easier these days!
juvenile martial eagle
adult martial eagle
grey-headed kingfisher
eastern yellow-billed hornbill
African fish eagle
vulturine guinea fowl
kori bustard
The wildlife never ceased to amaze. Giraffes were abundant (including a group of 30+ giraffes all together), and we even saw a crocodile resting by the river.
The pinnacle of our safari, however, were the elephants. There were so many elephants. We watched them on the plains both coming and going to the safari camp, AND we got to see them by the river, drinking and playing, which we'd never witnessed before. Altogether there were about 50 elephants that came to the river as we sat in the jeep just above the bank. Elephants were hugging each other with their trunks, elephants were rolling in the mud, elephants were play-fighting with their tusks, elephants were taking dust baths afterward.
It was magical, simply magical!
And this particular one came so close to our jeep that we could've reached out and touched it if we'd chosen to (but we didn't). It was surreal to be this close to the earth's largest land mammal!
Because we were so close to them, I could get some seriously up-close shots of their features: their wrinkly skin, their long eyelashes, their ivory tusks, their floppy ears. Elephants are truly beautiful creatures.
You might think there was nothing else that could make the birthday weekend any better, and you'd be justified in thinking that. However, we also had the chance to take the boys swimming in the pool, which is always a special treat since they only have the opportunity to go swimming about once a year. None of our boys know how to swim still, but every time they get in the water is a chance to work on those swimming skills.
And then, to cap off the day, the kitchen staff made a birthday cake for our Kai Guy! They came out singing and dancing, which was actually a bit overwhelming for him, but it was still special and Kai has since told many people that he got two cakes for his birthday this year - one on his birthday at Samburu and one that Mama made him once we got home.
It was a birthday for the books! We are so thankful we could celebrate our birthday boy in such a special way. Kai is an amazing kid. He's creative and fun. He loves to play games with anyone anywhere, loves to draw (and is shockingly good at it), loves to bake with me, loves to read about dragons, and still loves to dig in the dirt. He's super smart (no joke - he's supposed to be in 1st grade according to his age, but is doing mostly 3rd grade material because he's just that smart!). He's sensitive and loves to snuggle, and he asks big questions about God and the Bible. And he's eloquent. Anyone who has the privilege of hearing our boy pray will be blessed and humbled. We are incredibly proud of Hezekiah and continue to pray that he will live in the strength of the Lord all the days of his life.
Happy Birthday, Kai!
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