For the past few months I had been planning our annual retreat with WGM colleagues. I was the main person in charge, and it would be an understatement to say that it took a toll on me. The fact that we could have a retreat at all this year was incredible, and I was very happy about that. But the fact that we could have a retreat this year also meant a lot of adjustments needed to be made, and those adjustments required lots of meetings and phone calls and emails...and lots of time and energy spent. So, when our retreat was cancelled because of the current lockdown, I was a hot mess of emotion. I had given a lot of myself to make this happen for so many people who needed rest and refreshment (including myself), and it had all been done for nothing. We wouldn't be going to Retreat and we wouldn't be seeing any of our colleagues who we haven't seen in a very long time. It was a huge loss.
On top of that, two of our children were also a hot mess, one of them shutting himself in the bedroom and sobbing for an interminable amount of time and refusing to be comforted.
There was nothing to be done except to grieve together, to sit in the sadness and feel all the feels. I took a "Day of Mourning" which Kai joined me for, and then I was able to think past the loss and consider what else we could do in place of Retreat. We still had the time off and could still go somewhere even though our options were limited because of the lockdown. Thankfully, our part of the country has some wonderful places to enjoy.
First things first, we talked with our close friends, the Webbers, to see if they wanted to join us on a "reimagined retreat" because not only did we need to get some space from the hospital, but we also needed some sweet fellowship. Plus we'd been talking about the idea of doing a family trip together for a long time but it just hadn't happened yet. Well, suddenly our chance had arrived!
We first went to the Ngare Ndare Forest, which we'd discovered last year, and went on the tree canopy walk again. It was the first time the Webbers had been there and it was so fun to enjoy it together.
We didn't see much wildlife in the forest itself, but we saw a group of reticulated giraffes on the way there. It never ceases to amaze me that we can be driving along the road in this country and just look out the window and see stuff like this!
The canopy walk moves a bit as you walk on it, adding to the adventure. The views are spectacular and at one point it feels like you're walking through Endor.
At the end is a platform with these trees (I can't remember what they're called) that have enormous swinging branches. Nature's playground! These monkeys couldn't get enough of it.
The only wildlife we saw was a pair of Hartlaub's turacos. We heard them much better than we saw them. They're rather noisy birds! They were chasing each other through the trees and this was the best picture I could get. Such beautiful creatures.
There's a joke around Chogoria about Eli's selfie skills - namely that he usually cuts off half his face in every attempt to take a group selfie. But I'm not convinced because I've seen the opposite - namely that his long arms make it possible to fit a bunch of people into a selfie, all of his face included! I love this photo of our crew.
After the tree canopy walk, we headed into Nanyuki for lunch and then went to find our Airbnb. (On a side note, we have been delighted with how many Airbnbs there are in Kenya.) We found a big house to accommodate us all that was right next to Ol Pejeta - the property of the housing complex literally shares a fence with the conservancy. It was absolutely perfect! The 11 of us had plenty of space and there was wildlife all around the house! No predators, mind you, but lots of herbivores hanging out like Grevy's zebra, impala, warthog, guinea fowl, and even oryx!
And the view of Mount Kenya couldn't be beat. It was impossible to capture the beauty on camera.
The kids ran around outside as much as possible, chasing animals and pretending to be animals. It was such a delight to watch them in their glory!
And the complex had a pool! And there were animals right next to it! It was such a cool place. The pool itself was freezing, as most pools in Kenya are, but we got in anyway. I even did laps! It was really the only way to stay warm enough to justify staying in. The kids all had blue lips by the end and everyone was shivering, but they really had fun. Getting into a pool is such a treat for these kids.
And because we were next door to Ol Pejeta, I took Caleb for an evening game drive. The rest of the kids chose to stay at the house and build a giant furniture fort, but Caleb will always choose wildlife if wildlife is an option! It was a really sweet time of just the two of us.
I almost drove right by this rhino because I thought it was a rock. In fact, I stopped because I thought it was a rhino, then decided it was just a rock upon closer inspection and was just about to drive off again when the rock moved! It really was a rhino!
The highlight of the drive was this male lion. He was right by the road so we could easily stop and just watch him for awhile. He was sitting entirely alone but majestically. Eventually he got up and walked away. What a stately creature.
We didn't see any elephants this time, but we saw rhinos a few times, plus three different lions. And there were plenty of herd animals around as usual. We drove around until dark when the gates to the park close.
The Webbers had to return to Chogoria after these two days, but it was such a beautiful blessing to spend that time on vacation with them. God fully redeemed our original retreat plans by giving us this time together. The Webbers have become some of our closest friends worldwide and we are so thankful they easily said "yes" to the idea of joining us for a "reimagined retreat" to Nanyuki. It filled our cups to overflowing.
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