Africa Journal Day 33 to 35

Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Day 33
Amboseli National Park, Kenya

Tonight we are at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro surrounded by elephants, lions, giraffes, wildebeest, and gazelles. We are on a safari and very much enjoyed our first day. Besides sighting most of the animals here, the plains in front of Mt. Kilimanjaro are very scenic, and the sky and sunset were very dramatic. Toward evening the clouds lifted enough for us to see the snow-capped summit.

Our flight into Kenya yesterday was without a hitch and our safari driver met us at the Nairobi airport. We spent last night in the Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi, a hotel with a long history and lots of class. Our driver picked us up after breakfast, and we spent the morning driving from Nairobi to Amboseli. The last stretch of road to the part of wash board and very rough.

We are staying in the same lodge where Cathy and I stayed in 1982. The architecture is to resemble a Masaii village. All kinds of memories are being stirred here. Wish she were with us to enjoy it again.

Tomorrow morning we will go for an early morning game drive. I hope we will get to see some lions on the prowl, maybe even a fresh kill. And I hope we get up real close to some elephants; we saw lots today, but all fairly far away.


Thursday, May 26, 2005
Day 34
Amboseli National Park, Kenya

We had a great day enjoying the sights and sounds of the African wilderness. Our early morning game drive began with a pride of six young lions that had obviously just finished devouring an early morning kill. Their tummies were full and they were slowly making their way to a watering hole to drink. They were in no rush, and they just ignored the gazelles and wildebeest around them; obviously they were no longer hungry.

This evening, with the sun setting, we stopped to watch a large herd of elephants. One group, a family of four with a very young baby (our driver estimated a few weeks old only), stayed close together, and went for a drink together. I think I have some neat pictures and video footage to demonstrate this family’s cohesion and closeness—a lesson for us. The older offspring in this family was probably about six years old, and elephants apparently often nurse that long.

Other sightings today included hyenas, hippos (in and out of the water), warthogs, jackals, waterbuck, and of course, lots of wildebeest, zebras and gazelles.

This has been a great way to end our time in Africa. Tomorrow evening we fly for home after driving back to Nairobi and some last minute souvenir shopping. And a last meal at the Carnivore, a famous restaurant with all the meat you can eat. Cathy and I have fond memories there as well, so I’ll be sure to take some pictures.


Friday, May 27, 2005
Day 35
Nairobi Airport, Kenya

We are stuffed after our all-the-meat-you-can-eat at the Carnivore—beef, chicken, pork, ostrich, camel, crocodile, and some more. It was as I had remembered it—hot cast iron plates on which they slice slabs of meat from huge skewers of barbecued meat. A huge open grill in the centre of the restaurant keeps the meet grilling and a little flag at your table to take down when you have had enough. It was busy tonight, reservations only. Some live entertainment and the atmosphere was quite festive.

Our drive from Amboseli this morning was uneventful; we had a wonderful driver/guide on our safari. In the afternoon we did some souvenir shopping, followed by a visit to the Nairobi Museum and adjacent snake park. We actually got to see the Black Mamba the kids were trying to catch at ABC in Malawi. It is Africa’s most feared snake, maybe unfounded, as it is not really that aggressive with humans.

Kenya is very tourist friendly and I was struck by the helpfulness of the airline and airport staff, as well as our safari company, Vintage African. Nairobi is a very modern city of three million with many high-rises, although they are struggling with the heavy traffic; they will need a public transit system to keep cars out of the downtown area. Our driver said they are considering a subway.

Five weeks has passed rather quickly and I have a lot of food for thought. We met a lot of interesting people, renewed acquaintances for old friends, and had time to read and reflect as well. I have seen a direct correlation between social cohesion and psychosocial health; urbanization and modernization are likely to cause social decay with subsequent rise dis-ease and dis-stress. African leaders will need to anticipate these trends in order to lead Africa into the future.

Africa Jurnal Day 32, Tuesday May 24

Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Day 32
Kamuzu International Airport, Linlongwe, Malawi

Our time in Malawi is drawing to a close as we await our flight to Nairobi, Kenya. Yesterday morning I spoke in African Bible College morning chapel service, followed by my Worthy of Your Calling seminar for the Children of the Nations (COTN) staff. Both were well received, and I trust helpful. Andrew and I spent the afternoon at the pool and the evening getting ready for our departure today.

In some ways Malawi is quite different from West Africa, yet in other ways very typical of it. It is not as densely populated as Nigeria, and even Linlongwe, the capital, is much more spread out than Yaounde in Cameroon. It is poorer, with very little natural resources for export. Most rural villagers survive on the bare minimum, as evidenced by their reliance on bicycles for transportation, rather than the ubiquitous motorcycles and taxis in Nigeria and Cameroon. Yet Linlongwe has the most advanced infrastructure of any other city that we visited. It appears that the British had installed water and phone systems before independence. And after independence, Malawi appeared to thrive under the former leader, Kamazu Banda. There is more of a European and Asian presence here, many of the shops being owned by those of foreign descent making their home here.

Health wise, the biggest issue on people’s minds is the HIV/AIDS epidemic. There are many, many AIDS orphans, with many organizations and ministries working to help them. Depression is as rare as it is in West Africa, the people I asked knew of no one in their circle of acquaintances who had committed suicide. It will be interesting to see if the generation that is being orphaned will have a higher incidence of depression as adults.

Christianity is the main religion of Malawi, with up to 80% claiming adherence on census data. There is an Islamic presence with a mosque in Lilongwe and a major Muslim presence in the Selima area. As in West Africa, Malawians are very spiritual.

I am thankful for the opportunity to experience Malawi. Overall, the people are friendly, and probably gentler than West Africans. My heart goes out to the children, especially the AIDS orphans. Also, there is the anticipation of a food shortage this year as the crops were sub optimal due to drought. I look forward to keeping in touch with the new friends we met.

Africa Journal Day 30, May 22

Sunday, May 22, 2005
Day 30
Lilongwe, Malawi

Andrew and I went to one of the largest international churches in Linlongwe, Capital City Baptist Church. Their main service is in English, and it truly was a multiethnic crowd, full with standing room only. The pastor and worship leaders are both Afro-American missionaries. The service wasn’t real long for African standards, about an hour and a half. I enjoyed it, especially the worship, which of course was quite lively.

The weather has been quite cool here lately, and surprisingly cloudy. We went for lunch to a Korean restaurant, and after that it was warm enough to go to the pool at one of the local hotels (same one we went to last Sunday). The kids swam, but the adults still found it too cold to swim.
Sunday evening there was the last evening service at the Chapel for the ABC school year. And this of course was followed by the traditional “waffle night,” this time pancakes and waffles. We had a good time of fellowship.

Africa Journal Day 29, May 21

Saturday, May 21, 2005
Day 29
Lilongwe, Malawi

Today Dave and Joy took us for an outing to Dedza, about an hour and a half drive south of Lilongwe, close to the Mozambique border. The town is in a range of highlands, similar to the plateau in Jos, Nigeria. The main attraction there is a pottery, well known for its creative work, and their lovely grounds and restaurant. We had a good time browsing their work, choosing some gifts for home, and sharing a lunch together. It was rather cool though, but we were warned and dressed accordingly.

Back at ABC in the late afternoon, there was a soccer game between the kids of the Children of the Nations (COTN) ministry that Dave and Joy work with, and another village. Some pretty good soccer players, and the other kids were cheerleaders. I was really impressed by one of the COTN workers, known as an "intern," who has been here since August. She is a psychology major, but with an obvious gift for language. She has become fully fluent in the local language and has developed a great rapport with the kids; seeing her work with them was incredibly inspiring.

Later in the evening, we watched a movie together with another missionary family on the ABC campus. After that it was time to turn in.

Africa Journal Day 28, May 20

Friday, May 20, 2005
Day 28
Linlongwe, Malawi

I spent the morning with Dr. Perry Jansen, an America doctor who spent four years with the ABC Community Clinic, but is now starting a project and ministry called Hope Medical Center (www.partnersinhope.info). It is a very large Christian project targeting HIV/AIDS and they have purchased a large facility that is being converted into a medical clinic. They will teach prevention, offer voluntary testing for HIV infection, and treat AIDS patients with the state of the art antiretroviral (ARV) medications. I was impressed by Dr. Jansen’s passion, the sense of God’s calling on his life, and the enormity of the vision and dream in the project. I wish him and his staff God’s blessing and strength.

In the afternoon, I met with Grace Banda, a former schoolteacher who has felt God’s leading to change careers to do HIV/AIDS counselling and teaching. She works with Dr. Jansen and will be a tremendous asset to his staff. I was impressed with the quality of the staff Dr. Jansen is pulling together.

Friday evening is traditional potluck for all the ABC expat staff—lots of good food and lots of fellowship. Apparently this has also been a longstanding tradition here. These events are all held in the home of the founder, Dr. Jack and Mrs. Nel Chinchen.

Africa Journal Day 27, May 19

Thursday, May 19, 2005
Day 27
Lilongwe, Malawi

We spent most of today on the ABC Campus. I did some writing in the morning, followed by a personal consultation with one of the ABC staff. I trust I was able to be an encouragement to him.

In the afternoon, Dave, Joy and I went to Four Seasons, a plant nursery with several attached gift shops and a café. I enjoyed Malawian tea. It was a lovely little oasis with fountains and lovely lawns and shrubbery. Again, hardly what one thinks of in Africa. There certainly are more of these little getaways here than in West Africa.

In the evening, Andrew and I had supper with a neighbouring missionary family. We enjoyed our visit with them very much. They have been here just less than a year, and had shipped what sounds like all their household items in a container from the U.S. A large black mamba snake, said to be eight feet long, has been spotted in their yard, and their son set a trap with a live chicken to try to catch it. I will need to find out tomorrow if they were successful. Black mambas are deadly neurotoxic snakes; not something you want in your back yard. Apparently, there is also a three-foot monitor lizard making its home in a culvert. It only bothers the dogs by whacking them with its tail.

Africa Journal Day 26, May 18

Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Day 26
Lilongwe, Malawi

I began my day with a brisk early morning walk around the Africa Bible College campus. The grounds here are beautifully kept, the air was cool and fresh, the sun was just rising over the horizon—so a very enjoyable walk. I understand that most of the funding for this campus was raised in America. It reminds me somewhat of a paradise setting.

Later in the morning, Andrew and I played a set of tennis before it got too hot. The tennis court on campus is in fairly good shape, but a couple of cracks in the concrete occasional caused an unpredictable bounce.

In the afternoon, I joined Dave for some shopping. We visited one store, apparently owned by South Africans, which made me think of a grocery store at home. They even had the bar code scanners at the checkouts, so very state of the art. Many of the products here are imported from South Africa. There are also people of European descent settled here who were forced to flee Zimbabwe, so more of a Caucasian presence than in West Africa.

In the evening, I was asked to do a presentation for the Africa Bible College staff. Part of my day was spent preparing for that. It went well and was well received.