Christmas in Africa

I know it isn't Christmas yet...but I wanted to post some pictures from Christmas last year. We woke up early Christmas morning to take a boat ride up the Nile River. We got on the boat right as the sun began to rise and the steam and mist began to leave the river. Along the banks of the river we were able to see Africa come to life. The animals all came to the river banks to get their morning breakfast and enjoy a cool off. We were able to see alligators, hippos, birds etc. What a wonderful way to start our Christmas day...out in nature with all of God's creations.We got back to our tents for a few hours of rest before heading off on our safari. While we were out and about during the safari we were able to see elephants, girafees, kobs etc. We had such a great time out there. We were gone for about five hours or so. Our tour guide was great and we were able to actually climb on top of the van to get a better look at all the animals. We cam across three elephants trying to cross our path. The mommy elephant didn't like how close we were to her baby and stared us down. Later on in our ride we came across another elephant who was not too happy with us. The van driver threw the car into reverse as the elephant started to charge. Luckily he got distracted and left the path and we could continue on our way.We got back to the camp later on that afternoon. We spent the rest of the day lounging around...reading, playing games and just enjoying the holiday season. That night the camp gave us a great Christmas dinner. You can see from the menu posted just how great the dinner was. The avacado appitizer was to die for...though I did have to scrap the mayo out from the center. I couldn't stand to eat a scoop of mayo. Dinner was great and the dessert was good too.
Even though I couldn't be with my family for the holiday...it was nice to be with friends. It will be one of the Christmas's I remember most.

One Year Ago

Well I am sure many of you are sick and tired of me talking about Africa. But since I haven't been out of the country in a year...it makes it hard to write about anything else. So for the next few week I will be doing a review of our trip to Africa last December. Most of these pictures will be new for you. It turns out I didn't post many pictures of Africa after all.
Early in the morning of Dec. 8th the team met at the Salt Lake Airport. We would quickly become great friends. The flight wasn't bad and many of us tried to catch up on sleep. Since we left so early in December, many of the students had to take their finals early. So the 24+ hour flight was just what many of us needed.

I want to give a shout out to Dr. Grenney who made this all possible. Thanks for being the best mentor out there. To all my Africa friends....I miss you and can't wait to come back some time soon.