Thanks Disney

Fact: sunrises in Africa are one of the most breathtaking visions you will ever come across.

Imagine a blood orange hue rising over a barren savanna, as it peaks over the horizon it radiates off of all it touches. As it climbs through the purple cotton candy clouds tiny images begin to move all around and shapes become forms. Animals begin to appear at the watering hole behind our camp sight, a heard of elephants slowly slink into the clearing so that they can establish their territory. It is a phenomenal sight, sitting with a cup of tea on the patio gazing at these docile creatures only a couple yards from me!

Because our teaching schedule was thrown off we decided to go on a safari, as we approached the park my excitement grew. About a month ago, I had ventured into the San Diego wildlife park, and had my first close encounters with "wild" animals, but being in a safari park in the middle of Kenya is a little different. First, we hired a driver, this brave man, Khan, picked us up bright and early in his pop top van for a unique excursion...into the bush. We sailed through the savanna in search of animals, apparently there is a "top five" list of animals to see in parks: lions, leopards, buffalo, elephants and rhino. Obviously I had my own list...lions and hippos. I was told lions might be tricky and we mint have to go to a different place to see hippos...this didn't deter me desire to see either. Within 10 minutes of entering the park we saw two lioness basking in the afternoon sun. Well that was easy. (btw we saw at least eight lions, even a male, on five different occasions). We continued to scour the land in search of animals, and I fulfilling my Asian stereotype took pictures of everything (later to come don't worry). As we continued on our way Khan and Cathy called our different animals hiding in the brush, apparently I had a very vacant expression at each sighting, then the Disney references began. Let's see I saw mufasa, simba, raffiki, zazu, ed (hyena), pumba, timon and wildebeest (caused the stampede that killed mufasa)...I know I butchered the names but I know you know who I am talking about. Thank you Disney, you have not only instilled in me an incredibly high standard for guys but you have also educated me in different cultures and animals across the globe...awesome.

After a short lunch break we headed back out into the park for an evening ride. The Lighting was beautiful soft pastels streaked across the plains as large black figures lumbered across the land in search of watering holes. Jackpot, we paused at the watering hole as hundreds of elephants gathered to take their last sips as the sun quickly sank down into the sand. The last light radiating off the figures as they splashed around in their little oasis. This. Was. Breathtaking. And just as we began to pull away I spotted it. A giant blob lounging amidst the bathing ellys. My hippo. It was beautiful. Don't ask me why I am obsessed with hippos they are dangerous and awkward, but I think they are adorable. Mission accomplished, my list was complete. We headed back to camp for a late dinner and story time, by story time I mean JJ reading excepts from his book, "Assholes Finish First," by Tucker Max. This could be one of the most disturbingly addicting reads I have ever come across, I'm not going to recommend it by any means but I'm not going to tell you not to read it. This narrsasstic prick is somehow able to weave riveting stories about his "play"/frat boy lifestyle that are so inappropriate but you just can't quite get enough...

We woke up at 6 to grab a quick breakfast and head back to the park, we had to be out be noon. Khan determined to find a hyena, through static chatter on the radio we discovered one was nearby. They are creepy, let me tell ya. After the hyena we drove around until our checkout at noon. The safari ended like any other safari with a trip to a cheesy merchandise store to purchase "local" crafts. After a short courtesy visit we were back on our way home.