From London to Tanzania

For those of you keeping up on my blog, or the recent happenings of my life, or even just randomly checking, here you’ll find a brief recounting (to try and retell my experiences in full would probably take a book!) of the past week and ½ (almost 2) since I left Toronto for England, and then Tanzania (in 2 days I’ll be making my way north, by bus, to Kenya, where I’ll be doing my 7-week internship in sustainable agriculture). I arrived in London Thursday morning (10/11), made my way to the Highbury Centre (a Christian guesthouse in London where Houghton students are staying for the semester), and spent the rest of the day walking around Kensington Park, down Portabello Road (anyone ever watched the movie “Bedknobs & Broomsticks” as a child??), and taking in a bit of the sights of Notting Hill (yes, the same Notting Hill the movie is named after). The following day (Friday), I met up with my British friend, Luke, and we walked all over the place for a good 4+ hours! This would be where the picture of me standing by Parliament would come in. ☺

Besides Parliament and Big Ben, we saw Buckingham Palace, the backside of Westminster Abbey, a bit of the changing of the Horse Guard (Luke saw a great deal more than I, as there was quite a crowd of people and he stood a head taller than almost everyone. grins), Trafalgar Square, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London, and Tower Bridge from a distance – to name but a few of the sights! We had a lovely time walking around together (infinitely better than going around alone!), till eventually we caught the tube (British equivalent of the American subway) outside of London to meet Charlotte, Luke’s sister (also a good friend). Charlotte drove us back to their parents house, where I stayed for the weekend. I LOVE their parents! Wonderful wonderful people, and I felt so blessed to be able to get to know them in even just the short amount of time that we had together. It’s such a blessing and encouragement to find family in Christ no matter where you are in the world. So Saturday all of us but their mom went to visit Cambridge, where Mr. Windus went to college, first stopping in a very quaint, traditional village called Thaxted (where the windmill photo comes in – a picture of Charlotte, Luke and I).

When we arrived at Cambridge, Mr. Windus first showed us around Emmanuel College (not sure if that’s Emmanuel spelled with an ‘E’ or an ‘I’…), the college he graduated from, which was quite stunning. I never knew college building and grounds could be so beautiful. Mr. Windus took great pride in showing us around, and we very much enjoyed it. We then toured King’s College which, because it was sponsored by the king (Henry VII, I think??), was exquisite. The college “chapel” was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. After eating lunch, we complete our day at Cambridge with “punting” (insert punting photo here ☺ ).

One person punts while the others enjoy the view. Grins Mr. Windus took us for a tour down the “Backs” of the Cam River, where we were able to see the backsides of the colleges bordering the river – quite the experience! And on the way back, I even got to try my hand at punting! (NOT as easy as it looks!) That evening, Charlotte and Luke took me out to Southend (pronounced ‘Souffend’ by the locals ☺ ) for a walk along the sea (English Channel) and some of the best fish ‘n’ chips I’ve ever had. Sunday, they took me to meet their Nan (grandma) and brother and sister-in-law, Charlotte and I parted ways with Luke on the tube heading back into London (so sad!), and then the 2 of us went to an evening church service at Holy Trinity Brompton (look at my previous post). After another sad goodbye with Charlotte, I made my way back to the Highbury Centre. I have to say though that spending the weekend with the 2 of them and their family was the highlight of my time in England. One that you come away from full of joy, anticipating the next time you can spend time together (and trying to figure out when that might be!), and thanking God for such a rich blessing. So, Monday I found myself wandering the streets of London alone again ☺ , visiting inside Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s (the top from which this picture was taken),

and Tower Bridge. A full, exhausting, and exciting day, and then Tuesday I was off to an overnight layover in Kenya.

I’m convinced that college friends’ parents are one of God’s great blessings. grins Because Tegan’s parents were definitely that for me, as I spent the night with them in Nairobi before heading out the next morning (my dad’s birthday!!!) on my hour flight to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where I was met by Kat, Paul, and Paul C (for those of you who don’t know, Kat is one of my college roommates, and really more family than friend, Paul is her husband and like a brother, and Paul C is another friend from Houghton). My first day in TZ we all spent on an island off the coast, resting from travel, catching up, swimming the Indian Ocean, and enjoying one another’s company. AND eating really amazing fresh seafood, including these crabs! (Are you drooling yet?? hehe)




And all for less than $20! Crazy, eh?! After spending the night in another Christian guesthouse in Dar, we left the next day (10/18) for a 5 hr drive to Mikumi National Park (a wildlife game reserve). The first afternoon/evening of our 24 hrs in the park we saw elephants, zebras, giraffes, cape buffalo, mpalas and bush bucks (2 varieties of deer), hippos, crocodiles, wildebeest, quite a few beautiful birds, and probably more that I’m not remembering. Plus we got to witness an absolutely stunning sunset (check the following pictures).


The next morning we woke up early to start again, and while we saw a great deal more of everything (including a bull elephant up close),

the real treat of the day were the lions!! First we saw a lioness (who actually roared for us, calling for another lion), then the full grown male who was answering her call, actually came while we were there!

And all of this before breakfast! Then again, late morning/early afternoon, we were pointed in the direction of a pride of lions (by others who had spotted them), to find about 12 or so congregated around a recent cape buffalo kill (probably from that night or early morning). INCREDIBLE!



This last picture is of Kat and I early that same morning, riding on top of their (she and Paul’s) land rover – a great way to spot all the animals and just take in the views all around us.



Now I’m at Masumbo with Kat and Paul, experiencing a tiny part of their life here, meeting their friends, cooking and eating together, sharing stories and life and time. Such an incredible blessing to be here with people I love so much. Tomorrow we’ll all take an 8 hr bus ride to Dar and Thursday take a 12+ hr bus ride to Nairobi (thankfully Kat and Paul have some business to do up in Kenya, so we’ll all be able to travel together!).

Please pray for our safe travel on these days, as bus rides coupled with crazy traffic can be a bit of a risky venture. Praise God that I have friends to travel with though, as I wasn’t looking forward to making the trip alone! Praise God for good health thus far, and pray also for continued good health. Praise and thank God for the joy and blessing of reconnecting with old friends, strengthening ties with new friends, and meeting those who are or will become friends. God certainly has a way of blessing us through relationships! Pray also as I continue to prepare my heart for my coming internship in Kenya, as well as speedy language acquisition. I’m so very excited!