Triple Hurdle-- 1. Nakuru

In horse jumping, sometimes you have three jumps in a row. You have maybe a stride or two before the next jump. It's exhilarating, fun, and you choose to do it, but it's still work. You look forward to it coming and you rejoice that you've successfully mastered it... or at least survived it.

We have had many things coming at once. But the three biggies are Nakuru couples event, Christmas, and the Johannesburg Temple Trip.

On Monday December 2o we drove to Lake Nakuru for the couples gathering. It was SO fun to get together with all the other senior missionary couples. There were 12 of us including the Mission President and his wife. What great people they all are. We had a gift exchange that was wild! But Tom ended up with the Skippy Peanut butter! So it was a successful night for him! Chocolate chips and wood carvings were other sought after gifts.

This blog is about Lake Nakuru and the Couples gathering. We loved it! Here we are with the new Public Affairs couple, Elder and Sister J.

Here is our sober and respectable Mission President (the arm waving one) with his waving wife, and Elder and Sister N. They are sorting through the tons of stuff brought to be shared. We took back half a ton-- mosquito nets, missionary gift packages, the curriculum for two branches for the next year, etc.
Here are our Kitale friends, the B's. They trusted us enough to drive with us on the roads shown below.
Our Eldoret friends, the L's, enjoying a great meal.
The lake area was dryer this time, but still lovely. (those are zebras.)As is Elder Fox's perchance, we took many of the "roads less traveled" including some

I would rather have not taken. This one is benign... even beguiling. But beware of the gullies, rocks, and disappearing road ahead. And who knows where you'll come out?
We stopped at Baboon Lookout. And look out! A baboon visited our truck.
We had a great time watching them play.
And Tom took lots of pictures of the little ones monkeying around on the sign.
Of course the birds were fantastic. Unfortunately, many of my photos of them were less than fantastic. But Tom got some great ones. We tried many times to get the pelicans in flight. There were hundreds of pelicans and flamingos. Ah, the giraffes! These are Rothschild giraffes. We saw a dozen or more at one time. They are so graceful, but they also hide surprisingly well.
And Lions! This group decided to camp by a tree after walking past the front gate of the Lodge. So all the couples had a chance to go and visit them. I think they were slightly disgusted by the attention. However, they looked like they would like to have been very attentive to us... if we would just get out of the car and come a little closer.
This time we saw both white and black Rhinos. This mother and babe were right by the lake.
And Elder Fox was enamored by this zebra foal who resided near the lodge gate. Each time we went in or out, we looked for it.
At the end of our stay, we went to an orphanage to visit the children. It was at Eldama Ravine just north-west of Nakuru. Here they are singing to welcome us. One of the missionary couples had met the Pentecostal Bishop who was a patron of it. We had a good time visiting with and playing with the orphans and the other children who had been invited to the event. I love how they care for one another.We arrived home late Wednesday afternoon, Dec 22. One hurdle happily achieved.