I AM HOME FROM AFRICA

Peace is to be found in the acceptance of things we are unable to change. -- Author Unknown

November 24, 2009 - returned home on 9/23/09

To all of you…
The quote above is what I learned most from my trip to Africa. It is wonderful to be back with my family, but I left a piece of my heart in Africa. There are so many things I want to share with you. So many adventures and people I have met that impacted my life. I always knew I had a destiny with Africa. In fact, in some way, I had my doubts that I would return from that incredible place called Africa. I felt doubtful enough to write a poem to my family to read if I did not return. There were a few incidents that could have landed me in a hospital, and being in a hospital in Africa is the last place anyone would want to be.

I was in West Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and completed my journey in Dubai. I have hundreds of photos that most people only get to see on the Discovery channel. I met native tribe people who are fully aware of the 20th century and modern technology, but continue to practice the way of their ancestors. The Masai people own the land of Kenya and Tanzania. They believe they
were given all the cattle by God. Unfortunately the English did to them what the USA did to the American Indian, by trying to rule and control them. All the Masai people care about is living the life they have always lived. It sounds strange when they tell you their names because they are Christian names from being baptized by the missionaries of centuries past. However, they continue to practice their tribal culture of drinking blood mixed with water and only eating meat. No fruits, no vegetables. I visited their village and invited into one of their huts made of elephant dung. This is what they also use to make fire.

I felt the peace of being among God’s creatures in a surreal place of safety and contentment. There is a magnificent crater called Ngorongoro. It is a volcano that imploded, and down at the bottom of the crater lives the rare black Rhino and Wildebeest, Giraffes, Zebras, hippos, Eland, Thompson Gazelles, and lions. The Flamingos cover a lake as wide as the eye can see. We saw Golden Jackals, Egyptian Geese, and dozens of species of birds. In that place exists a paradise for the animals. They live in harmony in the quiet surroundings of a Garden of Eden. They are safe from poachers, safe from starvation, for they have water, unlike most of Africa. Ngorongoro is what I will remember when I need to go to a quiet place. I would love to tell you more about the history of the implosion, but you can find that on the Internet.

I will be blogging my three week journey and e-mailing everyday a part of the journal I kept. I hope you want to share in my adventures and lessons I learned. May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving. Love Stelle.

Better to love God and die unknown than to love the world and be a hero; better to be content with poverty than to die a slave to wealth; better to have taken some risks and lost than to have done nothing and succeeded at it. -- Erwin W. Lutzer