“The wild animals, your Excellency, are perhaps proof of the existence of God”

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On safari with Karen, continued ~

Karen, just 22, came to visit us in Kenya after her first year of teaching.

She traveled halfway around the world all by herself! Would I have been that brave? I’m sure the answer would be “No.”

Thanks to missionary discounts, we could afford a couple of days on safari in Maasai Mara.

We took game drives when animals are most visible—at sunrise and just before sunset—in pop-up vans. Rifle-toting Kenyan drivers served as tour guides.

One day we spotted a bird perched on the top branch of a shrub beside the trail. I’d never seen anything like it—shimmery turquoise and lilac. Our driver stopped so we could snap a picture. I expected the bird to fly away, but it simply sat there, content to let us snap photos. Later I learned its name, a Lilac-breasted Roller.

The twiga—giraffe—is my favorite African animal. Giraffes move gracefully and their brown and white hides give them a pristine appearance. Most of Africa’s animals have cold eyes—buffalo, lion, elephant—but giraffes’ long-lashed, soft brown eyes look especially tender. Karen Blixen called giraffes “proud and innocent creatures, gentle amblers of the great plains.”

“Oh yes, your Excellency,” said the showman,

“God sees the Giraffes.

While they have been running about

and have played in Africa,

God has been watching them

and has taken a pleasure in their demeanor.

He has made them to please him.

It is in the Bible, your Excellency,” said the showman.

“God so loved the Giraffe that He created them.

God has Himself invented the square as well as the circle,

surely your Excellency cannot deny that,

He has seen the squares on their skin

and everything else about them.

The wild animals, your Excellency,

are perhaps proof of the existence of God....”

(Out of Africa, Isak Dinesen aka Karen Blixen)

We saw zebras, antelopes, gazelles, impalas, Cape buffalos, warthogs, ostriches, rhinos, wildebeest, secretary birds, and topis.

In case you missed recent posts—

We also came upon a cheetah that had brought down a Grants gazelle only minutes before we found them in tall grass under a tree, and we got up close and personal with a mama elephant and her baby.

We watched five regal lionesses napping, and snapped pictures of two male lions, the most respected and feared animals of all.

Since hippos are very dangerous, we were thankful to watch them from a distance (for a change).

“God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:25).

One of the best surprises of my life was the joy of witnessing God’s handiwork in Africa. I understand why He called the animals “good.”

I suspect God had a big grin on His face when He looked over the animals He’d made because, indeed, they were very, very good.

Thanks to P&H Harris for permission to use their photo of a Lilac-breasted Roller.