Camp Staff Safari

The camp staff are having a great week.  On Tuesday they left for 2 nights of camping in Naivasha (about an hour from Nairobi).  They spent Wednesday at nearby Hell's Gate National Park where they were able to go hiking and rock climbing.  Yesterday they left for safari in the Maasai Mara game park, where they will be until tomorrow.  All of the vans saw a leopard this morning.  Leopards are very rare, so any safari where you see one is considered a good safari.  One van saw a rhino, which is rare in the Mara, so that van will be able to come home bragging that they saw all of the Big 5 on a single safari.  Not bad, not bad.
The last week of play and safari gives the staff lots of time to reflect back on their summer in Kenya.  For those of you who will have a child or friend coming home, you should be prepared that they will come home different from when they left.  I know they are all really excited about coming home, but landing on American soil will be harder for them than they may be expecting (they will have some time to talk about readjustment before they leave Kenya).  Culture shock may mean that they are not ready to talk about their experience as soon as they land, which may be hard for those of you who are dying to hear about their summer directly from them.  Just try and be patient, they will open up in their own time.  And try to be understanding when a trip to Wal-Mart makes them want to close themselves in their room for the rest of the afternoon.  They have seen the poorest of the poor, which means adjusting back to the richest country in the world is a challenge.  In time, each of them will learn to incorporate their experience in Kenya into their lives as Americans, which will broaden their perspective, make them more compassionate, and deepen their passion for the Gospel.  As their loved ones, its really important that you are supportive as they sort through all of the emotions that they will have as they come home.