Kenya, April 25 - May 14, 2002

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Aberdare National Park, Part 2
A Test of Our Patient Endurance and Our God's Mercy 
Saturday, May 11, 2002

The reason for the stop ahead was that the Pajero had stopped running. We thought that they had finally seen what we came to see, the mountain elephants of Aberdare. When we pulled up behind them we realized that was not why they had stopped. It seems they were having some difficulties. When we got out to look at the vehicle we found that there was no gasoline in the fuel tank. We banged on it and it sounded like an empty drum. Even when we drained some from the Suzuki, we couldn't get it running.

We decided to send the women and children off to the town outside of the park. They would wait in a town called Mweiga, just outside the Treetops entrance to the park. They would also take Ranger Joseph with them to make sure things were OK at the gate. The rest of us would wait back at the Pajero. We tried to push start the vehicle, but it would not kick over. It ended up at the bottom of a small hill; as the other proceeded on to bring back help. As we sat there at the bottom of a hill it began to rain. Not what we really needed and yet no one was frustrated or downhearted in any way. We decided to push the vehicle up the small rise in order to get it out of the flash flood plain that it was sitting in.

Just as we were getting it to the top of the rise, the other vehicle appeared once again. It seems that there was an obstruction in the way about a mile down the road. Ranger Joseph said we could not move since it was a large root stump that was turned over by an elephant. After some thought we decided to give moving the stump a try. We would not be able to get out the way we came and bring help in time. Arne coasted the vehicle down the mountain until we came to the obstruction. What we saw was a big pile of around 20-30 large bamboo trees with the root ball still attached. By now it was raining harder. As we surveyed the scene, David and Arne pulled out their Leatherman Wave tools, and proceeded to cut the outer layer of the bamboos so we could snap them. The Leatherman has saved us more than once all throughout the trip. But this is one that legends are made of. We made sure that we captured photos of this to send to the manufacturer for their files.

We made light work of this obstacle, cleared the road and the Suzuki headed back down it to get help. As David was cutting some bamboo for posterity's sake, the Pajero rolled by and began to pick up speed down the hill. David caught up and jumped in to join all eight others in the car. We began to barrel down the treacherous mountainside at breakneck speed. The whole while Kirk was saying, "Brake, brake..." while David was saying, "Let up, let it go." Pastor John did an excellent job of handling the lumbering giant through all the hairpin turns and ditches. At some points we must have been traveling over 40 mph. All this was accomplished without any form of power other than gravity.

After around a half hour of this John was exhausted. We had had to push only a few times, but the fatigue from holding the vehicle on the road was wearing him out. David offered take the wheel and once again in the rain we began to run what we had dubbed the "Nine man ". Once again Kirk took up the cry of "Brake, brake..." while others said, "Let it flow..." There was really only one spot where the vehicle let the road off to the left and barely avoided a large ditch. Praise our God! During this last leg of the slide, we came up again two fairly long hills. Should the vehicle stop we would have to push a long way to get it going once again. I neglected to mention that the whole time we had been coasting, we were speaking in tongues, very profusely and loudly. As we headed up these long rises, we got even louder and louder. The car slowed down only slightly and crested both of these rises with ease. This led our Kenyan brothers to exclaim that we were getting some help with the vehicle. They were absolutely right. God had sent his angels to keep us on the road and going up the hills. 

We finally came to rest at the bottom of a large hill. We parked the Pajero right by the bridge that went over the Thoara River. One could see from all the trials leading down to the water that this was a major watering hole for the creatures of the park. David explained that since there were a lot of trials that this would also be a prime spot for predators to hang out. He then told them to be on the lookout and keep their eyes open. Joe and David headed up the big hill to see how long it went up. The sign said that we were 5-1/2 km from Treetops (a very exclusive hotel situated about 30 feet up in the trees). The road went up for about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile. There was no way we wanted to push the car up that incline. On the way up the red, muddy road, we saw many tracks of the elephant, buffalo and deer variety. If we were to see the elephants that we came to see, this seemed to be the place.

As we came back to the vehicle we had picked up Arne who was walking by himself, and we heard from the others that they had seen water buffalo and three hyenas. The hyenas had been sauntering down the road, which we had coasted. When they heard the men by the car, they turned off of the road into the brush. We hung out on the bridge until the sun began to set. The whole time there, there was this fine mist that would get us moist from head to foot. As dusk set in we saw up another road that joined ours a dark shape making its way down the trail. An elephant at last! We had been praying for the Lord Jesus to let us see one these magnificent creatures and here it was. It was dark red due to its rolling around it the areas red clay. David headed out for a closer look with Joe and Arne in tow. The Kenyans preferred to remain behind. As we headed up the hill to get a closer look, the big creature moved off into the bush. When we got to the top of the hill we were only around 5 meters from him. He was about 8-9 feet high. Not a very big one in comparison to the plains elephants, which can get up to 12 feet high. Nevertheless our prayers were answers.

Arne and Joe stood in awe at the creature. Another in the bush accompanied him. Over across the river there were at least five more on the sloping hill. By this time they all had their trucks up in the air and were scanning the area for our smells. One is not normally allowed to walk in this park due to the confluence of animals present. There are many that are dangerous. But we were there because our God wanted us to see these magnificent creatures. With Christ in us, we have dominion over the all the creatures of the earth, just as Adam did. All that Adam lost Jesus Christ gained back and more. We are to reign in this life. We have authority; we just have to learn to walk in it. 

At one point David circled around the brush to get a frontal view of the one closest, but when he came around the tree there he was face to face with the monster. The elephant’s ears were out away from his side, which meant that he was a bit agitated. You want to walk in authority, but you don't walk in stupidity, tempting God. David just slowly turned around and walked back to where he had bee and everything was once again serene.

David went back to bring the Kenyans to view what they too came to see. They were a bit tentative and hesitant in their decision, but when David explained about authority in Christ, they all followed him up the hill. They too were amazed by what they saw. By now we could see that there were a total of 8 of these behemoths. They all had nice size tusks and were all shifting between eating and sniffing with their trunks. The Kenyans got their fill of the view and then gingerly headed back down the road to the safety of the vehicle. Arne Kirk and Joe stayed up there a great length of time until the elephants began to move of into the thicker brush of the slope. It was now getting dark and it was time to be moving back to the Pajero. The sky was starting to drizzle once again. As the last elephant moved into the dark, he gave us one last look and sniff with his trunk just to be sure we weren't going to follow. They were as weary of us as we were of them. It was a mutual respect between the creatures of the Almighty God. 

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