Unexpected Answer--Saturday May 12th

This morning was our final day at the game park. We ate breakfast and ferried across the Nile River again explore and then exit out of the other side of the park. We half-kiddingly prayed to see a leopard and a lion because it was our last chance and because Billy and John had never seen one either. We prayed it but we didn't actually expect such a direct answer to such a request. After meeting an experienced guide, Emmanuel, the day before on the Nile and talking to him later, he gave us a tip on where to find the lions and then agreed to lead us there with his group.

On our way down an overgrown and forgotten trail, the car ahead of us came to an unexpected stop. On alert, we all turned our heads in the direction of the pointing fingers just in time to see a leopard leap down from a tree and be lost in the high grass of the African plains. We didn't have time even to get our camera's out, so we only got a single snapshot from behind as it was facing away from us. Billy was set on seeing it again so we stayed behind when everyone else drove on and we ended up losing Emmanuel.

We drove up just a bit to catch up with John and stopped for a devotional looking at Ananias, the man who prayed over and healed Saul (Paul). Emmanuel came back for us only a few minutes later saying they found a lion, so we jumped up on top of the cars to head over. Unlike the other animals we saw, she (it was a female lion) harldy needed the protection of a herd and lay on the ground alone relaxed and with her head high, looking so regal and elegant. When she wandered off, we decided (foolishly) to leave the safety of the trail in pursuit. John said before getting in the car that he hadn't ever seen a male lion, ever. That changed when we closed in on the female to find the male laying in the shade of some nearby trees. We got stupidly close to it, we were easily in pouncing distance from him and we were on top of the car, but it was worth it to see a lion right there in its own environment.

We left the park shortly after lunch and arrived in Arua that night to meet Joel and Alfred (the guards), Erika and Joanna (the wives) and Jeannie (the volunteer)