We had a day in the middle of our trip where no ministry was scheduled with the plan of doing a little touring!! We had our evening service to prepare for but the rest of the day was ours. We started it in an incredible way. Most of us got up before sunrise and led by Hasnell and Jonathan we climbed the mountain in behind the school and waited for the sunrise.
We had a perfect view of the valley and mountains beyond.
It was spectacular the breathtaking wait as every second the horizon got lighter and lighter . Waiting for the moment where we could see the sun break over the mountain tops. The verse of scripture that reminds us that God's mercies are new every morning (Lam.3:23) kept popping into my thoughts. As sure as the sun rises and sets God is faithful . It is funny because the sun does rise every morning and it is spectacular, but how many times do I sit, wait for it, and seek God's face while I do? I can count on my hands I think the number of times I've witnessed this miracle in my 35 years...but yet it happens every day!!
We sang together, shared scripture ,were quiet and took pictures. The hush on our group at times whispered God's presence.
Then it came, breaking over the horizon
A new day had begun .
God is faithful ..every moment, every day..
As we started back down the mountain, we were blessed to have witnessed such beauty, feeling spiritually refreshed and excited for breakfast!! There is nothing like a pre-breakfast hike to rev an appetite!
Hasnell collected a nanny goat and her twins to stake them for the day.
We ate our breakfast, loaded into our bus, and began our days adventure!!! We went to Black River first go on a safari and see the crocodiles that live there.
So going into this Safari we were told that one of the fun things was that one could jump off the boat if one dared and swim"with the crocodiles" Really it meant swim in the river that the crocs live in. But we were a Canadian youth pastor and church group on a missions trip so it wasn't really anything that we should be doing...not very responsible sounding and a little scarey. Sooo none of us changed into our swimming gear and we set out to enjoy our boat ride on Black River.
The Mangrove trees grow long straw-like tubes into the water
Our first Crocodile spotting.
The crocs are very territorial and the guides know exactly where they will be as they stay in one place most of the time.
They release heat by opening their mouths when they are basking in the sun. If they don't they will overheat.
So after our relaxing float down the river ,croc spotting and bird watching, we were ready to turn back and head for our bus. All through our tour ,our guide kept asking us if anyone wanted to jump out of the boat and swim, and we laughed and kept saying " no we are good!". Just as he was going to head back up the river he said one last time.."anyone want to swim? Last chance" and didn't Colby and Ryan look at each other and start to peel off their shirts....I couldn't believe it. So in they jumped . We could see the resident Crocodile on the other side of the river and she seemed happy to lay on her log, so that made us all a little braver.
Once we saw that Colby and Ryan had survived well, the rest of us got braver really fast!!
No one wanted to spend a lot of time in the river.
They jumped off and beat it back to the boat fairly quickly in spite of the refreshing temp. of the water.
I was on the fence about weather to jump or not. It looked like so much fun, but I'm a homeschooling 35 year old mom of 4 ,and pastor's wife of almost 14 years, my crazy days are over...or so I thought. I looked at my dripping wet, grinning like a school boy husband and said "oh do you think I should?' and he replied" you'll always regret it if you don't.You know you will" He was so right, so I took a running leap, hoped my children would not be motherless in the next 5 minutes, and that is my splash as I disappeared into the depths of Black River
I survived,surfaced...
and was hauled aboard in short order.
Not to be outdone, even Wendy my fellow female leader followed suit. We sat up on the back of the boat the whole way home and basked in the sun to try to dry a little before getting back into the bus.Wendy kept giggling and saying" I feel like a teenager!!"
When we got off the boat, we toured the Crocodile nursery that is attached to the safari building. When they see baby crocs, the guides catch them and place them in the nursery until they are 10 years old. If they don't the larger crocodiles will eat the little ones and their population will not grow.
This ole fellow is almost big enough to be released.
They caught a little gaffer and with an elastic around his mouth, we all got to hold him.
I found him adorable and what a patient little fellow he was. He just hung there as he was passed around.
I guess turtles aren't on a crocodile's menu
As we left the nursery, we saw this big girl named Margret sunning herself on the walk way, close to where they tie the safari boats. We thought she was a fake she was so still and close until she opened her mouth to let off some heat.
Our next stop of the day was to the Y S waterfalls. There are multiple levels to these falls, they were so beautiful. you could swim at the base of each fall.
There were also some tarzan ropes that my husband had fun dropping from!!
Becca also tried it!
On our way home we were treated to spicy shrimp , a Jamaican delicacy . Ryan and I passed up the opportunity, opting to share the blessings ;0` .Chelsea enjoyed the treat....I think!!
No comments:
Post a Comment