Great Expectations

It is right to conclude my musings about South Africa (at least for now) with the completely touristy game drives we did.  I will admit that when I learned that going on safari was part of this trip, I was thrilled.  Of course, I had somewhat of a stereotypical picture in my mind – pith helmet included – than what happened.  First of all, our accommodations were top-rate at a resort about 3 hours northeast of Johannesburg. Lush and modern, it had every amenity one could want, including a spa (which I did not use, but several of our group did).  It also had a “hide” build into a hill by the watering hole, which was also monitored by closed-circuit cameras and available to be view 24 hours a day on the TV in our rooms. I saw zebra, elephants and lots of birds enjoying the water.

Back to my expectations of the safari.  I have a deep love for lions and I wanted to see a male lion in the wild.  I figured during the total of almost 8 hours we would be out, that would be an easy request.  Never mind I knew I was referring to a WILD animal that didn’t sign an appearance contract, but I figured at least one would be accommodating.  Not to spoil the ending, but I did not see a male lion.  One made an appearance, but the only person in our group to see the lion had a very high powered telephoto lens on his camera.  He hasn’t shared the picture yet.

I came away a bit disappointed – and annoyed at myself for feeling that way because we did see a lot of wild life, just not what I wanted to see.  It has been a bit humbling to take stock of my reaction and truly appreciate what I did see and experience.  And, oddly enough, two of the major events happened within the first 15 minutes of the first drive.
Meet Amarula.  He is a very famous – or, more accurately, infamous – 55 or so year old male African elephant.  He is notoriously bad tempered and is known for flipping vehicles, especially smaller ones.  He lost his tail at some point, probably during a fight.  We encountered this grumpy old man even before we officially entered the Pilanesburg Game Reserve.  Fortunately, it was either too early in the morning (about 5:45) or he simply wasn’t in the mood to mess with us.  However, I didn’t appreciate enough that we had just met a legend (and Internet star!).

Within a few minutes of entering the park, our guide got all excited by the pack of wild dogs, also called painted wolves.  To be honest, I like dogs, but I am a cat person so “dogs” don’t really impress me.  What I didn’t appreciate until later is that there are only 3000 of these animals left in the wild and they are RARELY seen. They are beautiful animals and work incredibly well as a pack with a 95% kill rate. They take care of their young and old faithfully.  It is not clear why there are so few of them left.  It was a real treat to see this pack be on the hunt for their next meal – actually working and teaching their young to survive.  If I had seen a male lion, more than likely he would have just been sitting there looking pretty and being lazy, as cats are want to be.

There was impala, springbok, wildebeest, giraffe, rhino, female lions and many birds throughout the day, but the two above were the highlights for me. It wasn’t what I expected, but it was awesome, and reminded me to be careful about my expectations. 

Israel expected the Messiah to be a mighty king come to save them from the tyranny of an oppressor.  And Jesus was all that, but what Israel really expected a war hero to execute a regime change, not an itinerant preacher that said transformation comes from within, and then instructed us to love those who we don’t believe worthy of love. 

Expectations can get us into real trouble because they cause us not to see and appreciate what is before us.  It impedes the blessing and joy present to us and leaves us empty rather than filled. Not seeing a male lion was probably the best part of the entire trip, because it made me recognize the blessings I have for all I did see. 

With Advent Blessings,

Rev. Valerie+

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