I do not know how to compose any sort of "goodbye" to this kind of happiness.

Final Farewell to our Elephants

Ndovu, or tembo... elephant.  These well-recognized, lovely creatures wander across their homelands in a slow lumbering gait.  Behind them they carry all of their feelings of family and connectivity, leaving behind only a trail of rather large footprints.  East Africa is a home, their home, and it is here that they'll hopefully continue to reside in peace.  
Today was the day of our final game-drive through Amboseli.  I had the honor and privilege of riding with my friends: Riley, Fumika, Erin, Kristen G., Isabella "Zeb", and Ashley F.  They're a lovely bunch of ladies, and coupled with our driver Martin, we were bound to have an unbelievably fantastic adventure.

   The weather was on and off for rain.  We never begrudge a little wet weather, because here in Kenya it's a precious commodity of which there is often very little.  With the rainy season, animals tend to venture outside of the park in search of other means of food and shelter.  So, today was a day of elephants, hippos, and many interesting birds.
   

It's bittersweet to know I'm leaving on Sunday.  I'm on my way back home into the loving arms of my family and friends, as well as the sweet mountains of North Carolina that I call home.  However, I'm leaving a place that holds so much majesty and magic within its rangelands.  There are no elephants trodding the grounds in America, and it's with a heavy heart that I'll be leaving behind some amazing sights and scenes.  But I know that, along with the help of my photographs and written words, I'll be able to revisit my life here in East Africa.  Four months of a life here are not enough... and, Lord-willing, I'll return someday again.  

"All I wanted to do now was get back to Africa.  We had not left it yet, but when I would wake in the night, I would lie, listening, homesick for it already."  -Ernest Hemingway  (who said it better than I ever could).