Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. | James 1:17
The day after visiting Victoria Falls, we went on a safari in Botswana. The van picked us up from the hotel in Livingstone and drove us to the border. After going through immigration, we got into an open-air jeep and rode to the base camp.
The first part of the trip was by boat. We set off down a river that separates Botswana from Namibia. In the middle of this river is an island called: Impalila Island. The guide told us that there was a land dispute over this island in the 90s as both countries wanted it. The determination was made that since the larger portion of the river flowed between the island and Namibia, that it belonged to Botswana. This island was filled with wildlife.
From the boat we saw a number of birds, hippos, water buffalo, Nile crocodiles, impala, waterbuck, and a lot of elephants. The Chobe National Park has 70,000 elephants (some counts put it as high as 120,000). Everywhere you look, elephants are walking, bathing in mud, and drinking from the river. It is overwhelming.
After a few hours on the river, we returned to base camp for lunch. Sharing the outdoor dining room with us was a family of warthogs. All around the town we were in, warthogs roamed like wild dogs. The residents did not seem too bothered by it,
After lunch, we got back into the jeep and headed for the National Park. Now, rather than seeing the elephants from a distance, we were right in the middle of them. They are majestic creatures. They are somewhat gentle, but so big that it would not take a lot to do a lot of damage. I related to them. After a while, we had seen so many elephants that we went searching for some other animals. We found zebras, giraffes, a lion, and an African fish-eagle. We also had this amazing dark sky backdrop which made for amazing landscapes.
This dark sky also made our guide rush back through the park to get back to base camp. As we drove out of the main gate, numerous safari vehicles were entering to start their tour. Within minutes the sky opened up and drenched everything. The timing of everything was amazing.
This led me to thinking about timing and providence in general. While I don’t want to make an argument about God blessing us, while those with a later safari schedule had to endure bad weather, there is something to seeing this entire trip through the lens of grace. I never imagined that I would do something like this. Even as we planned the trip, I did not have a day like this in mind. Most people who lived over a hundred years ago would never be able to have an experience like this. This was not just a great day, but an experience that God, in His kindness, allowed me to have. I will forever be thankful for having an up close glimpse of animals and landscapes that were previously a distant idea.