Disney's Jungle Cruise

Day in the Life of Africa.

2:00 AM.
Today has been one of the most jam-packed days of my life -- but in a really good way. We arrived here in Niamey early in the morning -- right around 2:00 AM. Immediately the smell of Africa hit my nose as I stepped down onto the tarmac and walked the short distance to the bus that would transport everyone from the flight over to the main terminal. We packed into the terminal and literally had to push our way through customs. Everyone jostled in towards the two lines that exited out into the baggage claim area. We made it through, found our bags and then had to push our way through another crowd to the x-ray machine line. I made it through, handed my passport and boarding pass to the guard. He glanced at it for just a moment and ushered me past a plastic wall dividing the baggage area from the exit entry of the airport. Everything went dead silent as soon as I passed through -- almost like it was a dream and everyone was still talking but I couldn't hear anyone speak.

We stepped outside and into Africa. The warm night air breezed past us all as we met our contact through SIM, Jon. He drove us through the sleepy streets of Niamey, past long concrete walls topped with barbed wire and fluorescent lights, and to the SIM guest house just over the river.

I went into my room, feeling that strange place between exhaustion and excitement. Poles stuck up from the sides of the bed, and I set to work on the mosquito net. It reminded me of setting up tent forts in my bedroom as a kid. We got to sleep pretty easily that night -- and had to be up early in the morning. I drifted off to sleep dreaming of being stuck in large crowds, pushing and pulling and...

8:28 AM
I woke up and started buzzing around to get ready for the day. Jon said that we would be heading out to see the last wild giraffes in West Africa, just a bit north of Niamey. Another SIM guy, Tim, and his son David and daughter Beth, came with us along with Jon's son Collin and daughter Mariah. We all loaded up in two Land Rovers with a team here from Tacoma, WA, and drove out. It was great to be able to see the city in the daytime and really see what life here in Niamey is like.

The further north we went, the more and more sparse things became. Soon the city dropped out of sight behind us and on all sides we could see flat land spotted with trees and shrubs. Every now and then round huts would be clustered together, topped with thatched cone-shapes. People drove donkey carts up the sides of the streets and we passed numerous motorcycles and vans and trucks loaded down with travelers.

A station loomed ahead of us, and we stopped in front of a rope across the road as a guard walked out toward the Land Rover. Jon paid the road tax -- a tax based on how far we go along the road -- and then we drove up to a large open hut a ways out in the middle of the desert. Men stood outside the hut, and we walked inside to see various wares they had for sale: small carved giraffes, camels, and hippos, and various kinds of beaded bracelets. The site was a head station of sorts where they are trying to conserve the last remaining giraffes in West Africa.

We picked up a guide -- Komba -- and headed back up the road a ways. We turned off the main highway and onto dirt roads leading far out into the "bush." Jon stopped the Land Rover and let some of us get on top to ride. Patrick, Collin, Mariah, Beth, David, and I got up on top and rode along the ruts and bumps, dodging spiky trees along the way as we drove farther and farther out. One tree came too fast and even though we tried to duck aside, it scraped my finger and drew blood.

Finally, up ahead we saw them: four giraffes roaming around in the wild, chewing on leaves and blinking as they watched us approach. A friend of mine had visited Uganda during the summer, and she was amazed at the sight of the giraffes. She kept trying to find a word to describe them there, and she came up with "graceful." I couldn't help but agree as I watched them seem to glide along as they walked, moving gently through the trees and reaching up to grab more.

We got back into the Land Rovers and drove out some more and found ten giraffes all together -- some males (who have a third horn on their face) and some females with the younger giraffes. Mark chased one of them -- and we watched as the giraffe loped across the sandy dirt. Another giraffe had a long grey scar down his neck, and Komba told us that he probably got it from fighting another male giraffe. Sometimes giraffes fight to the death to be the dominant male in the "herd."

12:07 PM
Lunch was coming at 1:00 PM to our guest house, and so we had to leave the giraffes behind and load back into the Land Rovers to make it back in time. Along the way, children crowded around the edges of the dirt road waving at us, saying hello, and asking for gifts. We waved at them and yelled out hello, and then after racing along the dirt roads, dust kicking up into the windshield, we made it back to the highway.

Thankfully, lunch was still at the guest house when we arrived. We ate rice topped with peanut sauce and a salad with bread. After lunch, we had our next adventure lined up: we would be heading out to ride camels and canoe out to hippos in the Niger River.

A funeral procession through town slowed down the drive, but finally we made it out to the dirt roads that would lead us to the plot of land owned by some local missionaries. We drove past the Niamey golf course -- which is a big dry and dusty area with brown "greens." Mitchell, the son of a guy here named Mike, told me during the drive that they give golfers a small piece of sod to carry around and hit off. It sounded really funny. Patrick took some pictures as we slowed to drive past.

Bougainvillas and an open gate greeted us as we drove in to the plot, right on the edge of the river. Tall trees shaded over the bank and right under the branches were two wood canoes with small canopies built over the top. I felt like I had walked straight onto the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland. Even the trees nearby looked like ones I had seen holding up the Swiss Family Robinson tree house.

4:15 PM
But before I could get onto the canoes, I had to ride a camel. There were four of them all loaded down in faded rugs and packs. Men stood around them, heads wrapped in turbans or under small caps. I swung my leg over the side of the camel along with Mike Arzie and Carl and Mary from the Tacoma group. My camel wavered forward and then back as he stood up on his bony legs. We started off -- a small caravan walked between dusty trees and over rocks below. I swayed as it walked forward, led by one of the guides.

I got to ride the camel twice since a group that had headed out on the canoes wasn't back yet. I enjoyed getting back up on the same camel and smiling as I thought of the kids in Jr. church that I had promised I would tell them about riding a camel when we came home. (And Gilly will be excited as well.)

The canoes returned a bit later, and Mike, Carl, Mary, and I loaded up into one of those Jungle Cruise canoes and rode out onto the river with a guide pushing us through the lilies out into the main waterway. We gently rocked over the river, and swooped up and around to spot two hippos popping up out of the water a distance away. The sun was going down, and a breeze wafted over the canoe as we floated back toward the plot of land. I closed my eyes for a moment and couldn't help but feel drowsy with the warm orange sun hanging on the horizon, and the sounds of Niger surrounding me.

6:36 PM
We ate a dinner of burgers cooked right over a little campfire and had some of the best chocolate chip cookies ever before night really descended and the stars poked out in the sky. The team was definitely starting to feel the jet lag as we climbed back into the vans to begin the drive back to the guest house to try and get some sleep before the next day began.

9:37 PM
And now here we are -- typing away at our laptops -- sending messages back home to loved ones and enjoying the fact that God has blessed us with such an amazing glimpse into the world that He has created. Gary said it well when he mentioned how great His creation really is. And today, I got to see some parts of that I wouldn't normally have the chance to see -- wild giraffes and hippos, dirt roads and spiky trees, and whooping birds and camels. And of course -- the people -- the dirty, the well-dressed, the beggars, the children -- all loved and created by Him.

And tomorrow will definitely hold new adventures and experiences. Until then, we will hopefully sleep and thank God for what He has already shown us here.

--Shaun Stevenson, AfricaTeam2010