as i write, its just after 3pm, and i'm sitting on the verandah of my room at the sambura serena hotel (room 50), situated in the sambura national reserve. directly opposite me, facing north, is a 4' high stone wall that keeps crocodiles out of the compound. beyond the wall is 15m of vegetation and some trees that leads onto 30m of sand that forms the banks of the eousa (spelling?) river - the name means 'brown waters'. on the river-bank, 75m either side of where i sit, are 2 maribou storks - very large birds that seem to hang about river-banks. the river flows steadily and is only about 2' deep at present, though 2 weeks ago it flooded badly covering the 4' wall and came into the rooms. the hotel staff had seen the flood waters rising and evacuated the guests to another hotel.
across the 50m wide river is bush with 2 large hills to the right. the sun is out, there are some cumulus clouds in the sky, and its about 35 degrees celcius i reckon, though its a dry heat.
this place is luxurious, set in a wonderful game reserve full of wildlife. there is a family of marmocet monkeys playing about me as i write this. i've just woken from an hour's sleep, as i've been feeling physically weak today following continual chronic diarrheoa for the last couple of days. i thought i was getting better yesterday, but after some dinner last night was feeling bad again and was advised to go see the doc, who gave me a course of antibiotics. i felt much better today and haven't been to the loo since last night - hallelujah!
yesterday was very full. we went to the ccs station at isiolo, which is some kind of model farm that i think we're going back to tomorrow. food and tea were served, but i didn't take any. from there we went to archer's post for a confirmation service for about 35 candidates. when we arrived, a group of local women in tradtitional dress greeted us with singing and dancing - fabulous! it was a very small church, but had a pa system and electronic keyboard that just seemed unnecessary and incongruous amidst the surroundings. to add to the incongruity, our bishop and the local bishop, daniel, were dressed up in their robes and were sweltering in the heat. as the service went on, i was wondering what was going on behind the eyes of these noble-looking people, and where the simple gospel message was making connections with their own history, stories, and traditions; and where this incongruous form of anglicanism was incomprehensible to them.
as usual, they put on food afterwards, and again i didn't take any. at the end of the meal, bishop daniel gave a speech that included something to the effect that 'not partaking in food prepared by hosts is insulting to the host'. so i spoke to him as we left explaining my stomach situation and he seemed quite happy and understanding.
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