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Join one of our five 2012 tours to the Holy Land
Our clients want to walk in the places where the Bible was written to gain new understanding of their faith and the contemporary situation. We work with local tour guides to offer a safe, faith-enriching experience. Which tour will be best for you?

Churches and Safaris in Kenya and Tanzania

Including Mt. Kilimanjaro & Optional Birdwatching Extension

February 8 - 20, 2013

Meeting with African Mennonites in Bukiroba

With tour leaders Susan & Stan Godshall

 This tour is planned for you to meet and worship with Mennonites in Kenya and Tanzania and to learn about how the church was planted and is growing in these countries. You will also enjoy the safaris that have been organized to see the big game and smaller wildlife and some of the 1090 bird species recorded in Kenya and Tanzania. Susan and Stan Godshall served in Tanzania as missionaries at Shirati Hospital for five years. They have also traveled extensively in East Africa while Susan served as Africa Director for Eastern Mennonite Missions. She currently works as a chaplain and led a TourMagination tour to Africa in 2011. Stan is a family physician. The Godshalls will co-lead the tour, assisting with your needs while you travel.

Click here to read past blogs about this tour.

Friday & Saturday, February 8 & 9
The tour departs from Newark on Friday evening on an overnight flight to Amsterdam, where we will transfer to a flight to Nairobi, Kenya. It will be Saturday evening when the group arrives in Nairobi.

Photo of giraffes
On a game drive
Sunday, February 10
Make sure you unpack your camera first of all! This morning, our tour will start off with a drive to the spectacular Mt. Kilimanjaro. We will drive into the shadows at the foot of this, the tallest, free-standing mountain in Africa. We will enjoy lunch at Amboseli Serena Lodge (where we will be lodged for the night) before we set out to enjoy a late afternoon game drive where we are likely to see lions, zebras, impalas, elephants and more.

Mennonite Guest House
Mennonite Guest House
Monday, February 11
This morning we may see different animals on our early morning game drive. After a late breakfast, you will have the opportunity to spend the morning as you choose on the beautiful grounds of the lodge. In the afternoon, we will return to Nairobi. Be sure to keep an eye out for animals as we travel. We will enjoy our evening meal together at the Mennonite Guest House where we will be lodged for the next two nights.

Tuesday, February 12
On Tuesday morning we will have a Nairobi city tour which may include Mukuru Mennonite Church and the Academy located in Embakasi. In the afternoon, we will visit the Rosslyn Academy. We will also invite Mennonite Central Committee personnel and workers from Eastern Mennonite Missions and Ten Thousand Villages to join us for conversation and fellowship at the Mennonite Guest House.

Visiting a Maasai Village
Visiting a Maasai Village
Wednesday & Thursday, February 13 & 14
Today we will travel to the Maasai Mara National Game Reserve, an area with gentle rolling hills, woodland and acacia trees which is watered by the Mara and Talek Rivers and opens onto the Serengeti plains of Tanzania. On the way, we will stop to visit the Maasai Christians of the Olepolos Mennonite Church and to see their school and clinic. We will enjoy their hospitality as we share lunch together. We will have a late afternoon game drive to see the animals and birds of the Serengeti plains. We will spend two nights at the Mara Serena Lodge. Thursday will be a day devoted to the Massai Mara National Game Reserve for another scenic game drive.

Friday, February 15
As we head for Tanzania, we will make sure to stop to visit the Maasai Cultural Centre and the Mennonite Center for Southwestern Kenya in Migori, where we will meet the leaders of the center and share lunch together. This afternoon, we will cross the border into Tanzania and will travel to Musoma where we will spend the next two nights at Hotel Matvilla.

Flamingos
Water birds
Saturday, February 16
This morning we will visit the Tanzania Mennonite Church headquarters and the Mennonite Theological College at Nyabange. Following lunch, we will visit the home and museum of former President Julius Nyerere (Father of the Tanzanian Nation) in nearby Butiama. We will also make a stop at the market in Musoma in the afternoon before taking a stroll along the shore of beautiful Lake Victoria in the cool of the day.

Sunday, February 17
This will be our day to worship and enjoy fellowship with local believers in Shirati. As we relive the experience of the first Mennonite missionaries in East Africa in 1933 we will rejoice in the growth of the Mennonite Church in Tanzania. The day will include visits to the Mennonite Hospital and Nursing School, the former Leprosarium and the graves of several missionaries. Susan will have much to share about her experiences in Shirati. In the afternoon, there will be more opportunity to walk to the lake to observe water birds or to relax at the Guest House, reading and journaling.

Monday, February 18
We depart this morning for our return visit back to Kenya. We will enjoy lunch at the Tea Hotel in Kericho before we go on to Lake Nakuru National Park which is renowned as an ornithologist’s paradise. Lake Nakuru is famous as the seasonal home to thousands of flamingos. We will have an afternoon game drive to see the many animals and birds there before spending the night at Lake Nakuru Lodge where you will fall asleep to the sounds of the birds settling for the night.

Photo of Elephants
Lots of big animals to see on safari
Tuesday, February 19
Our day begins with our final game drive. Then, we will leave the park and travel back to Nairobi. En route, we will stop at the Naivasha Ebony Factory and store, and will enjoy a late lunch with our friends at the Mennonite Guest House. There will also be some time in the afternoon in Nairobi for last-minute shopping or relaxation. We will have our farewell dinner at the Guest House and then it will be time to go to the airport for our late evening departure to North America.

Wednesday, February 20
We will arrive in Europe in the early morning and depart for North America in the late afternoon. You will return home with an appreciation of the faith and hospitality of our African brothers and sisters and a sense of awe at the majesty and diversity of God’s creation. It will be a trip to be remembered and shared with your family and friends.


Grey-headed Kingfisher
Grey-headed Kingfisher (photo by Sam Kulp)
Birdwatching Extension to Kakamega Rain Forest -
Wednesday-Saturday, February 20-23
Kakamega Rain Forest in Western Kenya is home to a spectacular variety of forest birds, some rarely seen elsewhere. On Wednesday we will drive to Kakamega Rain Forest and settle in at Rondo Retreat Center. We will stay two nights in this peaceful place with beautiful tropical gardens. Thursday morning and afternoon we will enjoy bird hikes in Kakamega Rain Forest. Excellent professional guides will help birders add many new species to their life lists. We will return to Nairobi on Friday for our departure flights to North America, arriving home on Saturday.


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