Leaving the Oloroki camp, we traveled back the single track roads to Olderkesi, Kenya where we set up camp in the yard of the missionary compound. Our clinic the next day was in the local church.
We moved out all of the pews and put dental on one side and medical on the other. My favorite patient of the day was a 73 year old women who was the grandmother of my translator John. John was the head gardener at the mission compound and took care of a beautiful organic garden. His grandmother had a wise face and the beadwork that she wore was completely hand made and beautiful. Once I had treated her, I asked if I could take a picture with her.
Completing this clinic marked the end of our service, and now it was time for some sightseeing. On Friday, we traveled to the Mara. During the monsoon season this year (April / May) the rains came at the rate of 4-5 inches / hour. There was significantly more rain this year than normal and that washed out roads and bridges, and left ruts and mud holes 2 feet deep!
Taking a “road” into the Mara, our safari truck became stuck in a muddy hole about 2 feet deep. In the bush of Kenya, you just don’t call AAA. It is totally up to you to extract yourself from the mud. We spent 5 ½ hours digging under the truck, jacking it up and building a “road” of rocks under the drive wheels so that we could get out! Just another Kenyan adventure!
Once free, we traveled a different road to the Mara.
July is supposed to be the time of the Wildebeest migration, up from the Sarengti Plane in Tanzania to the Maasai Mara in Kenya. This year, the migration was about 2 weeks later due to the monsoon rains. The animals were beginning to group up and the grass was still tall. During the migration, the thousands of animals will “mow” it down to dirt in a short period of time.
During the migration, up to 400,000 Wildebeest calves are born in Tanzania and, as they cross the Mara River, the predator animals feast on the young, killing about ½ of them. This is the circle of life on the Mara. The lions, crocodiles, and others gorge themselves on easy prey.
On our game drives, we saw leopards, cheetahs, lions, ostriches, elephants, giraffes, baboons, as well as the antelopes, impalas, zebras, etc. Our camp was just outside the Mara at the Crocodile camp, a camp on the bluff about the river.
You could look down on the it and I saw the largest crocodile that I have ever seen. He measured probably close to 20 feet long and had a girth of close to 3 feet around! One of the nights that we were in the Crocodile camp, we could hear an animal become dinner for one of the croc’s in the river!
The nights were spectacular with no light pollution. The stars were spectacular and by the end of the trip, there was no moon to distract from the stars.
All too soon, it was time to head back to Nairobi to catch our flights back to the US. I must say that it was so nice to be completely unplugged from email, phones, and our electronic gadgets. Soon, we will be putting up our photos for all to enjoy.
About Robin P. Steely DDS and Our Battle Creek Practice
Choosing a dentist and a dental health care team is an important decision for you and your family. We understand that choosing the right coaches will make the difference between wellness and disease management.
My Passion is Oral Fitness Coaching – partnering with people who wish to transform the quality of their lives and pursue a lifetime of health and wellness. By uniquely wrapping our minds, our hands and our hearts around a process of co-discovery, co-design, and co-creation, we become a conduit for transforming your health into Oral Fitness For Life™.
We are a patient-focused dental practice that offers a multitude of services featuring lifestyle dentistry and holistic approaches. Lifestyle Dentistry offers proactive wellness guidance in order to reduce the amount of dentistry you’ll need over your lifetime. Our comprehensive approach evaluates all the various factors that affect your dental health. Our main focus is to guarantee that our practice is a safe space for you, resolving any of your fears or negative thoughts associated with the dentist office.
Our Lifestyle Dentistry services at our dental office in Battle Creek, MI include Cosmetic Dentistry, BioRejuvenation Dentistry, Restorative Care, Orofacial & TMJ/TMD care, Dental Implants, Sedation Dentistry, Dental Fitness Plans, Master Planning, Mercury-Free Dentistry, Nutrition counseling and Healthy Living guidance. We invite you to spend some time to clearly define what you want by perusing our website and learning about how our patients feel about us and where we can partner with you to improve your life. We look forward to the opportunity to welcome you to our family.
Contact Us Today!
Dr. Robin Steely and our dental team are committed to providing exceptional Dentistry care and empowering our patients with information about their dental health. If you have any questions about our dental services or would like to schedule an appointment, we invite you to give us a call at 269-968-8151. The outstanding experience of our Dentist Dr. Robin Steely, and the skills of our staff have helped us in successfully treating oral problems in our patients who visit us from different parts of Battle Creek, MI, Marshall, Kalamazoo, Hastings, Charlotte, Portage, Holland, Coldwater, Richland, Springfield, and Grand Rapids.
