Our map of the park showed a "Hippo Pond" to the left as you enter the park and it is the only place visitors are allowed to get out of the car. We decided to go there first and then continue around on the "short loop." On the way to the hippo pond we saw zebras and more gazelles and got really close to several elephants. It was so amazing to see them in their natural habitat. The hippos looked like a bunch of big, smooth rocks all piled up in the middle of the pond, but the noises they made were so funny. Long, low growls. Then, it was back in the car. We really wanted to try to find a lion so we headed up toward the plains area, or so we thought.
As we continued the grass got taller and the road got wetter and before long we came to a very large, very deep, very scary mud puddle. For the record...I wanted to turn around. But, some of us were feeling a little more adventurous (aka-the driver), so we put the truck into 4-wheel drive, backed up to get a run at it, and floored it right through the middle of that mess. Mud flew everywhere as the truck bounced and bumped its way to dry ground. The kids squeeled with excitement and everyone else laughed and then kicked themselves for not getting it on video. I have to admit, it was fun. From there, we saw more tall grass and the road continued to be wet, but we pressed on looking for our turn, which should have been nearby. Unfortunately, (we figured this out later) almost all of the road markers on this road are completely overgrown and not visible. We ended up missing our turn.

By the time we figured out where we were and turned around to try to head back out the way we came it was 6pm and the sun was getting low in the sky. In one area we were swarmed by giant, biting flies. We rolled up all the windows just in time, but still had to battle dozens of them inside the car. It was quite a sight - everyone swatting and slapping windows, themselves and each other. In the end, it was humans 15, flies 0. (well, actually they probably got 10 or 12 good bites in, but we killed them all, so we won) Then it started raining. The road got muddier and harder to see. The tall grass seemed to close in on us. We made it through several precarious places - 3 very narrow bridges and lots of deep ditches full of mud. Just about the time we thought we were going to make it, we rounded a sharp corner and we were heading down a steep bank right at that first huge mud bog. This time, we didn't make it.

As the tires spun deeper and deeper we knew we were hopelessly stuck.  We looked for a phone number to call for help. None. Not on our permit, our brochure, our map. Nothing. So we sent a text to our friends at home asking if they had a number. Turns out the people at the entrance should have written the emergency number on our permit, but they forgot. Didn't really matter. We tried it, but got no answer. Plus, we had very cell little signal and here you prepay for the minutes you use, so we were running low on minutes too. Our friends took over trying to find someone to pull us out. In the meantime, we still had bananas and eggs, a couple of cookies, a few peanuts, plenty of water, and no idea how long we'd be stuck, so we settled in. There was one cassette tape in the car so I turned it on and Stephen Curtis Chapman began belting out "this is the great adventure!" We all had a good laugh over that. The kids busied themselves with the toys in their bags and the rest of us read books or just sat. One hour went by. Two hours. The boys got their cards out and played "Go Fish" with Emily in Swahili. That was entertaining. Dan and Chris tried to update their respective facebook pages, which I thought was funny. They're both IT specialists. Always trying to stay connected.   Three hours. Four hours. Then we got a phone call. Our hotel was sending someone after us and wanted to know if we would like them to prepare us some food. Wow! Their kitchen closed at 10pm and it was close to 11. So, we placed our order by phone and started looking for lights. To pass the time I read aloud to everyone from our bedtime book. Then we saw them.

Two nationals pulled up close to the mud pit in a Range Rover and got out, barefoot. They waded through the mud to us and took a look at the truck.  The first thing they said to us was, "Pole sana"(poh-lay sah-nah, which means I'm so sorry.) I was really struck by that. These guys, who were out in knee-deep mud with shovels at 11pm after working all day were "so sorry" for us? I can't begin to tell you how kind the people are here. They didn't seem to mind being there at all. Just dug right in, literally. First they tried to dig around our tires - that didn't work. Then they hooked a chain to the brush guard on our car and tried repeatedly to yank us out. That didn't work. They tried to push us out backward. Nope. They tried for an hour, but the truck would not budge. In the end, we gathered all of our stuff and all of us tromped through the mud to their truck and they gave us a ride back to the hotel.

It was 2am before we got enough mud off of ourselves to get into bed and sleep. But...we did sleep in a bed, and not the truck, so all in all, I'd say it was an excellent adventure.   The next day the men got a ride back to the park and the park rangers, after 4 hours, got the truck out. They then came back to the hotel to pick us up and guess where we went? Back to the park! Hey, we had 2 hours left on our park pass and we weren't about to waste them! This time, we went to the right past the entrance, not left, and we turned around at the first sign of water. We made it out right on time and even found a geo-cache hidden at the entrance to the park, one of only two in this whole country! What an adventure.