Tanzania, June, 2026 Tarangire

Tarangire National Park

Tarangire National Park is 2600 sq km of protected but not fenced land. It prides itself on being an Elephant paradise. The tembo=elephants are the first to return to the park for the dry season. They are able to dig for water thus creating pools for others when the river is low. The zebras follow them. The park is full of wonders today.

It is overcast, cool and just perfect as the savannah dances in the breezing. The grasses are tall and unruly. There are wildflowers on parade. The paper thin, white poppies with their deep red center; vibrant pinpoints of violet; rich blue morning glories; yellow sodium apples and creamy lemon delicates. The black and white, gray-backed butcher birds fly wildly among them, often with a grasshopper lunch in their mouths.

We are told there are lions hidden in the tall green and yellow grasses just beneath the flowering. I sing our family’s Kitty song and suddenly, ‘fooga’=close, a male, beautifully maned, raises his magnificent face to the wind as he rolls over disappearing without a glimmer of a trace. It is a daunting thought that a walk in the field could be so startling. A mama lion, then, surprises us by rising and yawning a great big yawn. She poses in elegant grandeur before moving on to rest again.

“Has anybody seen my kitty? Has anyone seen my cat? He’s got a scratch on the back of his head that shows that he’s been fighting…”

We turn a corner to miles of zebras: swimming, running, talking. They dazzle, true to their group name: a dazzle of zebras. They surround the car, 360°, close enough to count their stripes. Their twitching ears with black tips and white lobes resemble butcher birds. Their tails look like intricate French braids tossing to and fro. The brown stripes of fuzzy-buckets babies, leaping in frolic as they hesitate to join their mamas through the sticky mud, into the cool waters of the gathering hole. It is truly dazzling!

Penguin Lament Sandra Boynton
(names changed to protect the innocent)
Now I am a zebra
No one else like me
Except every other zebra
That you will ever see
And I′m a little too cute
Oh, yes, I know

Miles of zebras
As cute as can be…

A solo elephant joins them at the water’s edge.

This land is filled with wonders. Here before us shines the truth of Romans 1:

19 For what can be known about God
is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For His invisible attributes, namely,
His eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly perceived,
ever since the creation of the world,
in the things that have been made.
(Romans 1:19-20, ESV)

I sit amazed. The power of His general revelation displayed here points us to the special revelation that He provides for those who recognize the first. Opening our hearts and minds to His creation allows Him to bring His power and divine nature into our lives in tangible blessings. I think of James 1. When we are doers and not just hearers of His Word His invisible attributes become visible to and through us. What an incredible and truly wondrous plan!
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
(Luke 1:46-47, ESV)