Posted: July 23, 2016
Two months ago I took a trip with my best friend. It was not planned. As some things go this was best. We went half way around the world and opened our eyes to a world we had only read about. I was not ready for what I saw.
The Zoo came alive. No walls no cages no keepers. No doors on the trucks. No doors on the trucks… Somehow I was always facing the wild, boys on the right.
I had termites in my hair and in my mouth. The sound of the wildlife will resound in my ears forever. My excited fear of the lion walking beneath me will shake me awake forever. Forever. I will be lulled to sleep by the memory of the wind blowing off the Kalahari as I float in the pool. The shining outline of The Southern Cross is burned into my fading sleeping memory, my excited fear of sleeping under the giant sky still keeps me awake.
Zebra, elephant, giraffe, aardvark, baboon…too many to name.
I learned many things. Unemployment is as high as 85% in many countries. AIDS Is killing whole generations and giving rise to unimaginable atrocities. Africans are loving and happy people. Bugs do taste good.
I watched a world never imagined flow by in a quick three weeks. Our trip expertly planned by friends who took the guesswork out of our hands and allowed us to experience a new word free of worry. Placing us in a floating world of watery Papyrus, a mirage of dry lake hope and sea of floating hippos.
I had not wanted to go, I did not want to be hot and dusty...I did not know. Now that I am back I wish I was back…hot and dusty. I am in love with what I did not understand. As I go to sleep I am lulled by the soft Song of the Okavango whispering to me from across the miles.
Guest post by Dave Kahoilua, newly branded safari enthusiast and husband to Kristie from the Mango Team.
All photos by Dave & Kristie.