OK. Cath and I did a thing. We are in California and bought a camper van. It has been a lifelong dream, and we just pulled the trigger. Over the next couple of weeks, we will drive it 3,000 miles back to Virginia, hopefully the first of many adventures with it.
Continue reading “We Did a Thing”
My weather apps warned me about the coming high wind – The wind that would blow for the next twenty hours. What it didn’t do was warn me about how that wind would affect me, how it would play with my mind, how it would invade my sleep and my dreams.
The first of three warnings came in the morning and called for sustained winds of 25-30 miles/hour with gusts up to 50 miles/hour. We had certainly seen much worse at the farm, and I wasn’t concerned.
When the wind arrived in the late afternoon, it started slow enough and mild enough, but as daylight faded, it picked up speed and didn’t let up. It was constant and the sound, while not loud, seemingly surrounded the house, whirling, gusting and then returning to a constant blow. It stayed with us for the evening while we ate dinner and later when we were watching TV. A low and plaintive howl, it was the backdrop for the entire evening.
Eventually it was bedtime and I took Carmen outside one last time. Usually, she runs around, checks out the barn, does her last potty, and then ambles back to the house, in no hurry. This night? She took off like a bat out of hell running for the barn, barking with her big girl voice the whole way. She stood near the fence by the barn with her hackles up, barking madly into the dark and against the wind. I could hear our neighbors’ dogs barking in return from a quarter mile away. The wind had all of us on edge and a little uneasy I guess. Eventually I grabbed Carmen and we returned to the house.
My sleep, such as it was, was unsettled. We always keep at least one window open in our bedroom and that night as I lay in bed, I felt the wind mockingly caress my face, while infiltrating my mind. In the distance, I heard a tree crash to the ground. There were voices in the night air – groans, moans, creaks, cries and mutterings. Human or animal, real or imagined I cannot say. The hours passed with my mind in a fog between wakefulness and shallow sleep. Throughout, the wind was there with me. It inhabited my dreams, and made them restless. Not quite nightmares, they were nonetheless uneasy and agitated. I remembered them distinctly during the night, but by dawn they were gone, as if the wind itself blew them away.
It was a bad night’s sleep. When dawn was just breaking, I got up. Although I’d slept horribly, there was no reason to stay in bed. The wind was still blowing and I knew no better sleep was coming my way. Carmen and I fed the horses, then I fed Carmen. Finally, I turned on the coffee pot.
I sat at our kitchen island drinking my coffee. Looking out the window, I could see the wind rippling across the pond in the early light. I sighed, and knew It would continue to blow for several more hours. Taking another sip, I tried to clear the cobwebs that occupied my mind.
Three years ago, Cathy and I went to Africa. It was literally the trip of a lifetime. We thought it would be our one and only visit there and we’d never return. We were wrong. We’re going back this fall to experience the magic one more time. Our friend Marty says some people get Africa in their blood and can’t get it out. I think we are two of those people.
On our last trip, we spent nearly five weeks in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. This trip will be shorter, but with more time spent in safari camps, again in Zim and Botswana. The animals are drawing us back – the elephants, big cats, zebras, hippos, giraffes, wildebeests, cape buffaloes, impalas and so many others.
Even now, I recall countless scenes and see them in my dreams … the two young lion brothers asleep in the shade of a tree … four giraffes standing with their legs askew as they drank at a watering hole … a young jackal fending off a pack of wild dogs at the site of a kill … the chase we gave in our four wheel drive vehicle to arrive at the sighting of a cheetah and her two young daughters … elephants throwing dirt on each other after emerging from a watering hole … watching a pride of female lions waken and start to stir in the late afternoon … massive herds of elephants … a small herd of sable, emerging from a tree line and taking twenty minutes to approach a watering hole with caution … hippos in a lake with only their ears and noses above the water line … zebras racing across the plain … the progression of different animals to a watering hole, each species seemingly taking it’s turn in arriving … a single giraffe in the distance during a gorgeous sunset … the astonishing sunsets, every single evening …
Ah, the sunsets. I look forward to watching the setting sun, while drinking sundowners once more. I know the term “ sundowners” is not unique to Africa, but I think I needed to go to Africa to really understand what it meant. Picture your vehicle stopping near a watering hole. The guide makes drinks for all and passes them around. You watch the elephants, or zebras, or giraffes, or whatever animals making their way to the water. The sun slowly disappears over the horizon in the distance, turning everything shades of orange and gold you didn’t even know existed. It’s an African memory I want to bring back to life.
I want to experience the magic of Africa again. I need to see it as more than just a painting in my mind’s eye. Yes, I have Africa in my blood, and I already know this upcoming visit won’t be our last.
Addendum:
If you want to learn a bit about our time in the safari camps on our last trip to Africa, you can read more here:
⁃ First Safari Camp, at The Hide (Fourth blog about the trip) https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2018/11/15/first-safari-camp/
⁃ He was Young and Made a Mistake (Sixth blog about the trip) https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2018/11/23/he-was-young-and-made-a-mistake-sable-valley-in-botswana/
⁃ Rra Dinare Safari Camp (seventh blog about the trip) https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2018/11/29/rra-dinare-safari-camp-in-botswana/
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** We are again using Karen Dewhurst, of Sikeleli African Safaris, as our travel consultant. For our last trip, She did all of the work to coordinate our trips to: The Hide Safari Camp and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and Sable Alley and Rra Dinare Safari Camps in Botswana. All accommodations were amazing, the food and wine excellent, and the animal viewing exceeded all expectations. When we decide to return again, there was no question – we would go back to Karen to help coordinate this trip. If you are coming to this part of the world, I highly recommend her and them. You can reach Karen, and Sikeleli African Safaris at: karen@sikelelisafaris.com | (+27) 81 067 1094 (South Africa)
Sikeleli Africa Safaris Ltd.
(+1) 604 281 3274 / Toll Free: 1-844-972-3274(North America)
https://sikelelisafaris.com
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As a side note, Jane Goodall wrote a book titled “Africa in my Blood”. It tells her story and how she went from living in England as a young girl, to becoming one of the most renowned scientists of our time.
Live Life Exuberantly 