As I write these words of my longing for Africa, for safari, I am wondering if I will really have the courage to post them for public view. This is a personal entry, one that explores a lifelong love affair, a yearning, a passion that has gripped my heart for as long as I can remember. Those who know me well would call it an obsession.
We have all experienced loss in our lives; some more than others. I believe, it was because I was in Africa shortly after a time of great loss in my life, and because I experienced the healing and peace that I had been searching for; I imprinted on this exotic land.
My first time in Africa occurred after my family had been torn to shreds. We were like a kill on the plains. The happy, overly optimistic, energetic, curious, little girl had been replaced with a skinny, pale, quiet, ghost. But in the months that followed; so rare and rich with experiences, life began to seep back in to my body.
I was allowed to live within Kruger National Park, not as a tourist but as a local. I was free to run through the bush under the African sun; my friend, a Zulu maid, my first date, a French missionary’s son. I collected injured birds, baby warthogs and iguanas. Lions killed outside our doorstep.
I was in the loving care of my uncle and he spent hours teaching me animal behavior, how to walk through the bush, how to track. He regularly flew me in his helicopter over the immense park, and took me camping in the wildest, most remote places. Here I learned how to build a fire, pitch a tent, and identify the sounds in the night. He had me keep a journal of everything I saw and heard each day; every animal, bird, reptile, insect, and tree. The world opened up in ways I never imagined.
When I left Africa, I was tan, strong, and had some fire back in my eyes. My spirit had returned to my body and I had fallen in love. The simple act of running beneath the African sun among the wild things, sharpens the senses, fuels the imagination, heightens curiosity, and strengthens the spirit.
There is something about the raw beauty and brutality of nature that brings one back to life. It teaches one not to feel sorry for ones self. The perfection and impersonal aspect of nature teaches you that, this is not personal, it just is – and it is perfect. You won’t find anyplace on earth where these extremes are more pronounced. The predator that must eat to survive does not attack its prey with anger. One sees beauty and balance in the natural order of things and begins to feel part of the natural world; a little humbler yet stronger, and thus more at peace. Our individual problems don’t seem so large. In fact we are but grains of sand – smaller than grains of sand and yet, we are part of the whole. We are connected to what is real and there is nothing more real than nature. This is the lesson I learned when I was so young and a good lesson it was. To be continued….
Wild Geese
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert,
repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of
your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will
tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles
of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the
clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and
Exciting-
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
-Mary Oliver
Please share your African Adventures with me and let me know if you or your loved ones are interested in a custom safari.
The possibilities are endless and the rewards last a lifetime. Ubuntu!
For any query contact mahree@adventuresinafrica.com
