Anticipating Africa

Bokito

Well, we’re headed off this Friday for a three week safari in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe and I thought that it might be interesting to capture some thoughts before the trip and then compare them to how I feel when we get back. This little venture constitutes quite a few milestones for us – It will be the longest vacation that we’ve ever taken; our first time south of the equator; our first time to Africa; the fourth continent that we’ve ever travelled to; the first time that we’ve hired a local guide for any kind of travel; the first time that we’ve camped in tents in an area where we’re hoping to see predators in the wild. (no, we never camped in grizzly country in the western US).

I guess that it all should add up to an exciting time. In all honesty I’m most nervous about the time that we’ll have to spend in Johannesburg, South Africa for some of our transfers. I’m sure it’s not as bad as it used to be, but I still remember the news reels of the carjackings and muggings and assaults and murders that sent Jo’burg to the top of the list of the world’s most dangerous cities. But that was right after Apartheid crumbled and the country was in chaos, right? One can only hope that it has gotten better…

I am expecting to see a lot of animals, but I truly hope that it still feels wild. I am a bit worried that it will feel like an animal park, where the animals are so tame that they come to the window of your car for a handout - like in Yellowstone. But even in Yellowstone Beth and I were able to get that “wild” satisfaction by simply taking a few steps off the beaten path. Just a few hundred yards from the paved visitor parking lots there were no tourists and there were no sounds of cars or cameras and you had to be quiet in order to get a glimpse of a wild animal doing what wild animals do. Then it felt real. Then it was typical “Dan and Beth”. We’ve lived our entire lives off the beaten path. We love it. It defines who we are.

But now we’re going to Africa. The third world, not the first. We’ve hired a local guide to help us get around but will it be possible to really get off the beaten path there? Wait a minute. That’s the wrong question. Of course it’s possible, but is getting “off the beaten path” really desirable there? Maybe I shouldn’t have just seen the movies “Blood Diamond” and “The last king of Scotland” before taking this trip. Both of those movies were based upon brutal historical events in Africa. But they were made by Hollywood, and we all know how Hollywood can embellish a story to keep a fickle audience’s attention.

I’ve seen and heard so much about this huge continent that I sometimes feel like I’ve already been there…and in my false memory it wasn’t all that pleasant of a place. North Africa, Sub-Sahara Africa, South Africa, jungles, deserts, mountains, savannahs. It doesn’t matter where, I’ve been told so many times in movies and in news stories that Africa means poverty and despair and AIDS and hunger and hatred and violence. It’s pounded into you. But then you see a cool show on Animal Planet and are shown that it’s also a place for white folks to go and rent Land Rovers to drive around well defined game parks where they can get a peak at the remaining, basically caged wildlife. Is it really going to be like that? God, I hope not.

So the biggest question in my mind as I prepare for this trip is, “What is the real Africa?” Don't get me wrong. I'm really phsyched for this trip. But I really am wondering if there is something beyond the tourist hype? Is there something outside of the sensational (and always bad) news? There most certainly is, but the real question is…can we find it?