Dreamscape
 Since
childhood, I dreamed of going on safari in the
African bush. My first real collection of anything
was a set of "Safari Cards," zoological reference
cards covering the animal kingdom from amoeba to
homo sapiens. On visits to the zoo, I always
begged for books on animals instead of stuffed
animals. I wanted more than anything to grow up to
become a zoologist. So during my time in the Navy
onboard the USS Bunker Hill, my heart leapt when I
learned we would cruise down the coast of eastern
Africa for a liberty stop in Kenya. There, during
our visit to Mombasa, I experienced one of those
rare and special moments in life: the realization
of a lifelong dream.
Anticipation thickened the already-hot morning
air as we assembled outside the minivans which
would take us first to Amboseli National Park, at
the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The next few hours
seemed interminable, as we drove the 100 or so
miles inland. Yet even the low scrub and red dirt
along the road took on a mystical quality, as if
the magic of a dream coming true highlighted
everything around me. Dust devils several hundred
feet tall danced in the fields as we left the
pavement in search of big game.
It didn't take long.
As if welcoming us to Amboseli, a lone giraffe
awaited us on our arrival. He turned and ran as we
advanced, his long legs seeming to move in slow
motion. We drove further into the park. In no time,
our vans were surrounded by vast numbers of zebra
and wildebeest. I sat in awe, stupefied by the
sight of hundreds of exotic herd animals roaming
around us like so much cattle. But then the
elephants came.
Ponderously slow, they strolled around without
the slightest fear of us (though the reverse was
not true when a bull seemed to think about charging
us at one point). The sight of these large,
lumbering beasts—especially the baby, which
grasped its mother's tail with its trunk, just like
in "Dumbo"—left us all grinning ear to
ear.
We overnighted in a lodge in the preserve, and
moved on to Tsavo National Park—once home to
infamous man-eaters—the
next day. There, we watched hundreds more zebra and
wildebeest graze in the grass, and found some
hippos floating in a small spring. My camcorder's
battery died long before I'd gotten my fill of
footage.
Though we never caught sight of the rest of the
"Big Five" (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, cape buffalo
and elephant), I will never forget the excitement
of the expedition. It wasn't just the thrill of
being in the bush, surrounded by big game. The
heady mixture of pride and contentment that came
from realizing such a major goal made me feel like
I was walking through a dreamscape.
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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