Daring
I love to travel,
but after tickets are
bought,
tour group decided, plans are
made,
I always feel a little bit
of fear and trepidation.
What did I get myself into
this time?
Getting to know the dozen
in our tour group,
hearing the loud frogs
near our hotel,
bouncing and slushing around
in the mud
in safari vehicles, seeing
elephants, lions, zebras
gazelles, impalas, monkeys
and many other animals,
visiting the museums, the elephant
orphanage,
feeding Rothschild Giraffes
at the Giraffe Centre,
petting the old blind
Baraka the rhino,
seeing an ostrich in an
open field
and later tasting one at
the Carnivore Restaurant,
boating in Lake Naivasha, watching
brave fishermen
with their nets among the
dangerous hippos,
walking in the park among
giraffes, zebras and water bucks.
The many people scurrying
here and there,
the many church-goers
walking
in their suits and dresses
on Sunday,
those selling their wares
in tumble-down stands,
the brave women running
their bead businesses
and making weavings starting
from scratch,
spinning their own wool to
support schools and families,
and the children, those
wonderful children
who hugged us and inquisitively
touched our hair.
Despite struggling to meet
a writing deadline,
temporarily losing my cell
phone,
spending too many
schillings, traveler’s diarrhea,
thirty-two exhausting
hours of travel home
and coming down with COVID
though fully vaccinated,
despite all the hoops and
hurdles, it was worth it
and I’m glad I dared go to
Kenya.
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