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As Africa comes to a close, at least for now, I reflect on my time here fondly but with mixed feelings. The wildlife has been phenomenal. Golden hour game drives, witnessing East Africa’s savannah amongst the world’s most spectacular mammals: a graceful leopard draped over an Acacia tree branch; an imminent zebra kill unfolding right before our eyes, spoiled by the impatience of a lion cub; a herd of 32 giraffes galloping in unison, seemingly in slow motion; a herd of over a thousand elephants migrating to drink and bathe in the Chobe River, all passing within a few meters of our Land Cruiser before returning to the bush. These moments are the magic of Africa.
But the darker side of Africa has been persistent. Scammers, beggars and thieves can be found in many undeveloped parts of the world, yet here they are too pervasive to dismiss as being customary. I’ve experienced the peacefulness of East Africa’s rural villages; simple lives and the independence offered by subsistence farming seem to bring about the best in people. East Africa’s cities, on the other hand, have grown tiresome – the horror stories from Nairobi, Dar, Kampala, and Jo’burg; indeed, the Italian woman attacked with a machete and robbed at Tiwi beach near Mombasa; the signs in Dar that read: Danger: it is NOT safe to leave the campground; the sickening darkness of Nairobi’s River Road at night, by myself, walking to the bus depot with all my luggage; the Brit bludgeoned in the head with a hammer in Kampala...
