Africa 2007 - Our Perspective

our perspective

It was our final night in Africa for this trip, a "why not?" stop at Giraffe Manor on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, a quiet and somehow fitting way to end our third journey. We eight guests relaxed in the den with after-dinner drinks, enjoying a roaring blaze in the fireplace. Conversation ranged from honeymoon stories to Las Vegas to jokes that may or may not have deserved one more telling ...

Noises in the entry marked the rather late arrival of two new guests who soon joined us, bleery-eyed after Seattle - Frankfurt - Nairobi ... direct! At a lull in the conversation, I asked the wife why they had come to Africa - and her response was so much more insightful than I ever expected. Without hesitation, and very matter-of-factly, she said, "I want to find out what 'it' is."

All her experienced African traveler friends had told her that she wouldn't "get it" until she had actually been there - and she wanted to "get it"!

This was the third trip to Africa for Bianca and me, and it was very, very different from the other two ... so different, in fact, that I'm not even sure we would have gone back if this had been our first time there. We planned to start in Rwanda, where Patience Munyarugero would turn eight years old two days after we arrived. Our friend and guide Deo met us at the airport in Kigali, and we headed for his 4x4 with our luggage. Out of the dark, a man approached us, his arms spread wide, a huge grin on his face - "Bianca, Bob -- welcome back to Rwanda!" It was Fidel, the father of Patience, who with his wife Vestine was there to meet us. Hugs, and tears of joy ...

Over the next few days, we were honored with invitations to their home, where we shared beer and soft drinks ... Patience never moved far from my side, and his 6 year old sister Celine very quickly became just as attached to Bianca. Patience asked if he could try my digital camera ... and when he showed a picture to his Dad that he had just taken of him -- I'll never forget the looks on both their faces. Yes, we saw Golden Monkeys, and yes, we visited the market, and yes, we hiked a few of the Mille Colines, but -- we went to an 8th Birthday Party, and Patience said "je t'aime", and his father - he called me "brother"! Hugs, and tears of joy ...

We had wanted to track the Lowland Gorillas in the Congo, but the political situation there limited us to a day trip over to Goma, where the volcano buried half the airport and a huge swath of the town in 2001. Deo's cousin Patrick drove us around town, stopping every few blocks to reintroduce Deo to the brothers and sisters and cousins Deo hadn't seen during his ten year absence ... we had soft drinks in the home of Patrick and Deo's Uncle, the "retired" chief ... and in the home of Deo's sister and her large extended family ... and in the home of Patrick's Uncle and his extended family ... and in Patrick's own home at the end of the day ... we were welcomed everywhere, as friends, almost long lost friends ... hugs, and tears of joy ...

Entebbe was next ... yes, we saw thousands of animals in Murchison Falls National Park, and we walked through the B'hai Temple, and we spent two hours with the principal of the school where Deo's son Michel's goes, but - we went to a 6th Birthday Party for Michel, and spent an evening with Deo, his very beautiful and very pregnant wife Cecille (she had a baby girl two weeks later) and his cousin Patricia - Patrick's twin sister! We were welcomed into their homes, and into their lives ... hugs, and tears of joy ...

We flew to Nairobi and up to the Laikipia region of Kenya, where we stayed at a lodge owned and operated by the Masai ... we were invited to their village where they killed a goat and then grilled it the same way I do steaks at home - and we ate dinner together ... we went to the Masai Mara where we met up with Neil and Pearl whom we met there in 2002, and with whom we have become fast friends ... our Masai guide talked with us about the new generations of warriors and women and female genital mutilation and religion and education ... we went down to the south of Kenya, to Campi ya Kanzi where Mt. Kilimanjaro dominates the whole of the region -- we met young Masai men who refused more than one wife - except for Elvis, who wants to come to America and find a blonde bride ... new friends, old friends, all friends ... hugs, and tears of joy ...

So this was our trip, a tower of experiences built onto the foundation of our first two trips ... we had started to learn about the continent - and ourselves - in 2002 and 2004, but without that growing appreciation for both the people and the countries of Africa, I'm not sure that we would have been able to even begin to understand what we gained this time.

I think Bianca and I are starting to "get it" ...

To Patience and Celine and Germaine and Diane and Fidel and Vestine and Deo and Cecille and Michel and Elizabeth and Patrick and Claudine and Freddy and Jane and Kellia and James and William and Luca and Antonella -- we'll be back ...