On Safari!

Doug is a dear friend and mentor from Chicago, and was the first person who helped me believe in myself to make this trip a reality.  He is married to another dear friend Nicole, and together they parent Arabella and her soon-to-arrive sibling.  They’ve traveled all over the world, lived in Kenya for several years, and are my go-to people for all sorts of things.  Unbeknownst to him, Doug has also become a bit of a model of the kind of man I’d like to find someday; together he and Nicole give me hope for marriage.  So when Doug told me the Maasai Mara was a must, I believed him.

Our safari began several hours before dawn as Emmanuel and I began the monster truck off-roading that is driving in Maasai Kenya.  As we edged closer to the reserve entrance, Emmanuel pulled off the road and announced this is where we’d picnic for breakfast: I nearly had a heart attack.  My adrenaline had been surging since the night before as I laid awake imagining elephants and lions and hippos: I hadn’t slept a wink.  Were we supposed to get out of the car?  Wouldn’t the lions smell our chai and eat us for breakfast?  What the hell is that noise?

  

Laughing, he laid a shuka down as a blanket and explained the dreadful noise was in fact a lion, but a lion in pain.  It was a haunting kind of bellowing, and a sad relief when the poor beast finally fell silent.  As he pointed out the impalas and zebras hiding shyly among the surrounding trees, he shared stories of growing up on this magical family property.  He talked of racing giraffes and protecting livestock from lions, his deep love and respect for his animal neighbors clearly evident.  For me, safari was an exotic lifelong dream.  For Emmanuel, safari was his home and I was honored to be his guest.

It was as enchanting an experience as I’ve ever had, and one I’ll never forget.  Emmanuel’s laser vision was a nice complement to my googly eyes, and together we saw it all.  In the wild, giraffes are as big as dinosaurs and painfully beautiful.  I learned not to test a mama elephant’s patience, and that some birds look like Fruit Loops.  I now know what a lioness smells like after she’s had brunch, and that baby zebras look like fuzzy little peaches.  It was an incomparable day, but that’s no surprise; this is an incomparable place.  Doug was right: it was indeed the most magnificent place on earth.