Picture This…
I want to try and do my best to depict what I see… I’m not the greatest writer but I hope this can give you readers a better idea of a drive through Africa… I think on the day I wrote this, we were driving to Arusha.
So, picture this: A vast area covered in various grasses, trees, shrubs… most of them are just different shades of green but occassionally you find one flowering in bright red, purple, or yellow… the colors are absolutely vivid. As the van drives by the shrubs, a flock of small song birds fly out and as you watch these birds fly away, your attention is brought to the background which is like a painting of beautiful hills and mountains.
Not far ahead, a small Maasai boy and his heard of cattle and sheep stand in the field. And a little ways ahead of this boy, 2 young Massai warriors bearing their spears are walking and chatting. They are dressed in traditional Maasai clothing with their brilliant red and blue colors. Ahead of them, their village of mud huts is visible. You can see small children playing near their house while a couple women are grinding what appears to be corn.
But not all is rainbows and lollipops here… As we come over a hill, we pass a small town which is basically a cleared piece of land with some tin-roofed, shanty-like buildings which are mostly stores. They watch the safari van pass and you can tell they are hoping that we stop to buy something. Not far behind these stores lies the small homes of the shop owners. They are made of really shabby wood sticks or sometimes just mud. Everything looks kind of grey… the children aren’t really playing… just carrying water back to their homes. It had rained last night so a large puddle had formed in front of a small home where a mother, with her enfant strapped to her back, bends down to scoop some of this water into a small bucket. 3 other small children spot our van and run along-side saying “hello!”. The children are smiling and laughing… Those smiles can brighten up even the darkest days.
The towns are small so the view returns to one of open field in no time. A group of kids in uniforms are walking along the road… I don’t see anything up ahead so I’m guessing they have a long walk to school. Miles down the road, we finally pass the school on the edge of a bigger city. Here, there are more cars and Matutus (busses). There seem to be a lot of people sitting around and street vendors can be seen walking up and down the streets hocking whatever they can. Coke and Pepsi signs can be seen every so often which makes you feel a bit more at home.
It’s funny to see a Maasai warrior talking on a cell phone… it seems so out of place. We pass a large dumptruck with like 20 people sitting in the back… looks pretty scary. As we leave the city, we pass large coffee plantations and small curio shops displaying beautiful pieces.
This pattern of feilds, Maasia, towns, etc. continues until, BAM, you hit a crater, or a valley that just takes your breath away. You really do need to come and see this.
Tags: Africa, Side Thoughts
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