May 24, 2010

I’ve spent the last week ‘off’ hanging out in and around Maun and I’m totally in love with it and with the Old Bridge Backpackers. I honestly feel like I could stay there for a full year and never be bored or unhappy. Being (lap)top-less was liberating but having experienced so much in such little time I’m afraid much of it will be lost in the cobwebs of my mind.

Last week, Monday through Wednesday, I took a four hour boat excursion up to the Okavango Delta and Moremi Game Reserve. There were 5 of us on the trip… Hugh and Rachel, and Mariel and Carl – all from England. The group was awesome and we all had a great dynamic between us, which made the trip that much better. The boat trip was on a speedboat through very narrow channels of high grasses where we didn’t see another boat or person the whole way up. We saw tons of gorgeous, colorful birds and a giraffe but mostly I sat back and enjoyed being able to see a vast openness of untouched wilderness for hours and the magnificent never-ending blue sky. There is something magical about being in a place where the population of people is a fraction of the population of the wild animals. After living in cities for years this was a total treat for me, and one I wish I could have extended for weeks.

They took us to a pop-up campsite on Chief’s Island where they had mesh tents pitched for us and a little mess station next to a fire. There were 3 staff members who cooked for us and guided us through the bush explaining everything we were seeing and – most importantly – how not to be killed by hippos or elephants. We took the boat to the most remote, untouched area we could find, which required some serious manpower to get us through the tall grasses in order to create our own channel to solid ground. 3 men and a large stick (more like a small tree), shoving it in the water and pushing us off the delta floor through 4-ft thick grass, until we found where the bush floor met the delta floor… and we were off for a walk through the bush, creating our own path in the desolate, untouched wilderness. The walk was about 3 km and hot. I was at the back of the group and as usual wandering slowly, trying to take it all in. When just then I turned a corner and came face-to-face with a huge elephant with generous tusks, just 15 feet or so in front of me. The one rule they told us: When you come face-to-face with any animal DON’T RUN. Just freeze until told what to do. Which is why I, of course, jumped and ran away as fast as I could. I honestly thought I’d be able to follow that one rule but when faced with something that large, it’s not as easy as it sounds! Fear and impulse kick in such faster than memory. Anyway, I’m alive and all is fine so no harm done. But I suppose I’m lucky… that I didn’t shit my pants.

We found a huge lagoon where there were about 10 hippos swimming around and sat and watched them for a while. They’re also ridiculously large animals that, although they’re vegetarians, are nasty mother fuckers who are known to kill more people in Africa than any other animal, just for the hell of it. They’re beautiful, though, and make the best sounds. They sound like a big man with a very low voice, laughing “Haaaaahhhhh Hahhhhh Hahhhhhhh!” It’s hysterical, unless your mesh tent is 5 feet from water where you hear such hippo splashing around and laughing. “Haaaahhhhh Hahhhhh HHHaaaaaahhhh.” My first night in the tent I was so scared. Between the hippo and the baboons screaming I couldn’t stop thinking there was literally only a piece of mesh surrounding me and ‘protecting’ me, and why the hell should that stop anything from ambushing me? I was alone. I didn’t even have a pocketknife. I did eventually fall asleep, and the following night found the fear wore off much more quickly until I actually overcame it and really, thoroughly enjoyed being surrounded by the sounds of nature and wild beasts, right outside my tent.

Despite being safe and sound from the wild I will never be safe from myself. I got a minor concussion. I walked into a tree. Sober. Straight into it. The dizziness, headache and throwing up reminded me I’m my worst enemy. PS, I’m just fine and the bump is gone. It feels as far away as that island does.

During the 4 hours back to Maun on the boat I found myself deeply contemplating the life I’ve lead, and what a small little piece of this universe we all are. It’s hard to even remember working at my desk and talking about page views when so much of the ‘real world’ is surrounding me. The locals row by on their mokoros and look much happier than the NYers on the subway, who are living the ‘American Dream.’ I feel more at peace with myself than I ever did when I thought the security of my job was the most important thing in life. In the end I could have been one of those people on a mokoro and had only known that life, and despite being able to ‘have’ more than them – in this life – in terms of education and material things, I can’t say I wouldn’t have been more happy with such a simple life. Humph, maybe it’s just the concussion talking, but this is just a piece of the flooding thoughts I’m having about that.

I continue to be so happy to have done this and feel so fortunate. And this is just the beginning. It’s good to be in love with life again… it’s been way too long.

And I think to myself… What A Wonderful World.