The Destination: In very brief, Nairobi was overwhelming and surprisingly cold, the Serengeti and the Ngorogoro Crater were so unbelievably awesome I thought my head might explode, and Zanzibar, well, I’m going back there, dammit. I love interesting landscape and I was surprised at how many ecosystems I saw. I saw only a tiny portion of East Africa — it’s a whole freaking continent, people, and a big one — but I’d totally go back.… continued…
7:30, Nungwi: I push aside the mosquito nets and haul my aching body to the shower. I’m sticky with sweat and exhausted. I have tossed and turned all night long, trying to fight whatever virus or bacteria has invaded my body, but it’s useless. Feverish and damp, I head to breakfast. There is no choice, today is a travel day, a long one, and I must go with the group all the way back to the Dar es Salaam campsite and then, to the airport.… continued…
Flatland. From above it’s a table top with dark spills where the water has settled and then, a green splash not exactly in the middle. It’s dust colored, pale gray brown dust, a change from the reddish soil from the higher, greener altitude of the rim.
In the crater it’s grassy and there are zebras and gazelles and a giant bull elephant far far in the distance, standing out against the green. He is massive, a three story building seen from a great distance, his sweeping white tusks stand out against his wet concrete color.… continued…
