AFRICA
Subtitle: Hiking, Camping, and Prison
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Published: March 23, 2007
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 332
ISBN-13: 9781434300065
Subjects: Biography & Autobiography; Biography: general; Biography & Autobiography / General; General; Biography / Autobiography; Biography/Autobiography
First sentence: Almost on cue, animals started to fuss and bustle with the imposing change of cast members. While the dusk drifted into night, primal sensibilities had already alerted the weak of dangers inherent in the increasingly darkening shadows that seemingly swallowed what light remained. We were witnesses to this life cycle, the give and take in nature, where defeat comes in the guise of death, providing life so another may kill or be killed. We realized that we were on the edge when a foolish mistake or miscalculation might lead to the point of no recovery. We were in Africa. The bush left no room for mistakes. The novice was consumed in his errors, unforgiven, like the American who was attacked by lions near his car. You lived or died here by the wise counsel you gleaned from the experience of others, your luck, or even your own primal instincts for survival. People often spoke of their knowledge of having a sixth sense alerting them to impending dangers. However you described your primal instincts or experiences here, you were always balanced on the edge. We humbled ourselves before the greater force of nature and learned in order to survive.
We sat there listening to the growing silences lengthen then diminish as some disturbance upset a portion of the population under the ever-present siege of fear. The dusk had left us submerged in a darkness that had gently grown until the glow of the firelight told us of its completeness. I moved my legs realizing that they had gotten cramped. The sunset and the subsequent events until now had mesmerized me. My stirring upset the mood of the others, and self-consciously we looked at each other’s faces and smiled. It was a moment to cherish and be grateful that we were alive, able to experience all of this here in the untouched purity of nature. It was at this moment that we heard the lions begin their task, communicating to each other using a deep guttural cough that traveled great distances over the bush veldt. We sat there listening, trying to discover where they were hunting, deciding that we too, would go in that same direction the next morning. I looked up to the sky seeking solace in the familiar constellations that I knew would be there. Orion was always a friend that could be found quickly at this time of year. Perhaps I derived comfort and solace from The Hunter being there.