Thursday, February 26, 2009

Day 3- What it looks like from the plane.

We woke painfully early at 6:00am- the stars still hung to their existence in the black sky overhead.

I have been nominated alarm clock holder- a dangerous job for anyone who knows me well knows of my love of slumber.

As soon as we woke we were off to meet Sam our guide from the day before who was going to take us on a sun rise cruise over the lake so we could get up close and personal with some crocs and hungry hippos.

The fear that had consumed me the night before was left somewhere in the night time .... instead it became clear to me that i just don't love animals as much as my fellow travel companions.Their faces light up as we spotted a family of hippos bathing near by whilst i kinda sit there and think 'gee they're big... hope they don't get any closer'. Mel's face was beaming, Steve looked like a kid in a candy store and Tweetie looked amazed... I wanted their excitement but i just could not fabricate it.

Steve picked up on my nonchalance and said 'you don't like animals much do you?' and i was honest in my reply 'I prefer people' and its true... my face lights up when a child smiles at me, when kids run to the side of the road to see our truck pass.

needless to say- the sunrise on the lake was majestic- the water looked as still and clear as glass and the sun lite up the sky in a kaleidoscope of colours- turning the clouds first into lilac marsh mellows, then pink and finally gold.

I am brought back to earth when Sam our guide says 'your fear of hippos is probably like my fear of flying, 'Kateria, please tell me what is it you see when you are in a plane' i answered as best i could... 'Sam, you see clouds, colours and shapes... not scary' and he replied 'like the hippo Katerina, not scary!!

1 comment:

Joannie said...

I read a book about Kenya years ago called something like Ururu by robert Rouak, or something. Anyhow it was set in the colonial period and was about the mau mau in the 1950s I think. I've got a copy of the shelves here, must read it again sometime! J