Campi ya Kanzi, Chyulu Hills, Kenya
I cannot remember the number of times I have thought about picking up my computer to post a new blog. The last entry from either Sparx or myself was just after Cartagena, and I feel incredibly humbled, yet privileged, to consider the places that have left a mark on us since. I am almost resistant to write an account as it forces me to acknowledge that time is passing by. And really, there is no contest between getting out my laptop to check in, and getting out there to check it all out.
I am sitting in one of our “tents” (inverted commas being necessary as one cannot truly call it a tent – the accompanying image is rather far from our current experience!) in Campi ya Kanzi, Kenya, looking at Mount Kilimanjaro in the distance, with the Chyulu Hills behind me. We have just over a week left in Africa before heading off on the European leg of our Big Trip. Outside the birds and insects are chattering. At the moment, the watering hole in front of me is full of impalas, and every now and then I can hear a noisy male trying to assert his dominance within the group. I do not have words to describe the stillness beside the constant activity. I am not ready to leave Africa!
These past few months have been a contradiction in so many ways. How can one stand the constant excitement of discovery and experience? I’ve been thinking of how to explain this feeling – it’s almost like the night before Christmas or a birthday, so full of expectation, except you know what you are going to unwrap, and know it is going to be fabulous. In a way it is even better than the presents being a surprise. There is this short period of time just before we head off to a new place, where it almost feels hard to breathe – my heart is just so full of excitement. I feel like rushing into all the experiences on offer, yet am constantly reminding myself it is perhaps better to let the experiences happen to me.
More on Africa much later as I try to play catch up now. I write as I want to have a written account of our trip. Some family and friends are kept up to date through our iCloud Photo-sharing, but it would be wonderful to get all these pages printed and collated into our book of memories when real life comes back to bite…