Last night after supper we relaxed in the lapa (eating/entertainment structure) and caught up on all things Africa. The conversation was good and the laughs abundant. There is no phone service here (sparse at best) and certainly no Internet service. (If you are reading this it means we went traveling into another area) Considering this isolated atmosphere and knowing we were finally able to stay put for a while and not have to pack up our bags in the morning made winding down easy. Just when we thought it was time to get rest after our long journey of the day, someone spotted a bull elephant that had come in to the watering hole 350 feet from the lapa. We all sat mesmerized- as though he was the first elephant any of us had ever seen. He was alone and just content getting a drink and refreshing himself with water. He moved slowly, having no other commitments any time soon. The air was still with just the faintest breeze hitting your face if you closed your eyes to feel it. The night chill was just settling in. Gazing up we saw a sky full of stars and coming in from the south was a thin sheet of smoke from the trough (donkey as they call it) that heats the water. The smoke stayed suspended and unmoving. It was just thin enough to reveal the sparkling stars it was hanging from. Bringing my eyes back to the main event the lone ellie then covered himself with dust. You could hear him cooing and we wondered what he might be saying. Was he greeting us or was he speaking to the others that were hidden farther back in the bush? Was he checking to see if we were friend or foe? Several times he gave us direct eye contact inquisitively but seemed unconcerned about sharing the landscape with us.
We watched him for a while, savoring the beauty of it all. Just when we thought this moment could not be perfected any more, a shooting star descended like a rainbow over the lone bull’s back. This is why we had to come back to Africa. The experience simply can’t be duplicated anywhere else.
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