A few days ago I ran across a collection of stunning pictures of giraffes silhouetted against the sunset on the Maasai Mara Reserve in Kenya (link here). The pictures were well worth sharing, so I did, posting a link to them on Facebook under a comment to the effect that maybe I should let Valerie introduce me to Africa.
It didn't take long for several friends to suggest that a trip to Africa should be in my immediate future. Hopefully what they had in mind was a round trip, though none of them were that specific.
In fairness, introducing me to Africa has been on Valerie's list. And the idea of a safari -- a reasonably comfortable one, that is, if there is such a thing -- appeals to me, though I do wonder if it wouldn't have been a better idea earlier in my life when I moved more easily but couldn't afford it. Not that I can actually afford it now....
But I suspect that it could happen. The trouble, of course, is that those giraffes are in Africa and I am not. And getting there takes a considerable amount of planning. However, I discovered yesterday that my wife has started to research safaris. I have a feeling she's going to hold me to that Facebook comment. Valerie has a couple of decades of her life invested in Africa, and one more return visit would be a welcome opportunity.
It's not the Falkland Islands (the other place on Valerie's mysterious bucket list) and they're not long-necked penguins. But then the Falklands have no wildebeest migration. And the gentle tug of Africa is real. So who knows? Safari anyone??
