Raise the Roof!

 Cool, but dry morning today. I awakened early, rose & listened to the African bush as it was waking up. Slowly, birdsong replaced the rhythmic crickets. After a quick breakfast, we climbed into the land cruisers to see what the day held for us. As has become customary, our giraffe companions heralded the day. As I was not raining, our guide Bernard raised the roof of the cruiser which allows us to stand for optimal animal viewing & picture taking. Raise the roof has another implication in colloquial speech meaning to surpass prior performance or to perform in extraordinary fashion. Today’s experiences completely fulfilled this.

 

We drove past a few gatherings of our antelope friends: Thompson’s gazelles, Grant’s gazelles & impalas. We drove quietly for nearly 20 minutes with only a few bird sightings when we suddenly were immersed in a sea of zebras, who accompany the wildebeest on this Great migration trek from the Serengeti to the Masai Mara in Kenya. To describe it as a sea does not encompass the magnitude of animals present. Our guides estimated that there were a few thousand zebra total! It was a very stirring sight and personally I was verklempt, rendered speechless & awestruck, with tears filling my eyes. Not an emotion I expected at all but the extreme privilege of being present here and now witnessing this sight was quite emotional.

 

Each day here has brought exceptional experiences and we wonder what the next will bring, & how it can possibly surpass the prior day’s experience, & yet, Africa does not disappoint, & continues to reveal herself in ever expanding glory. 

 

Awestruck & humbled at the experience.  

Dik dik