A Safari To Remember!
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” — Albert Einstein
I’m not a fun of spontaneous trips but I decided to give one a try over the weekend. My friend Gilgal was in Kigali and said I should join him on a Safari over the weekend. We had no plans on where we would sleep, but he kept telling me that it’s the purpose of adventure and spontaneous trips! You don’t have to figure it all out before you start.
Well well, I packed and joined this adventure. Our goal was to camp at the park overnight but unfortunately (fortunately for me!), we go to the park late and couldn’t join the camping team so we had to figure out where to sleep but we eventually found a place which was good & spent the night there.
Anyway, let’s go to the point of this article, I call it “A Safari To Remember” because I learned a few things which I want to share with you.
It’s Called A “Game Drive”
“Do you know why it’s called a game drive? It’s because in a game, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose” — Safari Guide
I set out with expectations to see the big five (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and African buffalo). I ended up seeing only the rhino and the buffalo! 2/5, not exactly what I expected but the words of our guide meant a lot at the end of the safari when he saw how disappointed we were after seeing only two of the big five.
Yes! A game drive it is, sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t. And this has nothing to do with you. We played by the rules; that is, setting out early so you can see the animals before the sun comes out, drive with eyes and binoculars wide open, but we still didn’t get to see everything and it’s fine.
Warthog’s Stupidity
I am sure you all know the guy in the picture right! Pumba! Guess what I learned about pumba during my safari?
Pumbaa means absent minded, careless, foolish, ignorant, lazy, and stupid.
Yes! Pumbaa means stupid! The warthog is called stupid in Swahili because of how it behaves. So the interesting thing about it is, when it is being chased by a predator, like all preys runs but after a few minutes forgets why it started running and stops and boom, becomes a meal for the predator.
This made me think a lot about life and my goals. Do I start running and chasing my goals and all of a sudden forget why I even started pursuing those goals? I really don’t know. I just have to do more evaluation and make sure I don’t forget why I pursue my goals or do what I do so I don’t become like pumba!
Nature Is Brutal!
Well, I saw a fresh kill. The guide told us a lion was behind this kill during the night. I was like “whewww!”. We were also told that buffalos always move together and when one is old or weak, it is unable to move with the group and is always left behind, which makes it an easy target for predators. Was this one of the old or weak buffalos that was moving alone and became an easy prey?
Maybe nature is just telling us the consequences of walking alone or the dangers that comes with old age. I don’t know the wisdom in here, but it should be somewhere!
Conclusion
While this was not the Safari I expected, at least I got some lessons and a beautiful picture to hold on to for a while maybe till my next Safari where I hope to see the big five!
I hope you get to make your own wisdom and lessons from this writeup!
Thanks for reading! Cheers!
