The air was brisk that morning but Vicki cracked the window anyway. Her curls, ever ready to riot, seized upon the opportunity. They danced in the wind like the tendrils that dangle from a weaver-bird nest.
Farm of Dream
The Farm of Dream is a lodge nestled in purple hills above the Great Rift Valley. The nearby town, Karatu, is conveniently positioned between Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater. Knobby-tyred rigs like TIK regularly rattle down its mudded street like a military convoy. Karatu’s nickname, unsurprisingly, is “Safari Junction.”
A good park for beginners
The sign at the entrance read “Home of Tree Climbing Lions.”
I thought it best to keep one eye skyward at all times. Having 400 pounds of tooth and claw fall on your head would be terrible surprise. It also would make an end to a lovely safari that Vicki and I and Mr Nixon had planned in the East African country of Tanzania.
Something awful or wonderful
“Something, or something awful or something wonderful was certain to happen on every day in this part of Africa. Every morning when you woke it was as exciting as though you were going to compete in a downhill ski race or drive a bobsled on a fast run. Something, you knew, would happen, and probably before eleven o’clock.”
Arusha meeting
And there I was when I woke up (part 1)
Taken for a ride
An uncomfortable arrival
I hoped it was Arusha when we slipped in. It was hard to know in the dark. The tinting film stuck to the “taxi” windows, bubbled and peeling, made it even more disorienting. There were few working streetlights; those that did work revealed a shantytown in eerie hue. The driver, grimfaced under a stocking cap, looked straight ahead and never spoke a word. Vicki was unnerved.
Where the safari started
Our flight into Zanzibar settled on the runway after midnight. I looked out the window. It was dark and soft like the inside of a smudge pot and there was little to see except the flashes of the ground crew. A tug swung around. Its lamps illuminated palm fronds just beyond the pavement. Dense vegetation completed the backdrop.
