Sunrise, July 3, 2024 — Loisaba Conservancy, Kenya
Wednesday, July 3
Each day in this place is more astonishing than the last.
As we headed out on safari at 6:30 the sun had just edged above the western horizon, painting the African sky in shades worthy of Picasso’s brush. It was fitting foreshadowing to the day that lay ahead.
We discovered a cheetah lounging atop a mound of red earth and rocks. Barely 100 meters beyond her perch, a herd of impala stood frozen on high alert, several of its members chuffing loudly in agitation. The big cat sunned herself lazily, feigning utter disinterest in the worried impala.
She stood suddenly, stretching languorously. And then in a flash the tableau melted into frenzied activity. The cheetah raced off in search of breakfast as if shot from a cannon. Frantic impala fled in all directions.
As far as we could tell, before we lost sight of the speeding cat amidst the tall grass, her prey escaped her ravenous jaws.
We moved on in our Land Cruiser, stopping intermittently to marvel at a tower of giraffes snacking on acacia trees, a herd of elephants plodding along, a pride of lions tending to its cubs, a bloat of hippopotami mostly submerged in a large pond, a dazzle of zebras munching on grass.
And that was all before 9 am.
By day’s end, after we had encountered an entire menagerie of God’s most remarkable creatures in their natural habitat, the sun went down in flames, as if paying homage to a day that can never be replicated.
As we headed back to our tent encampment, amazed and fulfilled, our conversation turned to a topic we’d initiated a day earlier:
Are zebras white with black stripes, or black with white stripes?
It’s an amusing discussion. The answer, technically, is black with white stripes; the melanocytes that produce pigment are inactivated in hair follicles which produce white fur.
But does it really matter? Do zebras have to be black or white? Can’t they just be?
The discussion struck me as metaphor for our oh-so-human tendency, these days more than ever, to paint issues as black or white, and then to hold fast to our positions regardless of nuance or complexity.
I was raised in a home in which the King James Bible was read regularly. That book contains a Proverb as admonition to layabouts:
“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.”
Might I suggest a proverb for the modern day, as antidote to blinkered thinking:
“Go to the zebra, thou blowhard; consider her stripes, and be wise.”
I know, I know: I should take my own advice.
There are a lot of positives in this world and good to center in one the good frequently as we try to deal with the "bad'. Silence is never an option.!
I think being a sluggard and living life as fully as you do is an oxymoron. Thanks for sharing the pics and the humour. Love it!