1968-69: Really Scary

setting up the tent for the first time - near Mt Kenya



Sitting by the Rift Valley with the Masi guides



 Flying, or driving, blind into unfamiliar locales gave us a peek at the local customs and reality, sublime and weird. At times, it could be scary and uncertain. But, after years of turmoil at home, I was already a little skittish. Add charging elephants, treacherous roads, slithering reptiles, leaky boats, water parasites, leering men. In the end, we suffered no serious injuries, or arrests, as we challenged the prudence of American tourists of the 60’s.

 Boating on River Kwai

January 5th, 1969 “We hired a long, really fast boat to go up the River Kwai to a beautiful waterfall, which is a mile long, consisting of thousands of little waterfalls. We started back at 4:00; it got dark at 7:00. We already had one hole in the boat, from the trip up, and we all (the driver and his son, too) were given buckets for bailing. We were in thick jungle, Daddy kept saying ‘I’m looking for the rock I can swim to when this boat sinks.’ But I couldn’t see anything, and we were all SO scared! We didn’t get back until 9:30.”

 

Camping on the Masai-Mara

camping on the African plains - laundry and school work

February 19th, 1969 “We are camping in the wilds. It’s so cool! We’ve seen cheetahs, lots of elephants, lions, wildebeests, zebras, etc. Beautiful. Last night, we heard lions roaring nearby. We waited to hear if they were going away, but the roaring got closer, so we all jumped into the van – left the fire going. It was really scary.”

 

exhausted night-roaming lions



My mother’s note: “As we were getting ready for bed, we heard lions roar/ grunt/huff, a sound I remembered from the zoo in Mysore, and the strong menagerie smell. We had to plead Daddy to sleep in the van, which he finally did. In the morning we saw that the grass was matted down and the smell still strong. And I could still hear their sound.”

 In the end I learned to value the freedom and suffer the fear, that without one it was almost impossible to experience the other.

Me and the Samburu