I experienced my first-ever safari this week, and I already can’t wait to do it again—hopefully with better weather. Before this trip, I’d only seen animals at the zoo —in an enclosed area with the animals just a few feet away. I was hoping it would be something similarly controlled.
I can definitely say that the many animals that we encountered, like the ostriches, hippos, lions, elephants, and giraffes, were truly living in their own world. Everything about this life truly is so simple when you think about all the moving parts that make this world go around.
After the first 5 minutes of the safari, the only thing I could keep staring at were the many hills in the distance. I couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that this earth still chooses to exist for humanity so we can experience this funny thing that we call life.
Looking out across those hills made me wonder what this landscape looked like before the Dutch and British ever set foot here in South Africa. Then I began to understand, in a way I never had before, why so many descendants of Africans whose ancestors were removed from the continent generations ago speak of Africa as the motherland—a place they continue to feel connected to despite histories that severed that relationship generations ago. It’s something far greater than I’ll ever be able to express in words—let alone through laughter or tears.
with love,
Kehinde.