I've been expanding on this story since I first wrote it last year. It has appeared on OneWorldJourneys, but I've just dusted it off and infused it with more details. The first installation is here (bc I'm sleepy). More to follow.
My lasting impression of East Africa is of forest fires. I had witnessed miles after miles of fires along a 3,728mi (6,000km) expedition into western Tanzania. From a distance, smoke on the ridges of hills gave us a warning of the fires to come, but as we approached in our Land Cruiser, we could see that acres of the forest were actually burning. Along our route, we were sometimes blocked by fire and were forced to drive through the intense heat and flames, along the roadside. We would try to go off-road to detour around them, but sometimes there was no choice but to pedal-to-the-metal plow through. I wasn’t sure what risks the fire posed to our truck, but I was fully aware of the searing heat on my face and arms.
After being in the bush for three weeks, we had finally arrived at the campground along the shores of Lake Tanganyika, on the Zambia side. Approaching the site, we had just driven through miles of smoldering embers, and as we descended the hill towards the welcoming coolness of the blue water and open space of the lake, smoke was billowing from the hilltop above our camp. Over excited, we immediately immersed our grimy bodies from head to toe in refreshing, clean water. After living on dry baths, the fire went unheeded, as did the threat of crocodiles and hippos. We splashed around until we were revived of our senses, and quickly swam back to shore. Lying on my sarong, I could smell the stinging smoke and hear the crackling embers above. Later that night, as we were finishing our dinner, we heard a loud roar. This time, however, it was not the roar of lions we had become accustomed to while camping in the game parks. It was the roar of the inferno feeding itself on dry grass and desiccated trees. We ran out to find that the fire had descended almost half way down the hill towards camp…
To be continued.
Nice cliffhanger. =)
I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment. I visited Kenya and Tanzania for three weeks after I graduated from high school and have always wanted to go back. There is something about the landscape, isn't there? Most of my trips since then have been of the winter variety but reading your posts is inspiring me to turn south!
Posted by: Ana | 10/14/2003 at 08:06 AM