Thursday, April 9, 2015

"Fernweh" (n.): an ache for distant places

photo credit: Micki Clay
My ultimate favorite place to be is on safari in Africa, period.
Though we recently returned from a month long journey in Tanzania, 
I am longing to be back on the Serengeti...

photo credit: Micki Clay
I miss the adventure of setting out from our mobile camp to find where the migration is headed. Seeing a line of dots on the horizon and in moments being completely surrounded by masses of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle.



I crave the seemingly subtleness of Lamai
sitting high among the kopje with the tall grasses softening the horizon. 
What is out there today? I wonder. 
Looking towards the Mara River, hippos look back at me.

photo credit: Joanne Young

I yearn for the new day at Greystoke Mahale curious where the chimps will be. 
Around the corner or up the densely forested mountain? 
Either way I am ready and willing to do the trek. The payoff is worth the wait...
and the walk.

photo credit: Gene Taylor

And then as light fades on a day filled with nature's gifts, 
looking across Lake Tanganyika the sun sets over the Congo.

photo credit: Gene Taylor

A memory of a blue lantern with gentle light soothes my spirit 
and draws me into my dreams.

photo credit: Gene Taylor

Good night Africa...I'll be back


"Fernweh" is a German word with no English translation for it. It is basically the opposite of homesickness (Heimweh): when you feel like you have to leave your familiar surroundings to discover new places. It is the need for distance, the wish to experience something far away from home, the urge to escape from your everyday life by travelling