Zebra

As we drove through Kruger Park in our open air jeep, feeling the sun wash over us in hot waves, I wondered why anyone would ever choose to experience this in the enclosure of an air-conditioned, dark-tinted window tour bus. As we peered out over the open bush, searching for wild animals, I couldn’t imagine anywhere else I would rather be. A balmy wind blew over us steadily, the sun beaming, causing us to squint as we looked for any movement in the distance. Every so often, our driver, King Charles, would stop, reverse, and direct our attention to a tree or bush, sometimes far away, sometimes quite close, under which a giraffe, zebra, impala, warthog, wildebeest, elephant, or hyena stood. The binoculars I threw into my bag at the penultimate last minute brought the animals seemingly close enough to touch. I marveled at the designs in their coats, their long eyelashes, their stately elegance.