In remembrance...

People come to Africa for a variety of reasons. For some it is a once in a lifetime trip that they’ve dreamed of for years. For others, it is a destination to tick off on a rather long list of places in the world they want to visit. On our recent safari, the motivation for coming to Botswana, specifically the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), was quite unique and touching. Our guest was coming on the one year anniversary of his wife’s death. The couple had traveled to Africa on several occasions over the past two decades. They had, in fact, had a trip planned for July 2009 when his wife fell ill. Since they had already paid for trip, Paul gave them a “rain check” so that they could return when she was feeling better. Unfortunately that day would not come.

So, on this first anniversary of her death, he wanted to return to the Kalahari, with a traveling companion, to spread some of his wife’s ashes at Tau Pan. Our guest, a sweet older man in his early 70s, describes his love for the Kalahari like the selection a wife…”you will visit many places in your life that will capture your attention, but there’s only one that you select to commit yourself to”…he speaks about the Kalahari like a soul mate. He loves the wide open spaces. The uninterrupted views of the horizon. The yellow flowing grasses of winter. Paul and I were unaware of his motivation for the trip and only came to understand when he asked if we could be on Tau Pan on the first of July, the actual anniversary of her death. We now understood why he had specifically requested that Paul be the guide on his trip, and not one of our other guides. Paul had taken him on a previous trip and knew the couple well.

Tau Pan is one of my favorite places in the Kalahari. It was the place that Paul took me on my first trip into the CKGR in December 2007.  It was the place where I saw my first cheetah (while doing my morning ablutions).  In my opinion, it was the best campsite in the Kalahari…located on the edge of the pan under the shelter of trees. I say “was” because it is one of the two locations in the CKGR that has been allowed to build a lodge. With the lodge up and running they have, sadly, closed down the campsite. 

The silence and serenity of the place is calming. We arrived mid-morning at the old campsite. The sun warmed us as we were greeted by a cool winter breeze blowing across the pan. Springbok, gemsbok and wildebeest mill around. Yellow horn bills and starlings pick in the dirt for bugs. Parking the vehicle, our guest grabs a small parcel and heads off towards a patch of trees out in the pan by himself. 

We don’t know quite what to do. He crouches among the trees for several minutes. We give him space as he returns part of his wife to one of her favorite places. When he returned to the group, Paul comforted him by saying he hoped I might do the same for him when he passed away. I struggled to fight back tears. While I did not know his wife, I know that someone knew her well and loved her deeply. We can’t ask for too much more in this life, can we? To be known and loved...

I write this in remembrance of his wife and in commemoration or our third year wedding anniversary coming up on July 18. I feel lucky to be known and loved.