Memories

I'm home.

I arrived safely and have slotted into the routine as if nothing at all has happened. But so much has happened, and I really don't know where to start. Memories are made a nano second after the event and when you don't photograph every moment or video great chunks of your time, then memories are so very important. But they fade. So that is why I am going to write in great detail about my African adventures- so I can retrace my steps when feeling blue and realise how extremely lucky I am for having visited this amazing continent; not once, but twice. I don't think it will be the last time either.

My ankles were swollen from the enduring flight, I sat on my luggage containing Africa tat and filthy clothes as yet another passenger squeezed onto the Tube. I could smell the man's hangover next to me, a tall proud black lady with interesting hair was stepping on my toes, most people played with their phones or listened to the white lines in their ears. It was hard to imagine that only yesterday I was in Africa, so I closed my eyes and dreamed.

We spent days cantering across the plains below the Chyulu Hills, avoiding the great holes dug by the jackals or warthogs, letting our horses find their way as they were so much more experienced than us, trusting their knowledge of the land. We would slow to a walk, giraffes peering at us as we approached, seemingly unbothered by their distant cousins but a little more curious at the riders with their giggling noises and clicking cameras. Sweat would be pouring down the side of our faces, hard hats a must on these feisty horses and our muscles screaming in pain - but on we rode. The landscape changed quickly; from the thick scrub of the whistling acacias to the plains dotted with impala and zebra.

Just when you thought you couldn't go on a Land rover appeared in the distance, containing all the ingredients for a large Gin and Tonic, for it was time to appreciate the sun and its demise. Every muscle wobbled and shook as we dismounted our steeds, the tears started trickling down my cheeks at the beauty and wonder of it all.

Quickly wiped away, as you needed to be tough to survive this place.