Over Lake Tanganyika – endless stretches of water. Sandy coves and plunging hillsides. Veins of vegetation stretch to the horizon
under the cover of cotton wool clouds.
Small towns cling to the lake edge and sprawling urban areas spread
close to the shores. Dark green and
light green, blue water with black patches, beige shores and white clouds. The sparkling new plane interior gleams –
seats are shining, cushions puffed, carpets bright. Black shadows from the cotton wool puff
clouds. Cold. White. Wine.
The cart rolls down the aisle...Macadamia nuts – yum! Orange roads snaking the ground like string
laid out on a page, wide rivers meander into the distance like flat grey/blue
ribbons. Enormous gleaming city sprawled
below. The cotton wool puffs gather up
forming octopus tentacles which reach out and water vapour glides like smoke
around the plane creating a hazy blur.
The trolley arrives – cold. White. Wine.
Ahhhh. Glee on the tv – so out of
place on this African flight. How can
people here begin to understand that this is an almost reality for some people
in the world? Thick blanket of cloud
appears and the view is lost. Gaps in
the cloud blanket reveal blobs of green; light green, dark green, stippled
effects from the trees. A graceful dip
of the wing as we circle around. Green,
green jungle below. Braided channels of
rivers make islands of trees. Meanders
as wide as lakes, endless true sky blue above the white. More huge lakes as big as seas with patches
of green and orange surrounding. Sand
bars block lagoons. Thin rivers, wide
rivers, windy roads and straight roads.
Outside it’s -57°C, inside it’s warm.
A half empty plane, an overflowing coffee cup. Dark green jungle and pale green savanna
dotted with trees. Dusty brown soil and
dry river beds. Clouds like steam
billowing from a cooling tower mushroom into the sky. And what is hidden down there? Lions and elephants and giraffes slip away
unnoticed below my feet. Hills give way
to wide flat dust covered plains criss-crossed with roads as straight as pins. Leading
to shimmering gleaming rooftops that shine in the golden sun. Parcels of land laid out like patchwork
quilts of brown, orange and green. And,
then, after a thousand or more miles of wilderness...Jo’burg! Traffic and shopping malls and highways and
busy, busy, busy. A completely
over-whelming assault on the senses. So
the holiday begins!
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