The Wildness

Well first of all I would like to apologize to such few people who actually take time to read my blog for not writing for long. It’s just that I live in a country where the fauna is so amazing and plentiful that someone like me is always on distraction mode! And by the time I even find internet when I am back in the materialistic world I just have so many emails to respond to from people who have no reason to be doing so in the first place.

I am actually glad to be taking this time to write as I personally have decided that anybody’s life would be incomplete without visiting Zambia. It’s just a thought so don’t comment on it saying “no it is not Zambia but it is Gibraltar or some crazily suicidal Arab country”!

The thing I love about Zambia is that despite being landlocked with 8 countries (yes 8 freaking countries) and also very hot and also very vast and also very few people and also very steep it still manages to be something that soothes my brow. It just has that touch to it. There are ridiculous quantities and qualities of alcohol but yet nobody has ever smashed a pint on my bald maintained head! There ratio of men to women is so imbalanced that you always find women sharing one man! Now that’s my kind of place!

It is however when you take some time off and let your hair down (which I usually don’t have here in Zambia) is when you discover that every hour that passes by is almost the same as to what I have been fascinated and watching all my life on National Geographic!

Now the thing is the last 6 months or so I have travelled a lot. I had been to Johannesburg in SA. Take my word you simply do not want to go there! It’s so ridden with crime that it is easier to get a bullet than a cigarette. They say that Jo’burg is the only place in the world where carjackers are actually afraid of you as they are not sure what size is your gun! Then there is this insane Afrikaans language which is quite literally unfathomable and all that you can make out of it is words like ‘clip’, ‘shoot’, ‘die’ and ‘bitch’! I have a lot of friends I have made through work there but I have made it clear that they will be visiting me here in Zambia but not the other way round. But Jo’burg is not all bad. I did try a restaurant called ‘Carnivore’ (the name suggests everything) which if you are adventurous with food should visit once in your life. I will not say what all I tasted here in my public blog as I am sure WWF (not wrestling but the wildlife) guys will shove a double barrel up my back end.

Then I went home. India. Bangalore. Trust me no matter how annoying the traffic is, how crazy the women are, how ridiculous the pricing has become, how populated the city is, how polluted the city is, it is home and more to me. I had the best possible holiday after a long time. A bit spiritual, a bit sensual and a bit sexual! Aha! Keep guessing! Now the thing is when you spend almost a couple of days travelling to get there you really want your holidays to progress in slow motion mode. This did not happen! It felt like I was just there for a couple of hours. But I surely did have the time of my life! I caught up with all the people that matter. Now there is a problem here, almost everyone is married and most of them have children now. I am still behaving like a tribal in my life in the African wilderness. The thought of settling down is scary but is surely coming. It’s quite difficult to find an Indian girl who would love to leave the comfort of home and embark on something so wild. But I am sure there are enough wild women where I come from! So soon, pretty soon.

I had to further shorten my trip because there were some issues with Visa to the next place I was heading to. It did hurt me as losing 5 days to stay at home is super painful. But the place in question was Cape Town! The southern tip of amazing Africa! I have been to quite a few places in my life but my god Cape Town is simply breathtakingly mind-bogglingly amazing! The drive from the airport to the hotel is what in Hindi (Indian language) you call ‘Jannat’! Even before the plane lands you can see what the fuss is all about! The Table Mountains, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Cape Flats! Then the pilot announced something which I have wanted to see all my life. On to the right of the flight was a small island a couple of kilometers away from the shore. Robben Island! Nelson Mandela’s home for 27 years! He served 27 years in a small cell and then came out to become the President of SA! Now that’s a man!

Now on the way to the very expensive but luckily company paid for hotel the driver was very nice to show me all the important locations and explain in detail. But I hardly heard him as I was simply awestruck! There is beautiful and then there is Cape Town. It is simply mesmerizing! I would say that the angels have smiled on me from heaven if I ever get an opportunity to settle there! My good friend Nicci (A South African) had warned me that Cape Town is so contagious that it will never let go of me if I ever laid my eyes on it! Nix, you are simply 100% right!

I flew Zambezi Airlines on my way back from Cape Town. This airline is not the like Emirates or BA that has very strong financial backing. So inevitably it makes a stop somewhere on the way to try and lure a bit more passengers so that it can break even. Now the stop between Cape Town and Lusaka was the almighty Livingstone. We had requested the pilot and he kindly obliged and took us a bit closer to Victoria Falls than he usually would have. Now for those who haven’t heard of it this is without any argument the biggest waterfall in the world. Now I will not take any arguments from anyone who has been Niagara Falls! Get your facts right you half-wits! This falls is so huge that it starts in Zambia and ends in Zimbabwe. Now being in Zambia I have had the privilege of visiting ‘The Falls’ (that’s what it is called) many times. But watching the earth cave in and water on an unimaginable scale pouring into it from the air was just a perfect ending to the perfect trip. And this brings me back to my home for now Zambia.

I have held the tail of a lioness, patted a lion, fed 2 white cubs, wrapped a python round me, held a crocodile in my hand, played around with tortoises, slithered around with snakes, got licked on the head with a cheetah, encountered a baboon, tusked an African elephant, almost rode an ostrich, driven an absolute rally stage in a 4WD, sat at the mouth of ‘The Falls’, done more than 15,000 miles in the wilderness, eaten the most exotic menu, fished a lot of weed, swung a couple on a course, lived life the way it is meant to be. I no longer yearn for a Friday drink or a Saturday disco. I no longer crave for an overpriced coffee or doing so called ‘hot and happening’ things. My life is absolutely one with nature. The nature, the wildness, the magic, the fear and the satisfaction.

My next aim is to invest quite a lot of money on photography. I was with someone who knows a lot about it in Bangalore and that’s why I call it investment. It will cost me an arm and a leg but will be worth it as I am in the right place. For me to get to somewhere where most people dream of just needs my keys, some diesel and my own Arse! I used to wonder if it was a right decision to leave English Land for Africa and I have never been more right in my life! My next assignment might be in Morocco or Zimbabwe in a few months. I don’t care as long as it is in Africa!

Writing this wants me to get into the wilderness right now and this being a Sunday has no implications. But I just blew the turbo on my car yesterday and will only be getting it back after a couple of days. So there is diesel and my arse but sadly no keys!

Oh for crying out loud!