| African Safari .................. |
Africa , that dusky lithe female .............I dreamt. As the Kenyan Airways flight from Bombay to Nairobi was at 3.30am IST, I didnt have the nerve even to have apprehensions about my first trip to African Continent. I was fast asleep as soon as it took off from Bombay. I remember the morning drinks with cashewnut! And the same lithe female who served it!! Yawn..Who was it ? Africaaa At 6.30 we, the female,me & others touched down at Nairobi international airport. So dude this is Africa huh ?? One of the less populated stretches between Karnataka and Kerala.Nah,Africa I said. I looked out & around for Cheetah, Lions & Macaques . She said they dont have a habit of checking in. Alas, Tough Shit. Maybe in the lounge ?? But that was what National Geographic told!!! I whined.... Soon I was ensconsed in the Dar es Salaam (Tanzanian Capital) bound flight with a group of jovial Serengetti bound Dutch Tourists! 8.30 Dar Airport.Hot already. 8.45 Dar Airport 8.50 Dar Airport 9.15 Dar Airport..Tough Shit with my Business Visa. "Give 200 dollars" The lady in charge. The green currency slipped out of my pocket.Im richer by -$200 !!! Negative cash flow!!! No NO it was not bribery.Its limited to the far away India and close-by Nigeria!!! Procedures :-) Dar is a nice city.Well for Mumbaites Dar is not city.It would be a tourist spot.Favoured tourist destination even.Not, there arent those Cheetahs & Macaques, but there's clean air,good roads and lo & behold a beach with sand in it, instead of dirt & yesterday's shit!! Roads are neat and you know WHAT people have this habit of obeying traffic rules .I MISS Mumbai !! My Pajero could touch 130 without much fuss. And you can drive on the right side of the road!!Gee Am I Happy ? Traffic lights are points of hawking. Anything from Cashewnuts to Orange Marmalaid, from Audio CD of Devdas (The new (?)Sharukh Khan One!!) to packet of "Salama" Condoms. I bought one of the four items listed here!! Dar is as much in Africa as in Gujarat. Dhoklas are as gud at Dar as in Baroda or Ahmedabad!!!!So are the "Farsans" and Samosas and Pakodas !!!! And hell yess, the gujju girls here are as beautiful as they are in Gujarat!!!:))... My business took me to an archepelago called Songo Songo in Indian Ocean . A flight of 45 minutes from Dar. A small chartered Cessna was waiting for me (Small is an understatement!!Click here to check it for yourself ). Its like one of em which kids make for their school project or timepass. I just wundered for a moment about all my insurance papers! Flying over the mighty Indian Ocean is a humbling experience. Especially if it is a six or twelve seater!! Saw the Mafia Island and the serenading Refuge river (The one which is cut across by the swarm of Buffaloes as part of the biggest migration in Planet Earth and one in which the clever crocs wait for em!) Smooth landing in the small airstrip at the Island. Beachside cottage complete with Hot water,AC and Refrigerator.Africa has arrived!!!More than what I could have asked for!! Had some really memorable moments in this little island. Snorkelling in the Indian Ocean,seeing the ocean bed teeming with life and activity which shall put peak time Andheri-Juhu traffic to shame!! Ball by ball India-Pakistan world cup cricket match guzzling Castle Lager,Africa's Favorite Beer !! Seeing the maestro Sachin Tendulkar demolish the Paki Devils (Oops Bad Language!! But i dont care!!) Listening to Hindustani Classical in my walkman, lying on the beach right at my doorstep, looking up at the stars thinking about Stephen Hawking and the Universe!! Waking up at 8 in the morning without having to worry about going to office, having a break fast full of fresh fruits with honey!! (And the unavaoidable Bread & Butter!!:-() For sea food lovers the place is a paradise. ( Which Im not !!) You get esoteric things like Squid,Octopus,Lobster, Blue Fish,Crabs and what not!!)YUCKKKKKKKKK...Difference of opinions welcomed!! Well the one to top it all is as followsssssssss.................(And hell, I am speaking the truth!!) I had torn my shorts.Rather than discarding it ( and run to fashion street to get a new one!!) i thought of getting ti stiched!!!!!Now the question was whether in this sparsely inhabited island would there be a tailor ??!!! Finally after taking a few rounds in the Pajero of Site Agent, I "discovered" a tailor shop.With my scant Swahili I did put across what I wanted to the tailor. As I was waiting for the "re-engineered" shorts, I looked up over the tailor's head and saw a Calendar written in Swahili. But the face of the girl seemed familiar!!! I was astonished to know that the face was none other than Kareena Kapoor!!!!!Yes dudes and gals...our bollywood has reached even the least populated parts of Africa!!! Kudos...Wheres the champagne ??? See All My Lovely African Photographs HERE (This link takes you out of my website.Hence right click and open in new window) |