The Boiling of the Bones

20. Africa

I spent an entire year crisscrossing Africa. It was longer than I'd planned on spending there, but Rob was right. Soon after I left Cape Town, borders closed and places all over the world went into lockdown, so I had nothing else to do.

As the pandemic raged and dragged on, I avoided people as I rode through jungles, along crocodile infested rivers, across vast savannas teeming with life and sunbaked, stark desert landscapes of rocky mountain cliffs and valleys and endless dunes of sand.

I saw herds of elephants and giraffes and tons of screeching monkeys and baboons. I witnessed army ants in long swarm lines raiding the jungle floor devouring everything in their path.

I began the journey heading north through Zimbabwe and Zambia up the east side of Africa, then cut across Central Africa to the West Coast. I made my way North as I skirted around the edge of the Sahara Desert.

I started off early one morning and headed north on my motorcycle. My route went through a wildlife reserve. Right beside the dirt road, there were giraffes stretching upward and chewing leaves from very tall trees. There were rhinos and herds of gazelles and wildebeest and other things--I didn't know half of the names.

At the edge of a stand of tall grass lay a thicket of dense shrubby, trees and brush. I stopped to gaze at a pool of water teeming with wildlife and shut off the bike. I pulled out my new binoculars and scanned the open grassland and the pool. It was amazing how many animals I saw.

The grazing herd closest to me looked up in my direction. They were apprehensive. I froze hoping they'd settle down and eventually ignore me. I was trying to observe quietly without being seen. But I soon realized they weren't looking at me. They were glancing off to my left. I allowed the binoculars to hang down by the straps around my neck as I turned to see a pair of female lions—maybe a hundred yards from me. It was so cool. Real lions. Not in a zoo, I was observing them in their actual habitat. This trip was amazing.

I continued watching, expecting them to sprint after the herd but they were crouched low, slowly stalking and they weren't interested in the herd. They were slowly circling around toward me. I winced in fear as soon as I realized what they were up to. I was already sitting on the bike, but if they approached any closer, I'd have to start it up for a quick getaway.

Then something made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Out of the corner of my eye, I sensed the slightest motion to my right. I turned to look and a male lion with a giant mane was subtly camouflaged in the tall grass to my right, less than fifty yards away. We made eye contact, and he gave me a menacing, evil stare, then roared. Time to go. I hit the starter button and with an electric hum, my bike engine sprung to life.

Just then the lion broke into a sprint straight for me. I clicked the bike into first gear with my left foot as I twisted the accelerator with my right hand. I gassed it so much the bike began to do a wheelie, so I let off a bit and the front wheel came back down to the ground.

The bike sprang forward, but I was on a rough dirt road with ruts and potholes I had to navigate carefully as I accelerated up to about thirty. The lion on my right had fallen in behind me and was quickly closing the distance between us. But more concerning, the two lions on my left had joined the chase and they were trying to close in ahead of me to cut of my path.

I had to turn off the road and ride through the grass to avoid them. The ground was bumpy but the suspension on the bike handled it perfectly. I accelerated faster, pushing upward of forty, then fifty. The three lions ran abreast, they seemed to be right behind me, but I couldn't turn back or even risk a quick glance in one of my two small, circular, handlebar-mounted rear-view mirrors to look. I had to carefully inspect and navigate the bumpy ground in front of me. Eventually, after another minute, they gave up the chase.