A Tale Of Choice Page 4

  MONTHS WENT BY and life advanced. March was approaching quickly and Jim was eager to do something special for their 10th wedding anniversary. He thought long and deliberately about a special gift for his wife. Then a boyhood dream of his re-emerged. He’d always wanted to go on a safari in Africa. Thoughts of adventure, exotic lands, and animals returned to him. Wow, what a great idea! I wonder if we could really do it?

  I don’t see why not. I’ve the time and money now. Shelly could always rearrange her schedule to make it happen. Boy, if I can keep this a secret, won’t she be surprised, he grinned smugly to himself in anticipation.

  So, on his own and with thoughts of lions, cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, water buffalo, zebra and all kinds of animals parading through his mind, he went to the travel agency and planned their trip, picking out the location of the safari, the stops, the hotels, and all the details to make their anniversary special.

  While he was there, the thought occurred to him that this would be an excellent opportunity to create a second honeymoon, someplace where he could find soft candle lit dinners and moonlight walks on the beach. So, in addition to picking the Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya for their safari, he found an elegant and romantic place to take his wife for a few days, before their arduous week in the wilds. He’d start their journey in Mombasa.

  Mombasa. An island that held the old capital city of Kenya, with its past seeped in exotic tales of the spice trade, in which the Portuguese and English took turns controlling.

  He chose the “Mombasa Imperial Hotel”, an old beautiful colonial hotel, from the turn of the century. This five-star hotel was situated magnificently off the white sandy shores of the Indian Ocean. They would have aqua-blue water to swim in, or they could rent a sail boat and explore the bay. Shelly would love shopping in Old Town or exploring the history of the area.

  Then after three days in Mombasa, Jim would rent a Jeep and they would travel the Mombasa Highway through the rolling grass-lands and scrub-tree forest that rose from the beaches into the mountains of Kenya. That ribbon of road, called Route A109 on the maps, wound its way through the Tsavo National Park, right next door to the country of Tanzania and the home of Mount Kilimanjaro. They would pass through the Chyulu Hills until they reached the capital of Kenya, Nairobi, where they would meet up with the touring group for their safari and the Maasai Mara journey would begin.

  As he sat in his chair and visualized the ride in the open Jeep, he saw a large smile on his wife’s face, wild birds flying from the trees overhead, and even a group of elephants, zebras or wildebeests attempting to cross the road, perhaps. The more he planned, the more his excitement grew.

  As the day of their anniversary drew near, he fought heroically to hide his feelings. He was so afraid he would give away the surprise, but somehow he managed not to.

  Finally, the special event arrived. After a wonderful day together and a dinner out, he brought her home, sat her on the couch and brought out a crystal bowl of chocolate covered strawberries as a treat. He then poured sparkling apple cider into champagne glasses and made a wonderful, loving toast to their life together.

  Shelly giggled. The excitement in her eyes mounted as she watched her husband bring out a huge box and set it on the coffee table. But, before she opened her present, she mysteriously brought out her own gift from under the couch cushion. Jim opened it with delight and read her card with a happiness that only comes from two people loving each other in mutual respect and devotion. A Rolex watch! Wow, with time zones and everything! He was well pleased.

  Finally it was Shelly’s turn. Jim watched in anticipation as she opened the large box with the small envelope containing the tentative reservations and agenda for their trip. It was buried deep inside multiple boxes wrapped in colorful ribbons and wrapping papers. It had taken him hours to wrap and the pleasure had grown as he hid the prize deeper and deeper inside each box.

  He watched his wife with childish glee as she unwrapped the present only to discover another ornate box inside. He chuckled as he watched her mix of frustration and excitement mount.

  Suddenly it occurred to him… What if she doesn’t want to go to Africa? What about the safari? Will she be willing to rough it? She’s so meticulous and neat, as a rule. There’s going to be dust, mud, bugs… and who knows what else!

  All of a sudden, doubts flitted through his mind. It was a lifelong dream for him, but how would Shelly receive it? How could he not have asked her? He felt so close to her, it never occurred to him that she wouldn’t want to go!

  With a big sigh of relief, he accepted her squeal of glee and heartfelt hug as a YES, when she finally opened the envelope with his dream in it.

  In the following days Shelly rearranged her work schedule, while Jim bought their airline tickets and confirmed their reservations. She spent hours on the internet, investigating what to bring on a safari. It amazed her how dangerous it seemed to be. There were so many poisonous snakes in Africa! Dozens… the list just went on and on. How am I going to see them, before they attack? Nearly every one of them is instant death and always seems to include viper in its name. And what are they doing in the trees, yet? No way am I going to walk under any tree that might be the home to snakes with names like Boomslang, Puff Adder, Gaboon Viper and Bush Viper, let alone looking for cobras in the grass!

  Then she saw the information about the green and black mambas!

  It read: “The mamba is the dreaded snake species of Africa. Treat it with great respect. It is considered one of the most dangerous snakes known. Not only is it highly venomous but it is aggressive and its victim has little chance to escape from a bite”.

  Shelly sat shocked in front of the computer screen and read on. There was the water issue. You needed iodine tablets to treat any local water, unless you brought bottled water with you. Oh, and malaria! Why not? Bring it on! How could I forget that? The mosquitoes were everywhere, with all kinds of diseases. Of course, she was aware of the many animals that could eat her, trample her, or just plain scare her to death!

  Shelly sat there trembling and thought… why am I going on this trip again? Oh, yeah, Jim… my wonderful Jim.

  She tried to smile, then took a deep breath, jumped up from the computer and went running to find him, while trying to get the shriek out of her voice as she called “Jim! Jim! Where are you?”

  He reassured her that these dangerous denizens were far and few between, in such a large country as Africa. People worked, played and lived in this land and seemed to survive just fine. Besides, they would be among guides whose job it was to protect them.

  They would each take a fanny pack to carry the iodine tablets, rehydration salts, ChapStick, insect repellent, sunscreen lotion and a small first-aid kit. They would both have a hat for the sun and would wear long sleeve shirts to protect them from tsetse flies, mosquitoes and other biting insects. These shirts would also keep them warm at night, when the temperatures might drop dramatically after sunset. But most of all, their guides would have really big guns to ward off all the carnivores that didn’t happen to have lunch that day.

  “I’m supposed to bring old tennis shoes for the shower!” she added with distress as she read the survival list for the safari. “I don’t own any tennis shoes, let alone old ones,” she complained to Jim, for Shelly wasn’t the outdoor type.

  “Well, now is a good time to get some and break them in. You can get them wet and slog around the house to practice,” he said teasingly… and so she did.

  Shelly and Jim looked at all the photos of Kenya they could find. They spent hours talking about it, envisioning what it was like there. Deep in their hearts they knew it was going to be so much more than they could imagine, even with their enthusiasm. With prayer and love for her husband in her heart, Shelly allowed Jim’s excitement to replace her apprehension, and finally the day to pack arrived.

  “Are you all packed?” she asked Jim as he walked into their bedroom. She was leaning over her second suitcase, packing the last of h
er things.

  “Yes, all done hours ago. But I thought we were going to pack light and only bring one suitcase each. You know what a hassle it’ll be to carry too much on a trip like this,” he said with a knowing smile.

  Jim’s idea was to pack wisely and sparingly so that each suitcase could fit in the overhead bin on the airplane. That way, they could quickly disembark the aircraft, be one of the first to go through customs while avoiding the baggage lines, and then get to their hotel before the lines formed at the counter.

  Shelly stood tall and looked at the man she loved. “I know, but I want to be sure I have everything I might need,” she said with a thought wrinkle in her forehead.

  “Well, if we get stuck in a long line or miss our connections because we’ve too much to carry, don’t look to me for very much sympathy,” he said as he walked over and gave her a hug.

  “Oh, all right… It’s just so darn hard!” she said with an exasperated sigh. Then she mumbled softly to herself, “Darn, darn, darn,” as she pulled out all her clothes from each suitcase and started organizing them again.

  Eventually she emerged from the bedroom with a triumphant smile on her face and one suitcase in her hand. Her eyes glittered with excitement and anticipation.

  The day of departure soon arrived. Mr. Fuzzy, Jim and Shelly’s jet black Persian cat with enormous, yellow eyes, had been relocated to Ann’s small apartment the night before, into the loving arms of Marty. As the taxi pulled up, Jim locked up the house and followed his wife to the waiting vehicle. The cab driver put their luggage in the trunk and then backed out into the street. Shelly’s heart started to skip with excitement as she mentally went through her checklist again, reassuring herself that they had everything. The taxi drove them down familiar streets to the airport. Their journey to the land of mystery and adventure was about to begin. Africa! Just the thought of it made her smile broader.

  The first leg of their trip took them from Spokane, Washington to Chicago, Illinois, a 5-hour flight on a Boeing 777. Storms over the Great Plains caused a time-consuming diversion around the worst of them, resulting in their 2-hour layover in Chicago turning into a fifteen minute panic through security and a five minute dash for the international departure gate to catch their flight to Amsterdam.

  As they sprinted down the wide, busy hallways of the airport and through the empty boarding room, they spotted the flight attendant just starting to close the passageway doors. Yelling and waiving their boarding passes, the flight attendant stopped, waited, quickly scanned their papers and waved them through in time for their flight over the Atlantic and the next leg of their journey.

  The Atlantic flight would be the longest at fifteen hours. The Continental Boeing 747 departed Chicago at 6:25 that evening and landed in the Netherlands at 9:25 the next morning. Jim knew that although they would try to sleep during the flight, it wouldn’t be easy. So, though his heart was anxious to get to Kenya, he had planned a one-day stopover. He knew Shelly would be exhausted… and truthfully, he probably would be too. After landing in the beautiful old city of Amsterdam, they found their hotel, took a shower and a long nap. By early afternoon, Jim and Shelly were exploring the old world town, admiring the architecture, tree-lined sidewalks of the city, and its canals.

  The waterways where everywhere, with boats of every color and size floating at their moorings by the water’s edge. Numerous barges and water traffic journeyed here and there. Side-by-side ornate houses rose four and five stories into the sky on either side of the waterways creating populated walls which overlooked the scene below.

  The river was so fascinating. The Fergusons sat under the flowering, spring trees on an old bench watching the activity. They strolled among the shops finding clothing, souvenirs, art, and candy of all kinds. It was hard not to buy everything they saw, but Jim reminded Shelly that they wouldn’t be able to take very much with them, the next day. They had dinner on a picturesque riverboat as it toured the old city.

  That night, they lay on their bed listening to the city noises through the open window in an unfamiliar room, in a foreign city, in a country that was not their own. With a wonderful day of memories, a good meal, and the fatigue of the journey starting to take its toll, they fell asleep.

  The next morning, refreshed, they ate a late breakfast at the hotel and signed out of their room. A taxi took them around the city for several hours, seeing as much of it as possible. Their taxi driver enjoyed giving them a personal tour of the town he loved. Then he dropped them off at the Kenyan Airways Terminal, at the Amsterdam Airport, in plenty of time to catch their flight.

  With the Fergusons on board, the jet taxied to the end of the runway, revved its huge engines and hurled itself at a terrifying speed down the runway, into the evening air headed at last for Mombasa, on time and without incident at 8:35 that night. Now, the last leg of their journey had begun. In ten hours, they would be landing in the African sector of the equator, at the Moi International Airport, in Mombasa.

  Just the name brought a thrill to Jim’s heart. “Mombasa.” He loved to say the three syllables over and over again. He hardly slept that night. The excitement was so much like the Christmas Eve nights of his youth, the sleeplessness, the excitement of seeing what the morning would bring, and the gifts to come.

 

  Mombasa