Long before the phrase 'bucket list' was coined, I had a list - places I wanted to visit and experiences to have before shuffling off this mortal coil. There's nothing unusual about having a list nor the choices on mine:
Zanzibar
Cuba (before McDonalds and Holiday Inn get there)
Morocco
The Camargue
Russia
The Great Migration (particularly a hot air balloon trip above it)
Sossusvlei
Mexico
Tunisia
Turkey
Antarctica
Norwegian Fjords by boat
Northern Lights
Okavango swamps and delta
Madagascar
Goa
Way back in 2003, Zanzibar got a look in when travel companies started pushing it as the destination de jour. So off we went, a friend and I, and oh, my, Zanzibar delivered everything imagination had conjured up, and more, soaring way above expectations. How delicious it was to tick off a listed item and discover it went beyond what was hoped.
What more natural decision, then, to want to share this treasure with Him Outdoors and honeymoon there in 2005? Life Lesson number 4876 - never, ever revisit a ticked off list destination, disappointment is sure to follow.
Ferocious marketing of package tours during the intervening two years had changed the atmosphere. No longer were we frequently accosted in Stonetown by eager locals, keen to shake hands, say 'Jambo' and welcome us to Zanzibar with no further expectations than just welcoming friendliness. Now, constantly buffeted by salesmen and panhandlers, the final straw was Him Outdoors being scolded by an elderly lady one evening when out for a stroll. It was far too dangerous for Mzungus to be in the streets of Stonetown after dark, she said. Drugs had established themselves on the island and desperate people would knife you for a fix. Innocence lost.
Now, before you strike the island from your list, don't. It's awesomeness outweighs the consequences of an influx of outsiders. The beaches, diving, historic places of interest and sheer beauty are hard to match elsewhere. The point is this - once you've visited a longed for destination, tick it off and don't return, it will never be the same.
Back to the list. The second item to be crossed off was Tanzania's Serengeti National Park during the migration and again, it lived up to expectations despite our not being lucky enough to witness a river crossing. My heart was truly sore when we left, though. Somehow it didn't feel like enough and a little part of my soul remained behind on the savannah.
How lucky am I? Him Outdoors got a contract in Kenya so in 2015 we watched the migration from the other side of the border. We've just relished our second in-season trip to the Maasai Mara, returning to loll in the magnificent luxury of Spirit of the Masai Mara lodge and yet again, their Maasai guide delivered us into the core of the Mara. We couldn't want for more, getting up close and personal with lion, cheetah, hyena, leopard, jackal, elephant...you name it, we saw it and were lucky enough to have many sightings to ourselves where we could just sit and watch the behaviour rather than tick off the mammal sighting list and move on.
And like the previous two visits to East Africa's magnificent spectacle, a little bit of my soul was left behind and I'm already counting the days til we can return.
What hope of clearing the bucket list now when I'm so happily reliving the same experience over and over? What happened to Rule 4876?!
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