Runaway to Africa

Elephants

Growing up in New York is tough, you shouldn't stay out late, even though you always did. You shouldn't go to the clubs or bars, but you do anyway. And you shouldn't date the douche bag guys, but you do that too. Every neighborhood has these rules, no matter how nice it is. All have their versions of the douchebag, in my neighborhood, it was the college guys who thought they were the best thing to ever happen to you.

I was all too happy to hear that my parents had planned to take my sister, Emma, and I to Africa for the summer. We were so excited to get out of the city for three months and it was easy for my parents because it was a cheap trip, since my mother works for a timeshare company. She got our trip for next to nothing, to go and research a safari camp in Botswana.

My mother had even asked my best friend, Dove, to come with us so that Emma and I would have someone our age to hang out with and because she basically lived at our house during the rest of the year. The night before our trip Dove stayed over, even though we didn't get a lot of sleep. We were all too excited. Which ended up working in our favor, since we slept for the whole 19-hour plane flight.

When we arrive in Maun, Botswana we still have to drive to the Safari camp, luckily that is only about a 4-hour drive. When we arrive we are greeted by a few of the workers at the camp, "Hello. Kuwakaribisha." (Welcome)

We smile as we are lead to our open-air rooms. My parents have one and Dove, Emma, and I have the other. As we walk in I look around, between the rooms there is a living room area, with a beige couch. In the room, there are three beds, heavy curtains hanging over the doorways, leading out to a porch, which has a table and a few chairs. When I walk over to my bed, I look at the net around it. I guess this is to keep the bugs off of you while you sleep. We don't do anything the first day, but the next morning my parents wake us up nice and early. We head out for a safari trip. I know a safari trip on the first day. I am in tan pants, a ¾ sleeve shirt, and tall boots, paired with a light scarf and sunglasses.

"You're gonna burn up in that." Emma chuckles when she see my outfits. Dove is in shorty shorts, a tank top, and sandals while Emma is in leggings, tennis shorts, and a tank.

"Say what you want, but this will help keep me from burning up and protect my legs."

Emma and Dove laugh but I don't change, we leave and my mother is wearing something very similar to me and so is my dad. When we get to the area where we are supposed to meet our group for the safari, a handful of other people are there, but our guides aren't. As we wait I see a rather large man, with very short, almost buzzed black hair, with a small, and well-kept beard come down the walkway, followed by a man with a chiseled jaw, dark brown eyes, shaggy brown hair with a beard to match, and a well-built and toned frame.

Dove elbows me in the ribs, "Check out the hottie."

I whisper to her, "Shut up!"

When the two men get over to us the second one smiles and claps his hands together. "Hello everyone. I am Jackson Oz and this is my partner, Abraham Kenyatta, we will be your guides today." His eyes land on me and I blush brightly, he smiles before I look down. "Now I know everyone is very excited for this trip. But we do have a couple things to go over before we head out. First of all, you are allowed to take photos, in fact, take as many as you like. But please remember stay seated while the truck is moving. If there is something worth taking photos of, we will stop. Second, there are a few parts of this tour where we will get out of the truck and walk around. The ground is uneven and rough so please watch your step. Finally, third, there are lions in the area so please stay alert, if you see one, let Abe or I know. Now does anyone have any questions?"

Dove, being ever so daring, calls out, "are you seeing anyone?"

The group laughs and my mother rolls her eyes, as I turn bright red at my friend's question. Luckily, he seems to have a sense of humor and laughs as he shakes his head, "uh, no I am not. Any questions that pertain to the tour?" No one answers and Jackson nods, "alright, let's load up."

Once everyone is on board we start off, Abraham driving the truck as Jackson stands in front of everyone. Even though the road is uneven and the truck shifts around, Jackson doesn't seem to move at all. As I glance up to Jackson, I notice that he is looking at me. I blush brightly and look down, before Emma leans over to me, "He's checking you out."

I whisper over to her, "Shut up. He is not."

The truck stops and Jackson points over to a group of giraffes. Everyone starts to take photos of the giraffes as Jackson speaks, "now for anyone who didn't know a group of standing giraffes is called a tower, but a group of giraffes moving is called a jenny."

As Dove looks over she grabs my arm, "Kat, look theres giraffes!" Dove stares at the giraffes as if she is a child who saw candy for the first time. Dove loves giraffes, they have always been her favorite, she even has the outline of a giraffe tattoo on her wrist. Emma is excited to see the hippos, I just hope we can see a lion.

Before long the truck begins to move again. But Jackson still stands and keep talking to everyone as we drive by a delta, "this delta is an actual oasis in an arid climate. There have been over 70 species of fish that have been cataloged that live in this delta."

The truck stops as we see a black rhino and I stand once the truck stops to get a better look at the rhino since it is so far away, but I am the only one who does, however, I'm too zoned out on the rhino to notice. "Is that a black rhino?"

I look over to Jackson who nods, trying to hide a chuckle, "Good eye. Yes, it is. Now, the thing to remember about the black rhino, is why they're tricky to find, they live in transitional habitats."

As I look around and notice that I am the only one standing, embarrassed and I sit down, blushing. When the truck starts to move again I look over to Dove, annoyed. Dove shrugs her shoulders, "What? I saw my giraffes, I'm good."

The next time the truck stops we get out and walk around, Jackson is helping those who need help out of the truck and winks at me as he lets go of my hand, once my feet are on the ground. I walk over to Dove and Emma who are crossing their arms, disapprovingly. "What?"

"Kat, honey, it is obvious that the tour guide is checking you out. If you don't make a move on him, I will."

"What are you talking about?"

"He's been checking you out the whole tour."

"He has not." I protest, "the tour isn't even over yet."

Dove shakes her head and glances over to Jackson, who has got the last people off the truck, "Alright everyone, we have about 30 minutes to walk around and relax, but please don't wander too far."

"Go talk to him." I sigh softly and look at Dove as if I don't want to move, "Go."

I take a deep breath and turn around before walking over to Jackson. "Hi." Jackson smiles as I walk over to him.

I blush, "Hi."

"Did you have any more questions about rhinos?"

"Uh, no. I was actually hoping you could tell me about uh... elephants."

Jackson chuckles and shifts his weight, swaying back a little bit, "Of course. Uh, did you know that elephants are actually incapable of jumping."

I chuckle softly, "really?"

"Yeah, they can't jump but they can run up to 40 km per hour, but they always keep on foot on the ground."