Trunkline Magazine (Louisville Zoo) December 2018 | Page 18

"Safari
njema!"
By Fred Hougland, MetaZoo Educator
Whenever a conversation lands
on Africa, I hear a similar response
from most people. “I have always
wanted to go to Africa.” In the
early 2000s, I was a Peace Corps
volunteer in Tanzania. My wife,
Donna Parkes, plays in the Louisville
Orchestra and her amazing life as a
musician has taken her all around
the world — except Africa. Even
as a little girl, she had dreamed of
visiting. In August of this year, we
took a trip to the East African coun-
try of Tanzania. I felt so fortunate
to be able to share this place that
changed the trajectory of my life
with my partner while helping her
to realize her dream.
Our trip started off in the unfor-
gettable National Parks and conser-
vation areas of the northern part
of Tanzania. There are few things
of this world that delight me more
than witnessing a dawn over the
plains of the Serengeti. Every day,
I wondered, “what spectacle of
nature will this day bring?” In this
place, you can safely view in very
close proximity the largest, tallest
and fastest land animals on earth.
So close, you can hear the low
murmurs of
the mother
elephant
as she pulls up the grass while
watching over her young. Words
fail to describe what it feels like
in the heartbeat of the great
migration, the ancient rhythm
that drives massive herds of wil-
debeests, zebras and antelope to
follow the rains to new grasses
to graze.
After our safari, the
adventures and special
moments continued.
We climbed Mt. Meru, a
14,977 ft. volcano, ris-
ing early to hike under
the stars of the southern
hemisphere and reaching
the peak just in time to
watch the sun rise over Mt.
Kilimanjaro, Africa’s high-
est point. These are free
standing mountains, so the
views from the top seem endless. In
Stonetown, the largest city on the
island of Zanzibar, we discovered a
winding maze of alleyways through
fascinating architecture coupled
with the unique influences of many
18 • Louisville Zoo Trunkline • Winter 2018
cultures around the world. The col-
orful dress of the local people filled
the evening bazaar where I loved
to sample the day’s catch from the
turquoise Indian ocean. We finished
our travels relaxing and reminiscing
about our adventures on the Zanzi-