OKAVANGO Delta, Botswana, (a few years ago) – That was the end of the week-end in the Okavango Delta, in Northern Botswana. It was a beautiful and mild African Winter day. Past midday the sun was high in the sky and quite warm.
From the camp we drove in the open Land Rover to the landing strip where the small single engine plane was supposed to land and then fly us to Maun where we could catch our commercial flight back to Gaborone.
It was a glorious, cloudless day. Upon arriving at the clearing, right at the edge of the landing strip, I got out of the vehicle. I observed the vast African landscape: bushes here and there, grass and a few tall trees. I began walking toward the middle of the clearing, away from the vehicle and away from the chatter of the driver, the guides and the other two guests.
As I walked away from them, the noise of their voices abated and then finally vanished, completely. And there I was, in the middle of the landing strip, in this vast space. No people, no trees, no human or animal noise. The air was still. Just the midday sun, and a wonderful, total, complete, soothing silence.