the dark continent is, in fact, brilliant

I am not traveling at all. Actually, I am eating a pop tart.
(common occurrence)
And it feels strange that I traveled through Africa uninspired.
Stranger still that I should find this moment, back in this bland room, at the bottom of this bland house, to choose finally to write something.
We took ten seconds of every day ingesting chemicals to repel malaria.
spent hours unconsciously scratching at my ankles.
spent nights on an inch of foam, in a flimsy shelter. we needed nothing more.
sometimes i think that was the ultimate lesson--we need nothing more.
we rode on the tops of cars and felt exhilaration every time as a fine layer of dust collected in our hair and on our skin. turned our faces against the wind, ducked our heads against a sky filled with tree branches.
Can you see the sky filled with tree branches?
Can you see the red earth and the brilliant green forest and the cloudless blue sky?
I would show you, but I didn't have a camera then, and don't have clear memory now.