An African living in the United States said: “It’s so noisy. How do you hear God?”
After spending 14 days in the bush in Tanzania with my granddaughter, I understand what he meant. We felt the presence of the divine in the land, the sunrises and sunsets; we heard it in the songs of the birds; and we felt it in the natural rhythm and interaction of the animals.
Being there was like being on a different planet. It changed our lives. How?
This trip awakened my senses. I listened carefully for the calls of the leopard, hyena and lion. I awoke in my tent to a symphony of birds singing as night turned into day. I scanned the horizon to spot hyenas moving in the grass. I searched trees for lions resting in the branches. I checked tree tops to spot vultures or eagles perched above.
We had the privilege of watching 3 crossings of the wildebeest over the Mara River in the northern Serengeti. Each year about 1.5 million wildebeest migrate from the south to the north on the Serengeti plain. They have been doing this for thousands of years. Words cannot explain how it felt watching 2,000 wildebeests gather on one side of the river, talking to each other with their distinctive sounds. All of a sudden one jumped into the river; most of the others followed, swimming quickly to the other side.
We saw in action the cycle of life. A lion catches its prey–a giraffe. At a distance, the hyenas watch to see when the lion’s belly is full. As they take their turn eating the animal, the Maribou storks and vultures gather to finish eating the carcass. Nature is very efficient.
We felt a deep connection to Mother Earth and all the living creatures on her. Over the landscape we enjoyed seeing a variety of trees: the signature acacia trees, the ancient baobab trees, sausage trees and euphorbio.
We will never forget the images we saw at the end of the day at the Silale swamp in the Tarangire National Park. Buffalo, hippos and elephants soaked in the water to cool themselves.
The first afternoon we quietly watched the cape buffalo emerge from the water. We returned to the swamp the next afternoon and saw the elephants emerge. Enjoy these videos.
I communicated telepathically with the animals, asking what messages they had for us humans. One lion responded: “Activate your senses. Wake up to the beauty that surrounds you. Be grateful for Mother Earth and all her creatures, large and small.”
The leopard said: “Spend time alone in nature. Sit as I do in a tree or someplace high where you can view the world around you. Know that you have everything you need within yourself.”
I realized these animals have lived on this earth far longer than humans. Elephants, for example, have been here for 5 million years; humans for maybe 200,000. Who is wiser?
While we were there, I worked with the land, animals and birds, blessing all and activating light grids and DNA codes. Alex Walker, the owner of the Serian camp, said: “Nature reveals itself and gifts those who spend time with her.” We experienced peace, connection, belonging. We are not separate. We are one.
Indeed, we are the students who may learn from nature and the animals. We can change our behavior before life is no longer sustainable on Mother Earth. In Tanzania I could sense the sheer numbers of people encroaching on the land. It is incredibly sad that these beautiful animals who evolved over thousands of years are becoming extinct. For example, our guide, James, told us that an elephant is killed every 15 minutes; the swift cheetahs are extinct in 22 countries, and only 17% of their range remains in this world. We know black rhinos are scarce; giraffes are threatened. And of course, there are far fewer lions roaming Africa than there were 100 years ago.
What can we do? I can stop using plastic bottles, bags and straws. I can donate to a non-profit to plant trees to offset the carbon imprint of each flight I take. I can return to Africa and the animals in my daily meditations. And I can share what I have learned. A lion asked me to write a book about my conversations with the animals. I said, “Yes, I will do that.”
BLESSINGS TO ALL LIFE. IN PARTICULAR, BLESSINGS TO THE PEOPLE, LAND, WILD BIRDS AND EXQUISITE ANIMALS IN AFRICA.
THANKS TO JAMES KYDD, our insightful, knowledgeable safari guide. A man of great spirit, James respectfully introduced us to the landscape, birds, animals and people in Tanzania. We had a delightful time together on this “trip of a lifetime”. I also thank him for the photos and videos; all are his except the first one, the baobab tree and the elephant video at Silale swamp.
THANKS TO MICHAEL LORENTZ, Founding Partner of Passage to Africa, who arranged our itinerary and introduced us to James Kydd. Michael introduced John and me to Tanzania in 2010.
