He had crested Kilimanjaro two days before. He hadn't seen a decent sink, let alone a shower, in a week. The last dignified and consistent meal also dated back five or six days, and it is necessary to add that, during the last day of ascent to the summit of Africa, he had lost much more than gained. I had lost weight, surely had shed a good number of brain cells, as well as much of my dignity, and, for a few bits of time, had even lost sight of the world. But, except for these drawbacks, I would have described the ascent as incomparable, splendid, brilliant, qualifiers attributable to the oxygen intoxication that I enjoyed after descending five thousand meters in a day and a half.
In such a state of mind, Willy welcomed me. He had been hired by the Australian couple who were part of our expedition, which also included two Englishwomen and a Scotsman. We had met at the gates of the Kilimanjaro National Park in order to lower the cost of guides, porters, food and accommodation. It should be said that we managed to cut costs, to the point that we did not see the guide, the porters or the food. But we reached the top. And, somewhat battered but whole, at the gates of the national park we piled into Willy's Land Rover, which, for the moment, unloaded us in a hotel of uncertain reputation, although with a bed and running water, and even a dining room with food in the plates and drink in the glasses. Paradise, come on.
And the next day Willy agreed to take me for a walk in the national parks. This is how he earned his livelihood with his antique inheritance jeep from an embassy, while his wife tended a banana plantation.
At noon we stopped at a tea plantation that was accepting guests. The objective, the free buffet that was made available to the diner. I managed to load my plate without threatening to collapse, while Willy's referred directly to the miracle. And we finish it off with a coffee on the terrace, now yes, with the bearing and decorum of a couple of extras from a story by Baroness Blixen.
But we had to continue. Because Willy reserved more intense emotions for me. And we headed west. On the way we stopped at a market where we bought some bananas and then at a gas station. As Willy filled the tank, four Maasai women came up to offer me bead necklaces. Seeing me up close, the eldest began to laugh toothlessly, as if she recognized an old friend in me and, with gestures, she indicated that we had equally white hair.
And finally, at sunset, we reached the edge of the Ngorongoro crater. Below stretched that immense caldera twenty kilometers in diameter, which is not a volcano, but the memory of the volcano that rose there just over two million years ago. Its summit reached 5,000 meters in height, until a huge explosion blew it up, leaving only its base as evidence, a perfect circus arena where every day and night a life-and-death battle is fought.
Then, like someone flipping the switch, the day went off. And we continue along the crest of the crater with the headlights on. After a while, something sparkled in the middle of the road.
-And so? -I asked for.
"Those are hyenas... hyenas' eyes," Willy reported.
Immediately after, he stopped the engine.
"We have arrived," he declared.
Outside there was nothing to see. Just a pitch-black curtain.
-Where have we arrived? -I wanted to know.
-Al camping.
I stuck my head out the window and, with a lot of will and some imagination, I came to make out a clearing and some trees.
There, in the middle of that nothingness, we pitched the tent. Then we had some bananas for dinner, and when we finished, Willy said good night, climbed into the car, and closed the door.
And I was left outside, alone, only with a tent, a fine cloth as the only safeguard against hungry carnivores, clueless elephants and perfidious baboons. Making sure to zip all the zippers tight, I curled up in my sleeping bag and listened for every rumbling, clicking, scraping, buzzing, keeping my body from touching the canvas. That who knows what jaws would be on the other side willing to try a bite.
It's obvious that I survived. Also, that I woke up with more gray hair.
