A Change In The Weather

The weather here lately has been a bit out of the ordinary...

The days are sometimes hazy, dust-filled or downright cloudy. The heat it seems may have made an early retreat because it does not seem to be nearly as hot as it has been in the past.

Hold on a tic and allow me to re-phrase that: It hasn't been feeling as hot as it has been in the past (there we go!).

The majority of the days since June have been roughly the same. On my way to work, the breeze shifts from East to West as the moist ocean breezes gives way to the dry, warm and sandy desert winds. By sunset, the pattern has reversed itself and the evening winds sweep back inland from the ocean amidst the very tropical and unseasonably moist midsummer night squalls. To be quite honest, the break in the weather has been a welcome relief. It has been refreshing to make my way around the camp getting drenched in the sudden and sometimes cool down-pour. There have nightly "light shows" as the electricity bounces from cell to cell filling up the night time sky with bright orange and yellow flashes of lightning accompanied with booming rolls and peals of thunder.

In a country as extremes as Africa, with all of its wild and exotic flavors, smells and sights, the storms have really been rather mild to say the least. I have seen far worse and more violent storms in California and the Midwest. It has been a rather pleasant indulgence to hear the sheets of rain falling upon the roofs of our tents or seeing the light spectacle on an almost nightly basis. It seems that is all we have been talking about as of late - other than the obvious discussion about when we will leave Africa and return home.

There is a mystic beauty to be found here in Djibouti. I wish I had the freedom to come and go as I please and see all the many places in and around here - there is so much to see and I have not found any time or had the privilege to venture outside these gates except when riding in the back of a vehicle going to and from a weapons range or on patrol. Never the less, there is an interesting story unwinding all around us here, and it seems that we are merely a footnote at the bottom of this page, but a mark and a note none the less.

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever envision myself coming to Africa. This is a treasured time indeed. And though I have lost time with my family, friends and loved ones back home, I am richer in spirit, wisdom and adventure. When it comes time to leave, I will be able to look back on all the pictures and remember the laughter, the smells, the sites and the sounds of this far away and enigmatic land. My eyes and I will have satisfied an ache within to explore and learn about a place that just 23 years ago was only a dream of mine- to safari in Africa.

I can certainly check that box now...

It seems that this adventure here is drawing to an end, and I am not sad in the least. I have had fun and made the best as I often do. There is little else to be said or done. A change will be made soon and our return to civilization is inevitable and welcomed much like the change in the weather here has been. This adventure in Africa may be coming to an end soon, but the real "safari" in this life is just beginning...So be it!