Tom

A bit of background info for all of you. I have an uncle at home and his name is Tom. Among the many positive adjectives that can be used to describe him, he can also at times be a bit stubborn and cantankerous. He has also owned and raced horses. An unfortunate combination of those qualities recently occurred that reminded me of my uncle Tom.

Flash forward to Antelope Park in Zimbabwe, where I recently spent 4 days. It is a park that is working towards the preservation of lions and breeding them with the intent of re-introducing them into the wild. Among the many activities they have for people to do at the park, is a game ride on horseback. Most of you know that I am not much of an animal person, and I could probably count on 1 hand the amount of times I have ridden a horse in my life. I decided to do this game ride with some of my friends from the trip in the hopes of getting to see some amazing wildlife up close and personal. The horse that was given to me as my ride just happened to be named TOM. Tom and I initially had a good relationship. When I kicked him, he moved quicker. When I pulled back on his reins, he stopped. He followed the horses in front of him and everything was going smoothly. Then Tom got spooked by a giraffe and may also have gotten bitten by something around his nose region. For about 30 min, he was the most annoyingly stubborn and cantankerous horse the world has ever known. If the other horses in the group were going left, he went right. If I pulled back on the reins, he would start doing the moonwalk instead of stopping. He tried to buck me off at one point as he raised up on his hind legs. And if that wasn't enough, he walked me right into an Acacia tree which has thorns that are longer and sharper than the knife that was pulled on me by that street thug in South Africa. It left me with scars on my wrist that look like I unsuccessfully tried to slit my wrists. They ripped my shirt, poked holes in my pants, and left me in a foul mood. Did I manage to take even 1 picture on the trip? Yes, but I deleted it because Tom was too busy sneezing and rubbing his nose on the ground to allow for a clear picture. We got as close as 15-20 feet on this trip from giraffe, wildebeest, zebra. But did Tom allow me to take pics of these animals against the backdrop of a blue sky with just the right amount of clouds. No, because he was too busy being spooked by animals he walks amongst everyday. And then to top it all off, I switched horses to the one the guide was using, and he also had a mind of his own. He just wanted to trot the whole time, while I wanted to meander at a nice leisurely pace and enjoy the scenery. Needless to say, I won't be naming my first born child TOM after this experience. Who would have thought that walking with lions the following morning would have been the safer animal experience between that and a horse ride?

In the coming days we will be heading to Tanzania and the Serengeti. I will actually be in Zanzibar for my birthday on the 16th. I think there was a song I used to listen to as a kid that was written about Zanzibar. Should be alot of fun.