It's a vast expanse of African meadows, which are a natural habitat for wildlife.
The sky here is open, yes, it's open. The sky at six o'clock in the morning was peaceful, serene to the point of having a feeling of complete stillness. There were no clouds in sight, a little hazy because it was still early. The air was humid, smelling of grass, with a hint of hot earth. Looking up, there is a large endless meadow, yellow grass, and occasionally patches of green dotted in the hay. A little farther away, I saw water, which gradually seemed to have the meaning of extension. Yes, there's Lake Victoria. After a while, we'll go to see the lake, and there will be animals in the lake, and we're going to see those animals.
I'm in Uganda, I'm in Africa.
A trip to Africa is not something that happens often for most people, and this opportunity is really valuable. It was a few years ago, when I met several Chinese ambassadors at a chance party, and we had a good chat at that time, and they also said that if there was a chance, they could invite me to go abroad to sing for foreign events. After a few years of intense epidemic times, mutual contact also stopped. But one day not long ago, a message suddenly came to my WeChat. It was sent by Ambassador Zhang, the Chinese ambassador to Uganda, asking me if I would have time at the end of January 2024? Can you come to Uganda to attend the Chinese New Year celebration hosted by the Chinese Embassy? So, I made my first trip to Africa.
After a dozen hours of flight through Doha, Qatar, and more than an hour by car, we arrived in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. In fact, there was nothing special about the Chinese New Year celebration party three days later, and I was surprised that there were more than 30,000 Chinese in this small African country that felt like a county town in our country 50 years ago. Most of these Chinese came from China, where they worked hard to help build roads, factories, and hotels in this poor country, and at the same time earned a lot of money. There are really business opportunities, and there are Chinese who have worked hard.
But what I remember most vividly is that early that morning, we arrived at Murchison National Safari Park in Uganda. On the first day, we drove five hours from the capital, Kampala, to our hotel in the park. As soon as I was about to enter the house, I saw a wild boar with a pouting mouth and arching everywhere on a dry yellow grass in front of the door. I stood five or six meters away from it and watched it look for food. I turned back to the locals who sent us, the tall black Richard, and said, "Ha! This is Africa! He laughed loudly.
The next day, before six o'clock, we got on the special car to "chase animals" and set off. People say that to see wild animals you should go early, they will come out to feed. It's not easy to see them when it's late, so wouldn't it be in vain? Oh, it's all industrious little bees. I said in my heart.
After walking a long way, I didn't see any animals, and I was about to ask where the animals were. Suddenly, I saw an antelope appear on the road, one, two, walking slowly. It's the same as we see on TV, only now they're right in front of our eyes. There is a streamlined stylish corner, watery eyes, a gentle figure. A little farther away, there are more and more antelopes, all moving slowly, and there are no large animals chasing them. The car moved forward again and saw the elephant! There is more than one, and next to the tall male elephant is a delicate female elephant of one size. Then I heard the driver shouting: Aha! Babe (baby)! Sure enough, there were two or three baby elephants, and they were hidden behind their parents, and they were extremely cute. The trip became interesting because soon we saw a herd of giraffes again. There were grass and trees in the vast meadows, and as the car moved slowly, we saw more and more giraffes, a dozen or twenty of them, dancing with slender necks that were more dashing than any ballet dancer, and that kind of sluggish grace could not be matched by any other animal.
The sky is getting brighter, and many animals are beginning to appear in the pasture. It's a vast expanse of African meadows, which are a natural habitat for wildlife. And the wild animals that are protected by people must be happy living in this land. When they are not very hungry, they are all in groups, with self-control of food and clothing, coexisting with heaven and earth, and walking with the sun and the moon. This is the life that God cares for, and how many lives, deaths, and sorrows will be born like us, who are self-righteous but have worked hard for generations, who always want more than food and clothing, and never be satisfied.
Just thinking about it, I saw more creatures again. Even saw different monkeys, long-billed egrets and even the dexterous guinea fowl. But it is difficult to see the overlords of the grassland, such as cheetahs, lions, tigers, ......Suddenly, I heard my companion Baja shouting: Lion! Sure enough, there were really two lions not far away, one male and one female, lying in the grass. Far less obese and lazy than the lions in zoo cages, these wild lions are emaciated, alert, sharp-eyed, and alert. They forage on their own, and no one feeds them. I photographed the male lion's face, and it just so happened that he turned his head. That **, after enlargement, is not very clear, but it is very textured, like a delicate oil painting.
The driver said, "You are lucky to see a lion, which is usually not seen." So we were proud to see the lions.
On the way back, I saw a large male elephant, almost close at hand. This male elephant, which should be an old elephant, has a lot of folds, and is alone with his nose flicking licorice into his mouth. Suddenly he saw our car stop in front of him, and he stopped eating, raised his head to look at us, and then raised his long nose and raised it high, aha! It's a greeting to us! I remember Xiao Zhang, the Chinese company who brought us, and said: "The animals here are used to seeing tourists, and if you are looking at it, it is actually looking at you."
Really, we were sitting in a heavily armed car with a guardrail, but they were in the middle of a vast expanse of nature. Who exactly are animals? We, or are they? (Wu Shuang).