milestone
I turned 50 in Botswana. We were far from home and no one we were with knew it was my birthday.
This was intentional.
For my 40th birthday, we had a party. A lively party. More than 70 people attended and our house was wall-to-wall guests. There was an excess of food. There was an excess of alcohol. Gifts were given. It was loud. And I was exhausted afterward.
For my 50th, I wanted something different. Something quiet, something calm, something peaceful. A chance to reflect on the new decade before me and the five behind me.
So we went far away, to southern Africa. We were with a small tour group and started our journey in Namibia, then went on to Botswana, and ended up in Zimbabwe at Victoria Falls. I told no one in our group about my birthday. Only my husband knew. I planned to mark the day quietly and privately.
The days had been busy on this trip. We usually had breakfast at sunrise and were in the truck shortly thereafter. Riding in the truck was both passive and active. We didn't have to navigate or drive, but we still had to brace ourselves on the rough roads. "African massage" is what the guides called the wild bouncing.
The day before my birthday, we had been in the Okavango Delta, which was a long day full of adventure, especially when a group of hippos started grumbling at us to let us know they didn't like our presence anywhere within visual distance.
Did you know that a herd of hippos is called a bloat? And did you know that a bloat of hippos warning humans to stay far away sounds like many motorcycles revving their engines. In short, we were being warned off by a swimming biker gang.
The day after my birthday, we would drive for hours to get to Chobe National Park to have another day full of adventure. This day in between felt almost like an afterthought -- a smaller excursion in between two major ones.
We went to Nata Bird Sanctuary near the Makgadikgadi Pan. Sandwiched as it was in between two larger adventures, I didn't think a lot about this day in our itinerary.
Nata was peaceful late in the afternoon. We drove through the park and saw various animals and birds but the overall scene was one of solitude with very few humans around.
After we made it across the park, we parked the truck and walked across the sand toward the Nata River, where a quarter million flamingos were standing in the shallow water. We were far away from the birds but could hear them chattering away by the tens of thousands. Occasionally, a large group would flap their wings and move to another spot in the river and the sound was a quiet roar, quite unlike anything I'd heard before or since.
After a bit, sunset drew near, so the various safari drivers offered drinks and snacks while we watched the daily spectacle to the west. Conversations were quiet. I watched the sunset and felt happy to be in this remote spot with the person I love most in the world and where no one knew it was a milestone day for me.
As it happened, the guides knew from our safari paperwork that it was not only my birthday, but a big one, and they planned a surprise after we got back to camp. We had dinner by the campfire and then they brought out two birthday cakes and the group -- Germans, Brits, Indians, and guides -- sang to me.
It was completely different from my 40th and exactly what I needed to begin a new decade.