The Smell of Africa: What Stays With You Long After You Leave the Bush
Africa has a smell. Red dust, wild sage, woodsmoke, rain on hot earth. This is why travellers who go once go back forever, and why the right safari stays with you for life. The Smell of Africa: What Stays With You Long After You Leave the Bush You will forget the exact date. You may forget the name of the kopje where you sat watching the sun drop behind the acacia line. But you will not forget the smell. It hits you years later, without warning. A handful of dry earth turned over in a garden bed somewhere in Yorkshire. A neighbour is burning leaves on a cold afternoon. Petrichor from summer rain on a concrete pavement. And suddenly you are back. You are in the Serengeti. You are at the edge of Amboseli. You are sitting in the back of an open vehicle while Baraka cuts the engine and the silence floods in. Smell is the oldest memory we carry. And Africa burns it deep. What the Bush Actually Smells Like People talk about what Africa looks like. The photographs do a...