The next day, Meredith and Harry were up at the crack of dawn. Loaded up into a Jeep, they were off through the desert. Heat crept across her skin, making its way to her forehead. Harry handed her a bottle of water. Dust flew up, twirling around the Jeep as they went over another bump; Meredith yelped. Harry laughed at her lame attempts to stay calm, letting her face become sun kissed as they drove.
It wasn't all desolate as they drove, heading toward a villa. Trees arose around them. Bushes sprung up from the orange sand. The Jeep roared, breaking the silence, but Meredith felt another tremble around them. Meredith looked out, only to see an elephant several hundreds of feet away.
The driver took a left away from the elephant. Meredith flipped around, eyes never leaving the giant gray beast. Watching her with amusement, Harry promised more was to come on their trip.
Reaching a large set of trees near an oasis after a day of driving, a tree house looking structure waited off the ground. Wooden beams held support of the sky structure of ladders and a few rooms. Harry expected her to stay here for a day or two, which Meredith agreed, after packing a lot of sunscreen. He promised it was amazing sight with the oasis so close and animals abundant. Meredith had never been in a tree house before, so this was almost a throwback to childhood.
"This way, madam," said the driver. The ladder was dropped down, allowing them up.
Meredith climbed, watching where she went, however her eyes drifted out toward the never ending desert. Sand blew in the occasional breeze. Besides that, it was so calm. Meredith hadn't expected it, but it was only them that gave any sound.
Harry followed behind her, climbing up too. They packed light while most things stayed back at the last villa. Under the heat, it wasn't like Meredith had to pack much. Standing on the top of the tree house, she looked out at the world. Harry joined her.
"Remember, sir, madam, be quiet," the tour guide said. "Tomorrow we search for rhinos."
Meredith almost screamed right there. "Rhinos?" she loudly whispered at Harry.
"Thank you," he said to the tour guide. Turning back to Meredith, Harry smiled. "I wanted to show you part of my work, which just happens to be with rhinos." Kissing her on the forehead, Harry turned inside.
The next morning, the driver, Harry and Meredith set out across the landscape in the Jeep. Harry had a rifle slung across his back, as well as the driver and tour guide. With the charity of Save the Rhino, which focused on saving rhinos from poachers that wanted their horns and left the rhinos to die, Harry had traveled to South Africa in late 2015. He returned two summers ago to Africa to help.
"We'll have to be very quiet," Harry whispered.
"Yes, because I was going to scream at the top of my lungs to attract the lions," Meredith said sarcastically.
Harry smirked. "Come on." Hopping out of the Jeep, he held out his hand to her, which Meredith took. She landed harshly on the compact dirt. Still holding her hand, Harry led her to a ridge, where the driver with the other rifle stationed himself. Knowing Meredith didn't like guns, Harry kept the rifle tucked away unless it was necessary. "A herd of rhinos is supposed to come through today."
"It's natural. It does what it wants," Meredith reminded him.
Turning their attention back to the trench, it was quiet. The animals knew they were here, but patience was a virtue. Sitting down on the ridge, Meredith and Harry watched down while the tour guide watched the rest. Their patience was rewarded when the sudden sound came. From how easily the animal stepped moving toward the oasis, it wasn't a rhino. It wasn't even a herd of rhinos.
Oh, I feel short, Meredith though as giraffes entered the clearing, bending their long necks to the water. Behind them, other animals slowly came into the clearing, accepting the new still humans. Snouts pointed toward the three humans, eyes following along the ridge, and they were easily smelt. After a moment, the snouts went to the water.
A smile crossed Meredith's face. Awe shone in her eyes. While she knew she might be excited, better than a zoo, but this was so much better-- yet so much scarier. At any moment, the animals could rush her, killing her instantly-- there wasn't any glass to protect her. Meredith's mind wandered back to the killer animals, like lions.
Also, there weren't any rhinos. No large beast animals besides elephants wandered over to the pond. Harry had mentioned that elephants were under protection too as people wanted their ivory tusks. Close to the Ivory Coast, Meredith understood.
Like she called to the rhinos, the footsteps came. At first, Meredith didn't look over because she thought they were more elephants. Harry gave her a nudge. Eyes sliding over, there stood a family of rhinos, one missing the horn. With a clip on his ear, they had been tracking that family and got the rest of the animals.
Mouth opening to an O, Meredith never knew they were that large. Suddenly she was dwarfed by everything around her, scaring her deeply. But everything-- the landscape and water, even the desert-- and the animals made her sit in shock at the world outside of her usual norm.
Meredith never thought of going on a safari. She never thought to travel to Africa more than to help people. She feared what might happened, when she was raised to believe Africa was a dangerous place, filled with dangerous people and animals. She was taught to believe that Africa was desolate, only sand and sad for miles, of constant loss and heat. While the heat was correct, all her preconceptions of Africa was wrong.
Harry showed her a whole new world, one she never dreamed really existed because she never thought to open her eyes for so long. Now that they stood open, she wouldn't close them again.