The Best of Wanderlust (A GeoEx eBook)

The Best of Wanderlust

Into the Congo

with rot, to be dismantled and carried off by ants as morsels and molecules that were once your hair and eyelashes and fingernails. As I approached my final moments in the Congo, it was the entire ecosystem that had kneaded me into awe and delight. ~~ On one of our last nights in camp, we embarked on a night walk. Equipped with headlamps and torches, we stepped into the screeching bush, shining lamps onto millipedes, watching for flashing eyes, listening to bats lunge at the bloated fruit of strangler figs. Karl asked us to turn out all of the lamps, to absorb the sounds of this new environment. The lights blinked out and the hoots and howls seemed to crescendo in my ears. I thought of that first day as I stood on my deck, straining to see, frustrated by the invisible source of the sounds. I thought about the work of the hornbills and the shyness of the chimps and the sense of hope that a group of butterflies can bestow. I thought about Dr. Bermejo’s appeal to see the gorillas, to feel moved by them, but to strain to appreciate everything else, even if it required more effort. In the darkness, I closed my eyes and listened.

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Jessica Silber spent many years exploring the world’s most spectacular places and cultures as a trip designer with GeoEx. She now lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she is studying environmental justice and ecology.

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