"Okay, before you open this up you need to know a few things. This is not Fodor's Guide to Kenya. You'll find that in the travel section. This is something written by yours truly while on a safari with my parents and our guide, Gabriel, back in the summer of '89.
"You might think that a journal penned by a nineteen-year-old has nothing to offer you. But if you spend a good chunk of your day wondering what the hell is going on, and you don't get jolted into puritanical convulsions by the occasional reference to masturbation and drugs, then c'mon in. I promise I'll respect you in the morning."
Richard Clark is on his way to an African Safari with his parents. His mother's anxiety is high. His father does his best to help quell her fears, but is clearly irritated by her neurotic behaviour. She's afraid the plane'll crash, afraid they'll die, afraid of a lot of things. They meet their guide, Gabriel, a local Kenyon. He tells the family that his father and brothers died in a fishing/boating accident. Richard learns later it's all a lie. This makes him like Gabriel even more and almost starts to think of him as a friend. He guides the family to their destinations, all the while describing the area, sharing stories and African folklore. The passion and excitement he has for his country is palpable.
When they aren't out on excursions they try to behave like an normal family, even with his continuously anxious mother and over-watchful father. She refuses to go on the little fishing trip they have planned and then apologizes profusely for making her husband miss it. She also admits to Richard that she's supposed to be taking anti-anxiety pills, but isn't.
'"I put them under my tongue, and then I spit them out after he [leaves] the room."'
Richard can't care less what his mother does. He just hopes she keeps the crazy under control.
They're scheduled to go to a place called Hell's Gates and the whole party is excited, except for mom. She refuses to leave the safety of the vehicle, claiming it's not safe. She misses seeing a whole herd of Zebra even though the safari was her idea. She ruins it by panicking and insisting, shrilly, that they should all leave. Richard is embarrassed by her.
Back at the hotel his father tries to explain her odd behaviour to Richard, confessing that she once tried to kill herself. Richard doesn't know what he's supposed to do with the information and resents his dad for telling him. Dad says the trip was supposed to help her.
'"...I want you [Richard] to help keep an eye on her... if you start to see real signs of depression... we'll get the hell out of here."
Part of [Richard] wants it to get dangerous, wants it to get weird.'
On the way to their next destination they see so many amazing sights, but none of them make mom excited.
'"Yes, it's really nothing. We shouldn't have stopped. You can see this kind of thing anywhere."'
Richard is pissed off by her lack of enthusiasm for things only seen once in a lifetime, and only in Africa. She continues to complain and starts insisting the gas is low in the tank.
'"We're all going to die." she [says]...'
Gabriel offers to take them to a gas station in the next town. It's out of their way but he wants to help her feel better. There they're surrounded by curious and starving children.
'They were just children, but there were a lot of them. And more were coming. Before long [they] are surround. Mom's anxiety spread like wildfire through the van.' The kids crowd the car, bang on the windows. Dad drops mints out for them. They respond by rocking the car back and forth. The family is terrified. Eventually, Gabriel returns from paying for the gas and they leave the scene in the Village, though it does nothing to lesson mom's anxiety, even though they have enough gas.
'At one point [they] passed a military truck carrying Kenyan soldiers with guns... None of [the family] was interested in reassuring her. So she was left alone to ponder what a group of 25 black adults with automatic weapons might do to [them]'
Their next scheduled stop is Lake Baringo Camp in Kenya. Richard ends up going on the Island tour alone, without his parents. His guides are three small African boys who show him their secret hide-aways on the Island. They show him to a natural hot springs where 'mountains of steam cascaded over the rocks.' Richard spots a secret cave and decides to go exploring even after his guides fervently warn him not to. Inside the cave he hears a voice.
'"...You stink of death and lies. Leave Africa. Your lives are in danger."'
He cannot see the owner of the voice. Fear settles into his heart. He flees the cave, back to the boys who claim he's met the Crocodile Man, the one who '...guards the dead.'
The warning to leave Africa scares Richard. Especially with the way his mother's been acting. He wonders if they should heed the warning. In a bit of a daze he allows the boys to lead him back to the camp where he finds his mom '... [looking] like an electrocuted octopus.'
'"Thank God you're alive," she [says]"'
He thinks that maybe he should tell his parents about what the Crocodile man said, but dad thinks they should press on.
'"I don't want this safari cancelled unless it has to be... It's a once in a lifetime trip. You'll never be back and neither will I."'
The next day they have an excursion to a native community where they succeed in sending dad out fishing, leaving Richard and his mother behind for a secret ceremony lead by none other than the Crocodile Man. Gabriel claims it's to help ease her anxiety, bring her back from the edge of madness. Knowing how hospitals and pills have failed her, and fascinated by the ceremony, Richard does nothing to stop it, hoping it'll work. Unfortunately, dad comes back early and interrupts the ceremony pulling his wife abruptly out of a deep trance. She's furious and attacks him. Richard is sure this is it, is convinced his father could never overlook something so unusual, but he doesn't mention it. Mom goes nearly catatonic until dinner where she shows up ready to irritate her husband. Richard thinks it's because of the ceremony, though he knows she's choking on a horrible secret. Gabriel let it slip that the secret is about him. This sets Richard's imagination on fire as he tries to figure out what the secret could be.
They set out the next morning on the next portion of their trip. She is again convinced they're all going to die out there on the road lost in the great expanse of the African savannah. Dad has had enough and snaps at her.
'"Can you just shut the hell up for... 10 minutes so we can at least die in peace?"'
He thinks maybe they should cut the trip short, but she claims she wants to continue, that she wants to see the elephants first, as long as Gabriel stays with them. On that point she won't be moved. Dad has a hard time with this condition as he's convinced Gabriel was trying to kill her in that ceremony. Richard is annoyed that his father can't open his mind to anything. Not pleased with his bad attitude mom packs her bags and moves into Richards room for the night. Having her there makes Richard uncomfortable. He still doesn't know what the secret is and doesn't know what to say to her. This leads to awkward conversation. Richard accuses her of keeping this secret from him. She denies it, but in the morning claims to have no recollection of what was said.
They are ready to leave and Richard is pleased to see Gabriel there waiting to accompany them on the next part of the safari right into big game territory. In their next hotel the terrace overlooks a salt pit where all sorts of animals gather, even lions. At the hotel mom is fine, it's only when they try to go out in the van to look at a leopard does she start thinking they're all going to die again. She doesn't want to leave the van and is only coaxed out after they assure her they are well protected. She believes the leopard knows they're there and will sneak up and kill them when they're not looking. She returns to the van and insists the whole family retreat back to the hotel. Everyone is upset with her ridiculousness. At dinner dad drunkenly yells at her to kill herself already if death is the only thing she can think about.
'"Do yourself and all of us a favour."'
He abandons their meal leaving mother and son to watch over the salt pit together. They sit and talk and watch the animals. They see lionesses approach, watch them take down a zebra. Richard feels sick as they watch them eat the animals while it's still alive, but his mother stands and watches serenely.
'She looked completely relaxed, as if she'd just watched a robin bathe...'
Richard is sure that this will be the end, but true to form, the next morning no one mentions the craziness, no one mentions going home. Instead, they continue on as if everything is normal, even though it's clearly not. Mom's madness is spreading to the others. It continues to get worse as the days wear on until Richard can't stand it anymore. He doesn't like seeing his mother in such a bad state and demands they leave that very night. Gabriel warns them to stay at least until morning, as Africa at night is incredibly dangerous. Richard won't stand for it and starts packing the van himself. They set out after sunset making the long drive back to where they came from. As they go Richard begins to understand why they should've waited, but it's too late. They come upon a herd of elephants and startle them so badly they begin to charge the van. The family is forced to abandon the vehicle before it gets crushed flat by the many heavy feet. Now stranded, they have no choice but to spend the night in the open plains with only a fire to protect them and keep them warm. Gabriel tells them that one person will have to stay awake to watch for other animals. Feeling it's his fault Richard offers to go first. Not knowing, he falls asleep and jerks awakes to find his mother gone, her clothes folded neatly and stacked beside the fire.
The African Safari Papers is a darkly comic book that has no fear, no limits and no room for normal. Filled with dark secrets the book develops past the 'happy family' outlook into the inner dynamic's of a troubled family, proving that no one can possibly know what's happening just next door.
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