When I left for West Africa, I promised my mother I would practice making good judgment calls. It’s very much in my nature to venture off on my own, discover new things and people and follow them to interesting places. After getting lost in a jungle on the outskirts of a rural town in El Salvador on a one-eyed horse until nearly midnight all alone but for the workmen came home up the dirt road with nothing but their machetes, and stray dogs meandering about… I agreed that it was time for me to be more aware of my surroundings, and the situations I put myself in.
Good judgment calls usually involve NOT doing something… So to say that it is not easy for me to do this is an understatement. But all the same, I have been conscientious of safety on this trip more than ever before. Perhaps the wisdom that comes with age… and perhaps some things only come with experience.
My next few entries will be about some of the cheapest lessons I have learned in West Africa so far…
