Oct. 14, 2017 – We gave the crocs and the hippos one last chance at us yesterday on a great boat ride. There were elephants and buffalo all around us. The crocs were waiting breathlessly for a mistake by our guide or a collision between the overloaded boats. No such luck for them.

I haven’t seen a life jacket in all of our travels here. It is the real world here. A world of possible danger and death constantly near by, unlike many modern countries.

We saw many interesting things here on land and in the water.

Some of the larger boats were over loaded and near sinking most of the time, or so it seemed to me.

The bows of some pointing down toward the river and seemingly destined for disaster. They were large, two story affairs that looked like Mississippi paddle wheelers, except open, for viewing the animals.

I never saw an accident or a problem with any of them, however. Everyone seemed happy and content with their day out on the river.

It is simply different here. Not better, not worse, just different.

***We have just returned today, Oct.31, 2023 from three weeks in Jordan and Egypt. It was our third attempt to see the pyramids. Political issues stopped us twice before. Who knew it would be worse now. Yes, timing is everything.

The stories of this adventure and photos are on Facebook at R.C. Hand.

You can now see the videos of me telling my six minute, true stories at The Long Beach Searches for The Greatest Storyteller event for 2002 and 2003 on Facebook and Instagram at R.C. Hand along with other interesting things.

There are now several interesting videos of me doing guest appearances on podcasts here on my website and Facebook at R.C. Hand.

“Sunrise, Sunset,” my book of ten short stories is now also on Audible.