I wrote the below e-mail to my wife and kids on my BlackBerry in the back of a Land Cruiser in the Great Lakes region of Africa during a 2009 visit. I shared it with several colleagues who suggested that I post it on my web page. Africa remains one of the last places of true adventure in the world. For all of its challenges, the continent is an amazing place.
Burnt wood smell in the air; VW bus taxis packed tighter than a fraternity prank; beat-up motor bikes weave through traffic with paying passengers on back; boys in orange vests sell newspapers and dodge traffic in the middle of intersections; Land Rovers and Cruisers, a few with snorkels announcing that they go up-country; women walk next to rural red dirt roads with plastic jugs and bags of flour on their heads and no destination in sight; banana and coffee plantations; bottled water in your briefcase; morning begins with Currie Cup rugby and English county cricket on in-room TV; passion fruit at the breakfast buffet in the five-star hotel for foreigners and big shots; diplomats, do-gooders, and foreign military officers mingle in the lobby; Chinese businessmen huddle over coffee with their local agents in the not-yet-open bar; outside, UN and NGO compounds buzz behind red brick walls topped by poorly installed concertina wire; local HQ for British American Tobacco down the block; bored soldiers, AKs slung over shoulders, lounge against guard huts in front of Ministry buildings—don’t photograph!; a sleek Engen petrol station sits next to a corrugated tin flat-roofed, mud-walled store selling Coca-Cola in eight-ounce tin cans, local beer, and individual cigarettes; young men squat against a wall painted with latest Vodaphone ad; clear, starry sky; warm tropical night; thatched-roof restaurant with an endless wood bar serves tasty grilled fish, curry, and goat to the stylish local urban elite, expats, and tourists in full khaki bush regalia and . . . tennis shoes; Nigerian soccer league on TV overhead; endless talk of politics, corrupt leaders in neighboring states, and always a reason to blame France, Britain, or Belgium for some root-cause colonial evil; heartbreaking sadness caused by war, drought, and mosquitoes and yet the most cheerful smiles, warmth and kindness from the people . . . This is Africa. You have to love it. 
This article was originally published on robertcobrien.com, July 15, 2009.