Get back

cheetahs © Robert Sommers 2019

I don't know how many years I have left on the planet. Who does? I'm definitely not one of the guys planning to live to one hundred and twenty. Will gratefully take what I am given.

I have largely been able to write my ticket and accomplish many things in my lifetime although it certainly has its share of ups and downs. Happy so far.

I have a bucket list but it's not that extensive. Patagonia, Antarctica, Alaska, Portugal. Chile. Easter Island. The Rhine. Hokkaido. A few more places. Like to go back to Glacier, see Jasper too some day. And I think I want to get back to Africa. Been spending a lot of time on YouTube watching people on safari.

My trip in 1989, even with my choice of travel companion at the time, was pretty epic.

Masai Mara meal © Robert Sommers 2019

I shot slides with a Konica Ft2. My longest lens was probably 135mm. What I could do today, he says wistfully... I would sure like to go back to Kenya and Tanzania, visit Botswana and Kruger someday.

Masai boys undergoing initiation © Robert Sommers 2019

Truth be told if I had to do it all over again I think I might have tried to become a travel and wildlife writer and photographer. I love to explore, to learn, to discover new things. Love to hunt, just not kill. Would have been a great gig.

The birds I saw in Africa, from Maribou storks at Mt. Kenya to the crested eagles, it was simply amazing. I hope that I can one day return to man's motherland, that is, if things ever open up for me again.