Growing up in Zimbabwe I knew every animal, every bird - every track in the dust. I could see "through" the bush - best for finding animals. I could survive in the bush - I knew every edible plant and where to find it when. I could stalk and track and run away from the wild (brings back rather painful memories of bare-footing it through a patch of devils thorns with a couple of water buffalo in persuit...!).
Now I'm all citified and my brain seems to have turned to mush. I can't tell a waterbuck from a kudu (actually I can, sorta). I've forgotten the difference between the hoofprints of various buck and beasts, and would probably be run over by the water buffalo if I had to run from them now. The nearest I've gotten to a taste of bush food is a shot of Amarula a while back.
It's BAD, it's DISGUSTING - and I'm going to have to re-educate myself! :)
So saying, it's time to stock up on a few guides to the wildlife in Africa, the snakes and insects, the birds and trees, and all those things. Try dig into my head and retrieve all that info I KNOW is buried under the mess and rubbish.
Trouble is, the older you get, the more things refuse to rise to the surface. Instead of refreshing my memory, I may have to re-install it completely!
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