There's a Little Bit of Lion in All of Us!

'm not lyin', really! Let me tell you why. But first, let me say that there's not a one of us who does not fall victim at one time or another to the T-shirt syndrome! Come on be truthful! Are you one of those people, like me, who cannot resist the temptation to buy that 'just one more T-shirt'? Traveling in Africa is no exception. And I am certainly no exception as well. Trouble is, I have this affliction worse than most!

buy safari shirts! Yes, the safari shirt is one of the accouterments for going on safari. Whether it be the classic khaki shirt complete with epaulets, or the safari jacket, or the pith helmet (at the turn of the century) or a 'Kruger National Park' T-shirt, the safari shirt is one of those items that you can get while in Africa (or before) that doesn't have to be a budget buster!

et me tell you how I came upon my favorite shirt! I was in Nairobi and found one of these fantastic shirt shops, full of safari shirts of all kinds. I tell you, I was a kid in a candy shop, or better yet a lion on the Masai Mara, surrounded by wildebeest and zebra–all mine for the picking! I was in my element! The stuff was cheap, too. So I wound up buying about four shirts–my all time favorite being among them! I didn't know it then, but I certainly know it now, that this shirt was to become my all time favorite shirt! But not for the reasons you suspect!

ou see, I never took a close look at this one shirt at the time I bought it! Oh yeah, it had an over-all African look to it–a kind of nice, what I call, 'Africany-Banana' look (a combo 'Africa' and 'Banana Republic'–the store) about it. But boy oh boy! Was I ever in for a surprise!

nce upon a time, I gave a talk somewhere and happened to be wearing this shirt. It always got a remark or comment, now and again, sometimes just stopping short of 'wisecracks'! So, one day I was prompted to take a long overdue closer look. Suddenly I noticed that there was no 'pattern' after-all! This was not just some kind of pan-African shirt. Finally, I realized why I was the butt of continual shirt jokes and wisecracks! This was no ordinary shirt. This shirt was full of zebra butts! ZEBRA BUTTS! a.k.a. as Zebra ASSES! no less! The joke sure was on me! For once (and often, alas) the butt of the joke was on me! But the story does not end here (fortunately for me!).

o you recall the title of this story? "There's a little bit of lion in all of us!" Thank God the butt does not stop here! I am very proud to tell you that this apparent act of blind indiscriminateness in choosing a safari shirt rather unconsciously–definitely does have its upside!

happened to be watching a Discovery Channel wildlife documentary about lions one evening. It showed the lion as basically seeing in black and white and not in color. In a film shot in this documentary it showed how lions typically perceive a stampeding herd of zebra–just a BLIND BLUR OF STRIPES! I was vindicated after-all! And just like the typical lion, my initial view–of my now favorite shirt–was similarly, merely a blind blur of stripes perhaps in my own way just as primaeval or primordial a view of a pattern that was more in the interest of the zebras' than in my own!

Michael Brein's Travel Tales
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