I love to read. An ideal day for me would be a cup of tea, a comfy seat, a cool day and if it is raining that's even better. I've picked up one of my favorite authors again and discovered his son published a manuscript a few years ago that his dad, Ernest Hemingway, never made into a book. To my delight, the book is ALL about one of his trips to Kenya. The little paperback is 320 pages long and I sped to page 250 and realized that I was close to the end so I slowed down a bit. "True at First Light" captured my attention from the first page. Secretly I am glad I did not discover the book in 1999 when it came out. I could not have appreciated it. Until you visit Africa; the landscape, the feel, the smell and the wildlife are hard to understand. Hemingway's humor and serious nature blend to make this book come alive for me. I constantly resist the urge to sit down and finish the book. Some might find it slow and not about much since it takes place in a safari camp near Kilimanjaro. I would disagree. Hemingway knew quite a bit about the culture and the people by the way he describes and interacts with the other "characters" in the book. I highly recomend reading it.
So, as I dance close to the end of the book, I have decided to go on a hunt of my own. I have heard that there is an old British Club that Hemingway visited and wrote in while he was here in Nairobi. I want to go and eat there. The safari camp where he lived for a few months is also not far away. My dream now is to drive out to the town close by and attempt to meet the grandsons of the people he worked with while he was here. Hemingway's close friend in the book, Pop, was the first Game Warden of Kenya. A man the mission uses as a mechanic has lived in Kenya for generations and possibly knows of this man, Pop's, family. I will have to do a lot more research but I'm looking forward to it.
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