All this happened over thirty years ago in Africa, in a world slowly adapting to a future without its former white rulers. It was an exciting time and for a young man fresh out of veterinary school it was clearly the place for to go for adventure before settling down into the family practice. A government scheme for voluntary service overseas was in operation in those days and I applied soon after I had finished my studies. Not long afterwards, a very green (in many ways) VSO volunteer emerged from a tiny 'plane onto a dusty local airfield at the end of a bumpy flight from the capital.
After some intense training, I was lucky enough to get one of the plum assignments up-country, working in one of the fledgling tourist game reserves. I had read Hemingway's books and couldn't wait to get started, but my dreams of being the 'Great White Hunter' were shattered when I learnt that I would be spending most of my time surveying the native cattle for signs of disease. My boss βa dour Rhodesian- kitted me out with a Land Rover with a broken windshield, two jolly African park rangers (poachers were rife in the area) and a young black technician, who, for reasons which will become apparent, I'll call Patrick.
A sheaf of notes, a map and some battered surgical instruments were my stock in trade for the days that followed. Patrick and I measured, tested and injected hundreds of the bony, humped cattle that roamed the plains. The Masai herdsmen were a terrific bunch βfriendly, hospitable and highly amused by our antics as we tried to capture and examine their charges. But life wasn't one long rodeo: when the day's work was done, we would take our battered old Land Rover far out into the vast dusty plain and Patrick would show me the spectacular wildlife that surrounded us. He had a wealth of knowledge and I was his willing pupil -just as he was mine during the working day.
Although we got on really well together, try as I might, I couldn't break through his reserved manner and really get to know him. At first I put it down to his shyness, but I soon began to realise that I was dealing with the old colonial attitudes and that the colour of our skins somehow set us apart.
For someone fresh out from rural England, where a black face was still a rarity, I found this difficult to understand. Although we were about the same age and alike in many ways, our upbringing couldn't have been more different: It was always assumed that I would become a vet. and follow my father into his country practice, but Patrick had only his brains and determination and to see him through. I resolved to help him as much as I could and a call to my father in England over a crackling 'phone line eventually resulted in the arrival of a crate of my old textbooks.
As I unpacked them, I felt a pang of conscience that I had hardly opened them, but Patrick handled them reverently and it gave me good feeling to know that they would be cherished and used, rather than left to gather dust in my room back home. In with the books was a gift from my father; a carefully wrapped parcel containing surgical instruments, many of them brand new. Patrick was totally ecstatic when he saw them and threw his arms round me and hugged me hard. His joy was infectious and we danced around like a pair of idiots, while our two rangers looked in wonderment. The last barrier between us had gone and I was seeing the real Patrick for the first time. Our friendship began then and there and still remains firm after all these years.
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Not long after, we were recalled for a few days leave and we decided to spend it close to Patrick's home. He stayed with his family, of course, while I boarded with an elderly white couple in their rickety guesthouse nearby. It's become a well-known tourist lodge these days, but back then, its creature comforts left much to be desired.
I didn't care βit was cheap, and compared to a dusty tent out in the sticks it was sheer luxury!
Early in my stay, I was busy working on a report, planning to send it on the weekly mail truck the next day, when Patrick arrived unexpectedly. While I finished my writing, he studied one of my textbooks and for a while we both sat quietly at the table under the light of a single hissing Tilley lamp. I had just finished and leant back with a sigh of relief, when Patrick looked up and asked me a question in his soft, smoky voice. I didn't quite understand the point he was making, so I got up and went to look over his shoulder at the page he was reading. As I leant over him to point to a diagram, I rested my hand lightly on his back and was surprised to feel him flinch like a startled antelope at my touch.
Fearing that I might have offended him somehow, I was about to apologise when he gently pressed his hand over mine to show that it was OK. It was a strange gesture -almost like a caress- and when he smiled shyly up at me, I assumed that he was merely showing his appreciation for my help and I smiled back in friendly encouragement. We turned back to the book again and I carried on with my explanation. It was a hot, sultry evening and all the local insect population was out in force, circling the lamp above us and occasionally hitting the shade with a metallic pinging sound. I was wearing only a sarong round my waist, so when I felt a light touch on my bare leg, I thought that a large bug had landed on me and reached down to brush it off. To my amazement I felt Patrick's hand gently stroking the inside of my thigh! His strange manner suddenly became clear to me and I realised that he must have misread my approving smile as one of consent. Even after all these years, I can't honestly say what stopped me from moving his hand away.