Location:20° 11' 51" S
25° 18' 15" E
Why is it that a common event such as the setting or rising of the sun can strike us with such emotional force? I took this picture while on vacation with a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer over the 2005 independence holidays in Botswana. The sunrises and sunsets in Africa always grab me. On my first flight to Africa I was told by an old Afrikaaner that the zonsondergang (sunsets) out in the bush would stay with me forever. He was right, but not in the way I thought. It is not an image that stays with you but rather a rhythm. The passing of light, the comming of stars, the rise of the moon. It is a daily cycle that transformes over the course of the year. In the west, we hardly notice these things in our daily life. When do notice them they tend to be singular events- an extra special sunset on vacation, perhaps. In rural Africa you can't help but notice. Over there you always know when the sun sets, when the moon rises, and in what phase. If the sun is down and the moon is not up its much harder to find your way.
