My Longest Canopy Walk.

27^th of May 2017, was Children’s day all over the world. On this day, my friend, Ned chose to treat me to a thrilling adventure I would never forget in a hurry. I agreed to go on a canopy walk with him and would later realize it was the longest canopy walk in Africa. This decision, I finally agreed to after my busy weekend schedules had made me reschedule twice. We reached the concession centre and were greeted with an ambiance that spoke interestingly yet silently, welcome to wild, wild nature.

I remember I had been here years back when I was still a schoolgirl. It was then known as the National Conservative foundation. It had been a wonderful adventure for me back then as I had come on a school tour. It was five years now and Ned had ushered in that quiet, nostalgic feeling long buried. We got our tickets and were told to wait for a tour guide. Ned had been at the centre more recently and had prior knowledge of the revamp and exciting features. He asked an official of the centre, if we could go on our own without a tour guide, since he knew his way around. The official, a man, told him he could as he would meet other tourists on the way. He was told to take care and given a go ahead so he led the way.

We started our journey through the long wooden bridge across the brownish colored swamp. On both sides of the bridge were old and young trees, lots of dead leaves and croaking frogs in the murky waters. As we walked further into the wild, we were greeted with gymnast monkeys who swung from tree to tree. The sight of them made me cringe and shudder. We got to a part of the walkway where we met a band of monkeys who sat on the edge of the bridge rail. At this point, I became frightened as the monkeys drew closer and were not perturbed as we approached. Ned the adventurer reached for his camera from his pocket and began to record the swinging monkeys who seemed to be pleased and offered more acrobatic displays of their craft. It was obvious they were gay that they were the object of Ned’s fascination. With a feeling of trepidation, I hid behind him as he bravely walked into their midst leaving them to gently disperse.

Our walk would eventually begin when we got to the foot of what I would like to describe as the stainless rail steps of the canopy walk. Ned was cunningly excited that he was about to scare me to my wits as I took a cursory look at the Canopy Walk to discover it was very high. I thought to myself, maybe it was just going to be a simple trek and we would be off on the other side. Alas! I was in for a rude shock as we began to climb. As one climbed it was necessary that you held both sides of the net bridge to keep balance. The fear of the ascension was scary as the more you climbed the higher you went and it was not a situation to let the sneaky thought of turning back rise.

On the second leg of the walk I felt I was going to die. The height at this point was stupendously horrific. The more I looked down at the mighty trees beneath the more I felt the worst might happen. The fear I felt left me uttering all sorts as Ned made a jest of me and continued to urge me to come through. At the end of the second pathway, another couple caught up with us. The lady was a bit braver than I was at the time; seeing her strengthened me and gave me a resolve to want to finish the walk.

I noticed for every time the others were too close the net wobbled and the farther apart we were from each other the net still swayed. By the third pathway, I had handed my handbag to Ned to help me carry it for fear that it might disrupt my movement. He encouraged me amidst jests to take the lead, which I immediately refused. But, on a second thought, I quickly considered trying. I wanted to prove I could beat the dizzying effect of acrophobia and so I summoned courage and trudged on the swaying net with all my fears curled into a tough ball as it hung in my throat. The fear lurched forward and backward in my throat, a feeling of irritation and unrest. Like a bouncing ball the fear bounced in my throat, causing me to keep my head up so I do not puke and my eyes focused on the trail.

I tried not to look out into the thick wild beneath though the sight, strangely beautiful left me to ponder on the magnificence the creator of the universe. A short soliloquy overtook my thoughts on the dangerously amazing nature that we many times treat with disregard. Still on the trail, Ned got too close while keeping a protective eye on me and then the Net wobbled slightly. The bouncing ball in my throat almost popped out as I let out a hysterical cackle, one Ned mistook to be excitement. It was fear, a kind of fear that only happened to you when you were unsuspecting of any danger, especially when your mind had to be taken off the obstacle standing in your way. Fear was scared I was already conquering it when I began to set my mind on overcoming it. And no sooner than I regained my balance, I moved on, not stopping or looking back till we got to the fourth Pathway resting on the platform. Here I made up my mind to finish this walk I had started. The other guy led the way, followed by his friend, then me and Ned, who came behind cheering us all. He was the happiest of everyone. He seemed to have an unwavering and resistant mindset towards fear. This fourth pathway was the last of the Canopy Walk where I could laugh heartily and know for certain my laughter was genuine though I had had fun in an amazingly scary manner.

(c) Francisca Okwulehie.