Fifty Shades of Green

Fifty shades of green. Go ahead, wrap your head around that and you’ll be surprised how many shades you will recognize. Kelly green, spinach green, hospital green, milky green, pistachio green and fern green, for example. They say the human eye can see 10 million colors, and while fifty shades don’t seem to make a dent in that, the variety and depth of color that you see when traveling through African countries on safari is simply beautiful. There is nothing quite like it.

Pine green, apple green, sagebrush green, dusty green, emerald green, birds nest green and safari green: recognize those? Perched up on a hill overlooking the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe is a perfect safari lodge, Imbabala Safari Lodge. From there, you can see and feel all those shades of green. The lodge comprises about a dozen bungalows, a swimming pool and a main open-air bungalow for cocktails and dining, and from there, looking out over the Zambezi is spectacular. The river winds, hippos blare, crocodiles lurk. Where the green shrubs meet the water’s edge, animals hide.

Greens of blue, amber, green tea, lily, ice, pastel, golf, laurel, slate, peacock and lime: Shades of green continue westward in Botswana, where floating along in a pontoon on the Chobe River brings you up close and personal with the animals, flora and fauna. Wide, flat, endless riverbanks flank the Chobe and birds abound. Here, Southern carmine bee eaters (birds) sport vibrant turquoise green crowns.

Meadow green, golden green, paradise green, bronze green, green bean green, palm green, olive green, and chartreuse green. The colors in Kruger National Park in South Africa are rich indeed. Around every curve of a road, each new vista is unique and full of color, and shades of green, of course. Roads in Kruger are varied. Some are paved, some are soft light sand, and others are hard packed red dirt. I was particularly in awe of the views where the vibrant greens met the dry red dirt (or sometimes the wet red mud!). Would an artist be able to capture all the colors? A European roller is a favorite bird with its royal green and turquoise feathers.

Granite green, lettuce green, dark green, gumdrop green, hunter green, light green, moss green and yellow green. In The Kingdom of Swaziland, the world’s second largest monolith is surrounded by bush, shrubs, grass and trees. While Sibebe Rock is about 3 billion years old, the plants obviously are not. Have these fifty shades of green, along with the other millions of color, been around for that long?

Grey, banana, jasmine, balsam, Irish, jade, sea, vibrant, asparagus and holly greens: just a few more shades. Recognize any? They all blend naturally and beautifully together. When visiting the national parks in Southern Africa, I couldn’t help but feel like I was surrounded by fifty shades of green. At least fifty. The colors are different over there. Go see for yourself.