One of the most powerful things about travel is putting real faces with things that we hear or read about, like extreme poverty, but can only access/understand in abstraction. Homeboy, after seeing those people living the way they were, I'd wager that you'll never be the same. It might have been creepy, but it was likely also shocking and sad. It evoked a memorable reaction for you that has forever colored your view of the world. And that's mainly a good thing. Sadly, it sort of sours you on certain things (like safari in Africa, in this case) that you previously found alluring. For me, as a sort of lame example, I love golf - but after my wife visited Africa to do some research and service work, I became much more keenly aware of things like the global shortage of clean drinking water. So, so many people drink water that is laden with disease and parasites - others have to walk hrs to carry h2o back to their families. It's tough to get ahead in the world when 4hrs of your day are dedicated to prouring water for your family's survival.
Back to golf - My local C+ rated muni course uses ????? gallons of drinking grade water yearly to keep our course looking pristine, all in an arid climate. The guilt that I feel is not crippling per se, but it HAS caused me to at minimum take action on a few projects that will hopefully help others, like well construction, and just general charity giving. It's not much, but if everyone did something even modestly, we'd be in a far better place. Many hands make for light work!
Thanks for bringing your safari experience into the conversation - I'm sure you're not alone in how that experience affected you.
