GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL - Cloverport Independent Schools

CHAPTER 15
YALI'S PEOPLE
WHEN MY WIFE, MARIE, AND I WERE VACATIONING IN
Australia one summer, we decided to visit a site with wellpreserved
Aboriginal rock paintings in the desert near the town of Menindee.
While I knew of the Australian desert's reputation for dryness and
summer heat, I had already spent long periods working under hot, dry
conditions in the Californian desert and New Guinea savanna, so I considered
myself experienced enough to deal with the minor challenges we
would face as tourists in Australia. Carrying plenty of drinking water,
Marie and I set off at noon on a hike of a few miles to the paintings.
The trail from the ranger station led uphill, under a cloudless sky,
through open terrain offering no shade whatsoever. The hot, dry air that
we were breathing reminded me of how it had felt to breathe while sitting
in a Finnish sauna. By the time we reached the cliff site with the paintings,
we had finished our water. We had also lost our interest in art, so we
pushed on uphill, breathing slowly and regularly. Presently I noticed a bird
that was unmistakably a species of babbler, but it seemed enormous compared
with any known babbler species. At that point, I realized that I was
experiencing heat hallucinations for the first time in my life. Marie and I
decided that we had better head straight back.