Chapter 40 37 "Bao Bao", a teenager living in Baobab Village (Tanzania)

Before sunset, I finally spotted a village by the side of the road.Surrounded by tall baobab trees, it was obvious at a glance that there was nowhere to sleep, but camping in the wild, and I left with a sigh.Riding into the prairie far away from the road, I hurriedly stepped on the brakes and checked the tires. "Oh, it really came again..." A lot of spikes were stuck on it. This area is covered with hard and sharp plant spikes, about five millimeters in diameter, shaped like thorns, falling all over the ground.I think it's probably the seeds of some kind of plant, in short, it's very hateful, thanks to them, since the arrival in Africa, the number of tire repairs has increased sharply.

This time the tire was pierced with three holes in one breath, and I had no choice but to turn back to the village just now. While the car was being repaired, a boy filled a bucket made of a gourd with water and handed it to me, probably for me to repair the tire. He was really a smart kid with a bright and lively face. I tried to ask him: "What's your name?" "BaoBao." The boy said shyly.Good name!Probably named after the baobab tree (baobao), right? The sun was also setting, and with the consent of the villagers, I camped behind one of the houses.Baobao is a child of their family and has always been attached to me.He helped me a lot with my hands as soon as I started pitching the tent.

"Thank you." When I said that, he smiled shyly. He doesn't speak a word of English, and my Swahili is broken, but there's almost no conversation between us, just a smile when our eyes meet. Before going to bed, I wanted to wash my face and asked Baobao how to get to the nearby river. He seemed to say "follow me" and walked forward energetically.Going down a section of rugged mountain road, the river is at the bottom of the cliff. On the way back, the bulb of the flashlight suddenly burned out, and I didn't know what to do for a while.The bottom of the valley is completely surrounded by darkness, and you can't see your fingers.Even so, from the other side of the darkness, one could still hear the pattering footsteps of Baobao jumping over the rock.It was amazing that he could see it.

"Baobao! Wait for me!" I yelled.However, his footsteps still did not stop. "Hey! Baobao!" "here." There was such a voice in front of me.He stretched out his hand, and he held it immediately. It turned out that he looked back for me again.In the complete darkness, even my hearing was numb, and I couldn't tell the distance. I asked Paul to hold hands, and I wobbled up the cliff like an old man.After finally returning to the village, under the light of the torches, Baobao's smiling face seemed a little smug.The next morning, Baobao disappeared without a trace.I folded the tent and waited for him for a while before we set off, but he still didn't show up, so we reluctantly left the village.

Unexpectedly, after only a short ride, I saw Baobao's figure.He straddled his bike, looked at me, and smiled.Seeing his smiling face, I couldn't help but want to hug him tightly. It turned out that Baobao had been waiting here since early in the morning in order to ride a bicycle with me. We started cycling side by side.His car looked tattered, as if it was about to fall apart.Probably borrowed it from the adults in the village?It's a bit too big for Baobao to ride.Instead of sitting on the seat cushions, he was bouncing up and down, pedaling comically, and followed me all the way, making a metallic creak.

——Hehe, how long are you going to follow? Sure enough, there is still no need for any dialogue between us, as long as we look at each other and smile when our eyes meet.