My five days in Kenya would be busy. Sen. [Barack Obama] wanted me to visit a tea plantation to see the remnants of colonialism. He wanted me to visit an AIDS clinic to learn more about how the virus is ravaging the continent. He wanted me to visit the University of Nairobi to talk to students. And finally, he suggested I take a safari. I balked at that one, but Obama persisted, saying I needed to see it because it is, in his words, "God's country."