Safari Tales

In the coffee shop, meanwhile, Safari lifers like 16-year veteran Mira Bickle are taking the latest news with more than the customary grain of Sweet'n Low.

"We've heard these stories before," says Bickle. "But what we heard this time was so detailed, I think they're actually going to do something. It's sad, really."

However, a longtime gift-shop employee isn't so convinced that the Safari's over. Watching a taut-faced Connie Francis look-alike and her much-younger escort rifle a rack of souvenir tee shirts, the clerk stifles a yawn.

"I'll believe it," she says, "when I see the bulldozers pulling up in the driveway."

Somewhere in the distance, a parrot squawked.