Fresh!

"To keep the body in good health is a duty, otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear." -- Buddha

The big-dogs from the office of the organization I work for came to visit the other day. Upon entering the principal's office, they told me that I looked “fresh”. I will gladly accept that compliment. Thank you very much! Fresh indeed! My lifestyle right now is likely the healthiest it has ever been. I’m eating real food rather than boxes of processed garbage loaded with sodium. Turns out, Earth provides a rather delectable selection of edible goods. I'm finding it’s really hard to go wrong with fresh fruits and vegetables. I sleep at least nine hours every night. I’m exercising regularly. I drink about three times more water every day than I have probably since my high school softball days. (My hair could use some attention, but that’s another issue.) This new healthy me is just as it should be. I'm feeling good. I like it.

This American girl won’t be in Ghana forever, and I want to continue writing when I return to the states. I’ve decided I’m going to start up another blog. The focus is going to be what makes me happy. I know that there is a “happiness project” blog out there, but that woman specifically researched ways to be happy and tested out some age-old theories. I’m just going to ramble about the little daily pieces of the puzzle that bring a bit of joy to my world. For me, this could be anything from books to quotes to teaching to people to places to sunshine. I imagine thousands of others in the universe are writing similar blogs, but in this day and age, it’s quite the challenge to come up with an original blog topic. Figure if I make it my own with some Amy flare, then it might stand a chance of being noticed. Not sure anyone will care to read my random babble, but I love writing, and I want to keep doing it. So even if it's just for myself, it's worth it.

Obruni

“We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race.” – Kofi Annan

In Ghana, I am an obruni. Obruni means “white person”, and people aren’t afraid to say it. In fact, this is a word I have heard literally hundreds of times in the six months that I have been here.

Keep in mind, I have been told over and over again that this is not a derogatory term and I truly believe that Ghanaians believe that. I feel very admired here in Ghana. Men want to marry me, students want to speak like me, children want to touch me. I’m a freakin’ celebrity.

However, regardless of the explanations and giggles about the word, the shouting out of this word still rubs me the wrong way. I would never even consider yelling out “black man” if I saw an African-American in an all white-community in the states. It’s a ludicrous thought. Life as an obruni in Ghana has significantly heightened my empathy for anyone who has ever been considered “different”. To be stared at, laughed at, and shouted at, all because I look and sound different, has been an eye-opening experience to say the least.

Obruni Amy at Kintompo Falls

Workshop Success!

“Success manifests also in small daily events, not only in the accomplishment of great ambitions.”

The teacher-training workshops for the college staff have definitely been some of my most fulfilling moments here. The teachers are enthusiastic, engaged, and according to the pre and post test data, actually learning something! Before coming to volunteer in Ghana, I had never formally prepared a professional development workshop for teachers. Now, I know I can do it, and do it fairly well. I’m spreading some good information around here and that is really something for me. That is, after all, why I came to this faraway land.

Richard, Betty, and Eugene creating QAR questions for the book, Readicide

Even my love of Scrabble is rubbing off on people here. I ordered my friend, Ameyaw, a travel scrabble game, and we played for three hours the other day! Several staff members stopped by to check out the game, and my roommate has asked if I could send her a few Scrabbles when I return to the states. If I can help to heighten the popularity of this game in Ghana, then I will feel like I accomplished something. Love me some educational word games. Double word score for Ms. Amy this week!

My friends, Bright and Ameyaw, teaming up on the obruni (aka Amy)

Toto

As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti....

Enjoy some Africa from Toto. Love love love it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCca5mPMp9A

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

There She Grows!

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.
--Aristotle

I chatted with a fellow volunteer not too long ago, and she said, “I’m sure you’ve done a lot of growing.” As cliché as it may be, she is absolutely right. Call it growing or simply learning more about myself. Whichever. The idea is that I’m figuring myself out a little bit more each day.

I love to travel. I love to learn about new cultures and see different ways of life. I discovered the joys of traveling about four years ago, and I will continue to travel for many years to come. In fact, I’m already planning my next excursion. Traveling makes me feel really alive. Some people do drugs or have babies. I want to get on airplanes and jet set across the world. For me, life is all about the hunt: for new treasures, new ideas, new experiences, new thrills.

But, to travel to a place and to live in a place are two very different things. The thrill of Africa has faded over time for me since living here now for 6 months. My initial visit to Africa was new and exciting. Very exhilarating. On the other hand, this longer stay has exposed a different, less appealing side of Ghana to me. Cultural and educational norms, that I strongly disagree with, surround me. It’s the feeling of helplessness that is tough to shake. This, along with a sense of sadness that this world will likely never ascend the mountain of potential that it’s capable of climbing. But, being the growing woman that I am, I am slowly learning to let go of things that are out of my control. All I can really do is try my best to influence the choices of my students and colleagues. Whether or not they take my advice is out of my hands.

Day-to-day life is just day-to-day life. Not every day is a safari day. I spend a ginormous amount of time alone here, and the lack of a social life has been far more difficult than I was anticipating. What I’ve learned during all of those hours alone is that my relationships with family and friends are very very very important to my well being. Not that I didn’t appreciate everyone before I left, but it’s the old saying, “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” My level of appreciation has heightened tenfold. In fact, a thousandfold. As independent as I claim to be, and as ok as I say I am being alone, I need people more than I am often willing to admit. All you need is love, right?

Hard Work

"Any necessary work that pays an honest wage carries its own honor and dignity."

-- W. Kelly Griffith

Some of the people I have come to respect most in Ghana are the men and women who sell goods from their heads. These people are the polar opposite of lazy. Every day, they relentlessly work to make money by selling, selling, selling. Survival is a great motivator. Have to sell to eat! This is grueling work. Imagine placing a large tin filled with random foods or products on your head and walking around all day from morning ‘til night, with the sun blazing down on you. Some women do this with a baby strapped to their back! It might not be the ideal life for a person, but it’s respectable work. I doubt I could survive even one hour.

Talking to a Wall

"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.” -- Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

The plight of international aid work. A person shows up in a developing country with the big idea that they are going to make a difference. The person later discovers that making this difference is virtually impossible because change is very difficult to cultivate. I’m thinking of several cliché sayings here…. you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, beating a dead horse. I think you get the picture.

Thus has been my experience. I work for a government funded organization, and I feel guilty about taking their money. I really am essentially getting paid to be on vacation. I can’t help but think that the government could find greater causes to devote their funds to. Buy books and put them directly into the hands of young children. Yes. Purchase vaccinations and put them directly into the hands of doctors who administer them on the spot. Yes. Send teachers to train other teachers. NO! This teacher-training college just had five weeks off because of the culmination of semester one. Students are just now deciding to return to class, then at the end of March there is another week off for sports, a long weekend at Easter, and two weeks off at the end of April for who knows what. Yea yea. I should be enjoying the relaxation. But the thing is, I came here to try to teach people something. To really help, and make that big difference! Turns out I’m reading a ton of books, watching a crapload of DVDs, developing an addiction to Pinterest, and exercising regularly. A paid vacation sounds pretty sweet, right? Well, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I actually like being a busy and productive person. Sure, I have a teaching schedule and I’m doing some training workshops, but ultimately, I just feel like I’m talking to a wall each day, because few, if any of these people, will actually implement any of the strategies I have taught them. Yet, deep down, being the stubborn woman that I am, I keep trying to influence at least one of these people! I’m determined! Really trying hard to maintain a positive attitude here. For those of you go-getters out there, carefully consider ever volunteering your time to a developing country. Things move slower than molasses around here.

In this lovely world of education, a TLM is a “teaching and learning material”. And to Ghanaians that means a large posterboard with some mumbo-jumbo about a random topic in any of the various subject areas. On the other hand, my idea of a teaching and learning material expands far beyond a poster. Hands-on games, graphic organizers, foldable papers, and the list could go on! Yet, what I have been asked to do this semester is support students with the development of their TLMs. Yes, I’m going to spend the next three months of my life helping college students design posters. Yet, last semester I preached and preached about my version of TLMs. It is as if nothing I spoke of matters even one little inkling to these people. That manifests a deep frustration within me that is difficult to bear.

So teaching college pre-service teachers isn’t the most rewarding gig in the world. Alright, so to compensate a bit, I have decided to do a few more staff training workshops for the college professors. My first one was well received. However, when I asked the organization employing me if they would reimburse for refreshments for the participants, I received a lovely email detailing the requirements of the “donors” and that since I already trained these people once, I cannot count them again in my report. At the orientation I attended for this program in August, I must have heard the word “workshop” a few dozen times. So, I decided to align myself with the desires of the organization and plan some workshops! Yet I am discouraged from doing them because of bureaucratic garbage. To me, that is just straight ridiculous.

What I’ve learned most about the education system in Ghana is that people do not want to change. Change requires work. A LOT of work, and I’m discovering that finding individuals interested in exerting that sort of effort is difficult. I feel genuinely liked here. People raved about my first workshop and the students tell me that they like the way I teach. Great! Then please! Go out and be like me! I’m singing a beautiful tune here, but no one is really listening.

P.S. 3 months from today I depart Ghana. This really has been an incredible experience, but in all honesty, I think I've had enough of Ghana for one lifetime.

Manners

“Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.” – Emily Post

Ghanaians are known for being very friendly and helpful. Generally speaking, I have found this to be mostly true. Specifically if I have ever been lost or looking for something. However, basic manners seem to be an area of weakness for some of the people I have interacted with. Perhaps it is just a clash of cultures, but this stuff rubs me the wrong way. For example….

When I walk to town, I am shouted at. “Obruni! Obruni!” In the states, if I saw a black person in an all-white neighborhood, would I call out, “Black man! Black man!” I think not.

Men call women fat to their face. I know it’s more culturally acceptable to be a larger woman here, but I don’t care what country you live in, publically calling someone out on their weight just seems wrong.

Today, I addressed a question to two Ghanaian women in the staff room. They each looked at me, began laughing, and spoke to each other in their native language, Twi, as if I wasn’t even there. Um, excuse me, but didn’t I just ask a question? A man sitting nearby helped me out by prompting them to acknowledge my question. Even better, one of these women is my roommate.

In the middle of a one-on-one conversation, one of the vice-principals at my college dug deep into her nose while speaking to me. Really? I understand 3-year old children doing it, but a grown woman?

Again, I’m not generalizing that all Ghanaians have no manners. Maybe I’m just overly sensitive, but some of my personal experiences have left me feeling disheartened.

If You're Happy and You Know It....

“Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.

A few hours west of Cape Coast, Ghana lies a village on a lake, Nzulezo, where stilts support all of the buildings. The stilts are made from raffia trees. Every eight years, all of the stilts are changed. This village began many moons ago when people escaped Mali for a more peaceful life. Girls and boys get in a canoe every morning and make their way across the lake and down a canal to go to school. This journey takes about an hour. Men and women living in the community who need food or supplies also row their way to the nearby town, Beyin.

What struck me most with this village visit was the idea that young people actually get into a canoe and row an hour to get to school each day. Remember when your grandparents said they walked a mile every day or up some hill or whatever. Well, imagine rowing your way every day? With minimal shade to relieve you from the blazing sun? This is what we call true dedication my friends. As discouraged as I have been with the education system here in Ghana, these hardworking, determined young people left me feeling hopeful.

Maybe one of the greatest lessons I am learning while living in Ghana is that happiness truly is self-created and a state of mind. Some people here living in the depths of extreme poverty, are happier than people I know with massive amounts of “things”. I think back to my own state of mind in the last few years. It’s almost like I was looking for unhappiness. I always had something to complain about: job, love life, weather, lost friends. Over the years, I have absolutely one hundred percent been guilty of focusing on the negative in virtually all aspects of my life. I don’t have to do that. Obviously, I don’t know what these people are really thinking or feeling, but from the looks of them, many Ghanaians seem rather content. Happiness is a choice. Regardless of circumstances or factors in a person’s life, a person either chooses it or they don’t. It’s really hard sometimes, but I think it’s possible. Some Ghanaians don’t have much at all, but I get the impression that they are satisfied simply with being alive and being surrounded by family and good friends. And really, isn’t that enough?

Tanzania

There are three things which if one does not know, one cannot live long in the world: what is too much for one, what is too little for one, and what is just right for one. – Swahili Proverb

Tanzania was different, but equally as stunning as Kenya. Our journey during the second week involved a lot more driving, and on a truck that decided to blow a pressure pipe every single day. Thankfully the scenery was always beautiful, so these impromptu stops were tolerable.

On our way out of Kenya towards the Tanzanian border, we stopped at a sandstone shop. Men and women here shape, carve, sand, and decorate smooth pieces of sandstone. It’s a Fair Trade business and ships to places all over the world! World Market is one place in the U.S. you can find this shop’s goods. Once at the border, everyone had to disembark from the truck and go through the tedious immigration line. Tourists have to obtain a visa to enter Tanzania. My Irish traveling friend and I had to pay $100, while every other person on the tour got away with $50. What’s up with that?! People throughout Africa seem to equate America with money. Rich, yes. Terrible at managing those riches, yes.

Lake Victoria

Trouble with the truck led us to have to make a pit stop, which turned into an impromptu village walk. The sun on this side of Africa was scorching. It often felt as though blades of fire were searing into my skin. May seem like a bit of an exaggeration, but for real, it was hot hot hot. Yet at night, it would get surprisingly cool. Lake Victoria is the largest inland lake in the world! As beautiful as it was, you can’t go in it. Apparently there are these teeny tiny snails that will burrow into your skin. Yikes!

Serengeti National Park

Serengeti means, “Endless Plains”. This park is ten times larger than the Masai Mara in Kenya. Here, we camped in the center of the park in the Serenora area. When I say center, I mean literally in the middle of the park with no fences protecting our campsite. We were warned about hyenas and elephants roaming nearby at night. After dinner one night, a fellow traveler, Dina, and I decided to do some stargazing. On clear nights, the stars seemed close enough to be able to touch. The sky sparkled and it was simply spectacular. On this night, our eyes caught sight of two large white masses. Turns out, those were the tusks of an elephant that had entered our campsite! It was within 40 feet of us. After we gasped and oohed and ahhed at this amazing moment, we heard the calls of hyenas very nearby. Like scared little girls, we scurried back to our tents motivated by pure fear. What a thrill! This campsite contained many a variety of thrills for all campers actually. Several girls were attacked by ants in their sleep and one guy found a scorpion inside his tent! Needless to say, these were the nights when a middle-of-the-night bathroom run didn’t happen. We did several game drives throughout the Serengeti. One was at dawn when we departed before the sun had even risen.

In the Serengeti, we were introduced to a new animal called the

Wildebeest. A big hairy beastly looking creature. Kind of a cross between a zebra and a buffalo. Not pretty, but rather fascinating. This is the animal that partakes in the great migration every year ,which is essentially a massive amount of animals roaming the plains from Serengeti up to Masai Mara and back down again. Two million herbivores take part! 200,000 zebra, 500,000 gazelle and one-and-a-half million wildebeest. The main part of the movement happens in July. What a sight it would be!

One night while sitting around the campfire after dinner, our guide, Victor, asked everyone what animal they would choose to be in the Serengeti. I chose elephant. One, they are super smart and live a pretty long life. Two, though they appear cool, calm, and collected, I get the idea that when necessary they can pounce and take care of business. I like that fierceness.

Before journeying towards Ngorongoro Crater, we stopped at Oldupai Gorge. This place is considered the Cradle of Mankind because some of the world’s oldest humanoid skeletons were discovered here. So, if you believe in evolution, as I think you should, this is the place where it all began.

Ngorongoro Crater

Our two-week journey ended on a definite high note. Our campsite was along the rim of the crater. With armed guards protecting us from buffalo and elephants ,we sat around the campfire with the guards who sang a few songs and cracked a few jokes. The next morning, we descended the Ngorongoro Crater in 4x4 safari jeeps. Up to this point, we had all been in the Intrepid truck, which was well equipped with giant windows, but was rather high above the ground. In the jeeps we got eye-level with some animals. This crater is a perfectly intact volcanic crater and is home to about 30,000 animals. 40,000 Maasai people live in the crater area. It’s a truly mystical place.

As in any journey, it’s generally the people that make or break a trip. On this trip, the people definitely made it. The first week’s group was thirteen people while week two had twenty-two travelers. I ended up chatting most with a group of other ladies who were also traveling solo. Pauline, an incredibly intelligent and ambitious young woman from England who spent five weeks teaching in Kenya previous to this safari. Kim, an Irish woman, who is just beginning a 7-month trip around the world. To say I’m jealous would be a vast understatement. Dina, a photo-loving gal from Toronto who enjoyed dirt and was always full of enthusiasm. My roommate throughout the two weeks was an Australian woman named Carol. She lived in Nigeria for a couple years many moons ago, so she understood my struggles with living in Ghana. I will never forget these ladies or this amazing adventure!

Kenya

"Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living. " -- Miriam Beard

Surreal. This would be the best word to describe my week in Kenya. Herds of zebras to the left, groups of elephants wandering to the right, and a lowly hyena crossing the road. Such was the scene on several occasions throughout the week. Was I in a Disney film? Or was I really experiencing this all? Luckily, the latter was the truth. I have been dreaming of going on an African safari for years, and I actually got to do it. I love making my own dreams come true. This was a camping safari, so each day we had to put up and take down our tents, however, at a few places, we got to spend two consecutive nights in the same campground. Everyone helped out on the trip whether it be cooking, cleaning, or setting up chairs. Go team!

FYI - Prepare yourself…..my next two entries about Kenya and Tanzania will be rather lengthy. I learned so much and had such an amazing trip, and I want to share as much as I can with all of you.

Arrival in Nairobi

Jambo! (Hello in Swahili). Kenya is light-years ahead of Ghana. Skyscrapers. Paved roads connecting major cities. An orderly experience at a bank. Longer school days. Primary school is free. Mastery of the English language is very solid. Kenya clearly has a leg up on Ghana in terms of development. I was impressed.

I joined Aya and Mohammed, an Egyptian couple, on my first afternoon in Nairobi. Our group wasn’t meeting up until later that evening, so we had time to explore. First stop: baby elephant orphanage. Baby Dumbos rolling around in some orange mud. Unbelievably entertaining and sweet. Just like kids on the playground, these little elephants were just having a good ole’ time. Showing off a bit for the crowds I’m sure.

Langata Giraffe Center was next! Was face-to-face with a giraffe. That elegant and graceful animal gently licked that tiny biscuit right out of my hand. I always thought giraffes were beautiful, but my admiration grew even stronger while at this center.

Onward to Mamba Village thanks to our private driver. Random tidbit, Kenyans’ cars have their steering wheels on the opposite side and they follow the British way of roadways. Mamba means crocodile in Swahili, so you got it, I saw some crocodiles. Crocodiles do not have X or Y chromosomes. Instead, their sex is determined by temperature. They don’t have tongues either!

Afterwards, oddly enough, we went to a zoo, which was labeled as an “Animal Orphanage”. There were more animals than a zoo and more space, but the cages were still there. Looking back, going in to a zoo seems pretty ridiculous actually considering what was lying ahead of us on our game drives. But it was fun nonetheless.

Bomas was our final stop! Here, we got to enjoy some traditional Kenyan dancing and singing.

Lake Nakuru

On the way to our campsite, we stopped at New Hope Children’s Center. This is an orphanage started by a woman named Ann. The travel company I was with, Intrepid, supports this community. All these kids really want is someone to pay attention to them. 150 kids, 12 adult workers. To open an orphanage, of your own choosing, is a pretty admirable decision to make. There are so many good people in the world.

After setting up camp, at promptly 3pm, we left for our first game drive into Lake Nakuru National Park, the “bird watcher’s paradise” with 450 species living here. I’m certain that no one expected the sort of day that we had. Our game drive was beyond spectacular. On Day 1, we saw every type of wildlife you could imagine. Simply phenomenal. Every safari excursion is on the hunt for “The Big 5”. These animals have been categorized as such because poachers covet some part of them. Elephants, buffalo, rhinos, leopards, and lions.

Here's what I learned at Lake Nakuru all thanks to our most amazing guide, Victor. This young man was intelligent, handsome, kind, patient. I need to find me one of him. But I digress…..back to the subject at hand. 70% of the wildlife in Kenya is not in parks, so many are living in their natural environment. Old male buffalo are very dangerous. They work hard to chase off the younger buffalo in a herd. Leopards love to hunt male impalas (think deer with a black M on it's rear), and when they get one, they hang it from a tree by its horns! Fierce! The black rhino, which is endangered, is a solitary animal, while the white rhino is more social. And why do people want that black rhino so bad you may wonder? Turns out that some people believe the horn of the rhino to be an aphrodisiac. And while we’re on the subject…. you know how baboons sometimes have a swollen pink hind-end? Well, the pink signifies that the female is ready to mate. Every zebra in the entire world has 72 stripes. But, just like human fingerprints, no two zebras' patterns are the same.

Nakuru Village Walk

After Sylvia’s most delicious breakfast the next day, we were led by a local woman, Beth, through the local village. This community, in conjunction with Intrepid, focuses on empowering women by helping them to develop sustainable moneymaking projects. Some women made beads for jewelry by rolling up papers and dipping them into varnish, some women knit products with wool from sheep, and yet another project was a tilapia farm. The most interesting project Beth told us about was the reusing of plastic bottles where people fill the bottles with mud and build structures with them. So innovative!

Lake Naivasha

Called “A Happy Valley”. Of course it's happy. Does life get any better than this? To get here we drove through the Great Rift Valley. Once at our campsite, we were warned to not approach the lake after 6pm because hippos might charge. Did you know? Hippos are in fact the deadliest animals in Africa. Not because they will eat you, but because they will crush you!

Lake Oloiden

One of those surreal moments was definitely at this lake. Approximately 500 hippos live here and thousands of flamingos come here to eat. We took a boat ride out on the lake and were within a few yards of hippos just chillin while flamingos flew overhead. It was amazing with the sun coming up over the mountains and the monkeys and baboons playing along the shore. Just a picture-perfect setting! Later in the morning we embarked on a walking safari. Zebras and giraffes galore! Right at our fingertips. That afternoon, I went to Elsamere, which is the home where animal conservationist Joy Adamson lived and raised Elsa, a lioness. Pretty incredible woman. Read the book Born Free to learn more. There’s a movie too!

Loita Hills

Of course the wildlife was amazing, but this was definitely one ofthe highlights of the trip for me. We spent the night near a Maasai village, where the Maasai people live, which is one of the most well known ethnic groups in Kenya and Tanzania. These people are absolutely fascinating to me. They live off the land and continue to practice many traditional aspects of their lifestyle that have been around forever. Upon arrival in the village, the women greeted us with chants and we joined in and provided our own version of entertainment with how ridiculous we sounded trying to sing their songs. Margaret held my hand and in her perfectly spoken English, tried to teach me a thing or two. The women were adorned with flashy beaded jewelry and looked like sky maidens just dropped from the heavens. We spent some time in the village where these lovely people showed us their huts, which are made out of cow dung and constructed by the ladies.

You wouldn’t believe how small, dark, and hot these huts are. Hard to imagine living in one. We sat along wooden benches surrounding the small coal fire pit in the middle of the floor and listened as the chief filled us in on life in the village. The ladies also do all of the cooking and cleaning and sometimes get married as young as 15. The men can have as many wives as they can handle and they are responsible for hunting and herding goats and cows. Later in the evening, the chief came to our campsite and sat with us around the campfire to tell stories about the Maasai. There are three clans of people: witch doctors, blacksmiths, and hunters.

Throughout Kenya and Tanzania you will see the Maasai roaming with their red cloths over their shoulders, and the red represents the blood of animals. At the age of 14, young warrior men are circumcised. If they do not go to school, their earlobe is stretched out as a marker of sorts. When a young warrior can hunt down and kill a lion, he is then considered a man and gets to wear a hat made of lion fur. Some Maasai still also circumcise young girls (female genital mutilation), but the government has intervened and instructed them that they need to stop this practice because it is dangerous and can be fatal. The Maasai also used to leave those who died laying out in the woods for the hyenas, but the government has also intervened on this one and encouraged them to bury the dead. The morning after the campfire, the Maasai men performed their warrior dances and pulled us in as well! These people believe that they came from the sky. In my eyes, they are just as fascinating as the stars up above. Their world is so far out there and different from mine. Africa is full of tradition dating back hundreds and hundreds of years. To see these traditions still in place today is really something.

Masai Mara National Reserve

Another bumpy ride and we made it to our final destination for

the week. This game reserve spans 1500 square kilometers and as a reserve, has no fences. Because of the leopard trees scattered throughout, the Masai Mara is called “The Spotted Plains”. Here, Victor shared more of his wisdom with us. This guy is so smart and clearly feels very passionately about animals. That passion for something is what I find most admirable.

A few tidbits….elephants are the only animal that practice burial of the dead. They are fiercely intelligent and live for 60-70 years. Boys will stay with their mothers until they are about 14, but girls will stay with their mothers until they are almost 50. In one elephant trunk, there are 45,000 muscles! Equally as interesting is the fact that a lioness can control when conception occurs. She can go out and mate and mate and mate, but hold the actual conception until she feels she has found the strongest partner. What a great idea.

I will never forget you Kenya.