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.