Asante Sana, Kenya; nakupenda

 Jambo! As promised, here are just a few of the highlights from my Kenyan vacation. There will be a lot of pictures. I hope you like elephants. And lions. And sunsets - because I've got them in spades. I took over 2000 pictures and every single one of them is beautiful. Really.  Unfortunately no picture can capture the way the warm breeze blows your hair, and the smell of the closeness of the animals, the sound of the women singing or the feel of the rain on the open savannah. There's just no way to explain it. All I can do is encourage, strongly, that you go and see for yourselves. Put away all your previously held stereotypes and misconceptions - forget everything you think you know about Kenya, and Africa in general, save your pennies, and go.  Though I should warn you: this trip is not for the faint of heart - it should only be undertaken by those who are open to being forever changed thereafter. If you are not prepared for your heart to be bigger, fuller, and softer - if you are not completely ready to have your world rocked, this trip is not for you. I can honestly say I will never be the same, and I'm so fucking thankful for that.

Right off the bat the trip got started bright and early with a visit to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust an orphange of sorts for baby elephants who have been found motherless and abandoned, usually the result of poaching. Yes, in the year 2013 poaching is still practiced, and unfortunately the problem may be getting worse rather than better. The orphange is an amazing place, dedicated to raising these elephants until they are old enough and strong enough to return to the wild (usually around age 3 or 4).  I encourage you to check out their website. For only $50 USD/year you can choose and sponsor an elephant at the trust and receive monthly updates. I have seen firsthand the amazing work they do there and I assure you it is money well spent... and a great gift idea (ahem).

this is the baby I got to pet :)

 This poor little one is only two months old. They keep a blanket on him for warmth because in the wild he would be surrounded by his mother and the other elder females for warmth.

visiting hours are strictly one hour per day for the public to come and view the babies

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is a popular class trip for Kenyan children to learn about poaching and preservation.

 Next we ventured to the Giraffe Center in Nairobi run by the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife. We were able to see and touch giraffes, up close and personal and even feed them from a tree-top platform. It was incredible. Their tongues are black and as long as my arm and you really haven't lived until you've been completely covered in giraffe drool and slobber.

that's me feeding the giraffe.

and that's my hand covered in slobber. this is living.

After a quick lunch break...

 ...we traveled to the Kazuri Bead Factory in Nairobi. In Swahili Kazuri means "small and beautiful" and that's just what these perfectly handcrafted goods are. Everything is made, by hand, on site, with clay taken from the base of Mount Kenya. As we were outside learning about the clay and the process we heard the most beautiful and enchanting singing... as we walked inside the building we were greeted by the workers, predominately women, most single mothers who work side by side, rolling perfectly shaped beads by hand everyday. Kazuri is an excellent employment opportunity to allow these women to support their children and work in a safe environment. I wish I had a picture or video of them singing, but my eyes were full of tears at the time...

perfectly rolled, by hand.

Kazuri also makes pottery, of which I purchased a piece.

everything is made by hand, each animal is sculpted, shaped and painted individually.

One of my favourite things about this trip was the driving. No, really. We drove so far, and so wide and got to see so much of the country between stops, it was incredible. We drove through small towns and cities, villages, and areas where we wouldn't see anyone for miles. There were always incredible views and landscapes and the country changes wildly from one turn of a hill to another. Our first day of Safari took us all the way to Samburu, about 6ish hours north of Nairobi. Samburu is a semi-dessert region and the national reserve is totally wild, and without fences. The Samburu people live right next to lions, leopards and cheetahs. 

a family of female ostriches

And then it happened. One of the first jaw-dropping, heart stopping moments of the trip. The van came around a bend, right near the river, and we saw them, 30-40 female elephants, playing, splashing, drinking and just BEING. Living out in the wild with no fear and no fences, in the most scenic, surreal surrounding you could imagine. I still get goose bumps thinking about it. 

And never too far from a group of females, a loan bull. It was hard for us not to be sad everytime we saw a male. Always solitary. Just walking, seemingly aimlessly, alone. Tony (our drive/guide/hero extraordinnaire) assured us that the bulls are "bachelors. He's not sad, he's happy! He walks around all day just thinking of who his next girlfriend will be!"

The Desert Rose. The most beautiful thing in Samburu. Sometimes it's the only colour you see besides yellows and greens. Your eye is drawn to it. It is also so deadly that touching it can kill you. The samburu put it on the tip of their spears when they hunt. 

I can't stop thinking about the paradox, I love it. Mother Nature is so genius and sneaky.

The careful observer will notice that the markings on the giraffes seen here are different than those we saw at the Giraffe center. These are reticulated giraffe.  And they are graceful and gorgeous. I had no idea I would love the giraffes as much as I did. Do.

The Caracal is a wild cat that is rarely seen, especially by tourists. This was just the first in many "something specials" that Tony would find for us. 

The dik dik. Imagine an antelope, or a deer, shrunk down to the size of a rabbit, that looks and acts like a bouncy, happy yet scared little mouse. That's how you spell adorable: dik dik. They mate for life. If their partner dies they are alone forever, like this little one. 

Fulfilling all his promises, Tony found us a leopard. You can see how hard they are to spot, especially from a distance, while driving. 

The next morning we set out to find lions. At the crack of dawn we spent nearly an hour tracking paw prints in the dirt. Finally we found vultures. Where there's vultures, there's a kill. A fresh kill.

This camel belongs to the samburu villagers who live across the river. It is a domesticated animal. I didn't realize at the time the impact that a lion killing a camel would have, but let's just say, it's serious business, not to be taken lightly.

And course, where there's a body, there is a killer..



our first lion



This girl is part of the pack who killed the camel. She has been separated from her pride and is trying to find them while we nosily snap pictures.

6 hours later we came back to the scene of the crime, and this was all that remained:



vultures are no joke!

  We weren't the only ones who came back... Mama lion returned looking for an afternoon snack, and she's none to happy with what she finds, or.. doesn't find..

Umbrella Tree, my favourite

These, are hunting dogs. Not hyenas. Hunting Dogs. Another of Tony's "something specials". Rarely seen, almost never by tourists. Less than 5, 000 left in the world. They are so vicious they won't even kill you before they start eating you, alive.

In Samburu we stayed at a tented camp. A camp that is bursting at the seams with monkeys. Two families of monkeys actually. Families divided by a border. That border is tent number 12. Guess which tent we stayed in? These are pictures of the turf war that erupted outside our tent. The two families are fighting for land. 



lounging on our deck after the war



When most of the other groups got to see a cheetah and we didn't Tony worked his butt us to find us one that evening... 

Have you seen the Lion King (of course you have). Remember when Mufasa tells Simba about "everything the light touches", and how past the light, in the shadows it was just miles and miles of thick pricker bushes and thickets? We drove through that, off roading, standing up with the wind in our hair nearly getting scraped and attacked by thorns at every turn. And when we came out the other side, it was heaven... a sunset party with wine...

This is Steve. Steve says he lives halfway between the modern and traditional world. He works as the Naturalist at the lodge we stayed at. He is Samburu, through and through. Steve took Sara and I out to look at the stars one night. We stood, on the equator, with no electricity for miles in either direction. We could see the entire northern and southern hemispheres. I have never seen anything like it in my life. He showed us every visible constellation in both hemispheres. It was incredible. I will never forget it.



this ostrich ate my hair


Remember when I said driving was one of my favourite parts of my trip? Driving in Kenya is not without it's hangups. At a police checkpoint linking two regions Tony was out of the vehicle talking to the police when our van was hit by a large truck carrying a piece of construction equipment. While Tony, the police and the other driver were working things out our van was surrounded by locals. Some wanted to sell us things. Some were asking for food or water or supplies. That's where I met this little guy. He's playing with an empty coke bottle filled with stones. It's his rattle.

 His sisters came too. The older one asked me for a "pen for school". I gave her the only pen I had and she took it a part, inspected it a bit and then started writing on the light part of her palm as her younger sister watched, smiling.

In the Aberdare region, up in the mountains we stopped for lunch at a golf course. You can golf 9 holes with zebra, giraffes, warthogs, baboons and gazelle all around you.

cape buffalo at The Ark

The ark is one of Kenya's oldest game lodges. It's conveniently located on a watering hole. They have a buzzer system where they ring your room during the night to let you know if there are any rare sightings. Or you could just stay up reeeeallly late long after everyone else has gone to bed and watch two male elephants fight for the flirtiest tease of a female you've ever seen, like we did.



Did you think Africa was this lush and green? Aberdare is rolling green mountains as far as the eye can see



If water drains clockwise when you're above the equator, and counter clockwise below it - what way does it drain when you are ON the equator? We found out. 

Lake Naivasha is famous for its bird life. Specifically flamingoes. Three weeks before our trip the lake was covered in 4 million of them. Unfortunately we came after the migration, but Naivasha didn't disappoint. 

And, of course, Tony found us Rhinos.

this white ones are the rhinos

The Great Rift Valley runs throughout most of Africa. You can see it in Planet Earth, Africa and other BBC specialties we all love. I saw it in person. Well, a fraction of it. And it was breathtaking. We also stayed at the Great Rift Valley Lodge owned by President Uhuru Kenyatta. 



view from our room



sunrise selfie

 

 And then after the lap of luxury (canopied beds and fireplaces) we returned to the tented life at the Mara.

The Mara was an out of this world experience. It's hard to pick my favourite part(s). Here are a view.

A Maasai village welcomed us, with open arms, and full of song, into not only their village, but their homes. I will forever be changed by my experience there. The people still live incredibly traditional lives. I mean.. they eat only blood, milk and meat. That's it. No vegetation. Nothing man made.

The men welcomed us to the village with song and dance, and invited me to dance with them.

 

Next the women from the village came out to greet us. They sang a song which is usually sung to welcome the men home after hunting or after a battle.

Inside the village the men demonstrated their traditional jumping. The man who jumps the highest gets to have his pick of who his bride will be, and has a reduced dowry.

Then Sara, Luiyi and I were invited into a Maasai home. I don't have any pictures of the inside. Each home is made by the women. It takes 3 months to build. It's made of wood and cemented with elephant dung. The maasai man whose home it was lead me in holding my hand. It's pitch black inside. You can barely see your hand in front of your face, with a tiny window to let smoke out. It consists of two rooms. One room where animals come in to be milked and a second room for cooking, living and sleeping. There are two beds. One for the children and another for the parents. Each bed is made of cow hide stretched across wood. That's it. There's nothing else. But does there need to be? What do we need anyway? He told me to make myself at home. And 'get comfortable'. We sat on his bed while he talked about his home with such pride. 

 

There is no "stuff". There are no mirrors. No electricity. 

I can't stop thinking about these facts. About how much wasted time I've spent looking in mirrors and worrying about what I look like. And I'm not even that bad.. consider the kinds of women whose entire existence is spent manufacturing a "look". The Kardashians, if you will. And what does any of it matter? I've never cared so little about what I look like than on this trip and I've never felt more alive. Something like this really and I mean truly makes you examine your 'needs' and your 'wants'. About the amount of 'stuff' we accumulate, hoard, buy buy buy. It made me think about purpose. And impact. And connection. And about how I want to move and feel and be differently from now on. Not just different, better. 

The warmest, most lovely people. Thank you for inviting me into your home. I wear the bracelet I bought from this expectant Mom and her two children every day.

Men coming home from the fields. The Maasai bring their animals out to graze all day.



the mara





hyena stalking



What is the most awe-struck you've ever been?

Afterwards it felt like I was electric. 

That's the only way I can describe the high, the rush that I felt. The most alive.

                                                  Mama and baby look pretty content 

Her other babe is sleeping nearby

And decides he wants in on the love.. 

I can't believe I was there to see it all 



Mama Serval Another rare find!





and her babe!



sara hanging out



hippos the size of hippos



So not only did we get in a small car accident, but we also blew a tire and had to go to a Maasai mechanic. Really. I don't want to get into all the details of this picture but... it's my favourite. It sums up so much that I can't say... 



the mechanic. for real.



Tony, The Man, wheeling and dealing with the mechanics.

The time of my life. Thanks to Sara, for being such an amazing travel companion. Luiyi and Diego for being so much of what made the safari amazing. Steve for showing us the stars. The Maasai families for inviting us into their homes and opening my eyes and my heart. To Mother Nature for co-operating in an unheard of way. And to Tony. For laughing like Rafiki. For being so warm and personable. For giving me Tusker fist bumps. For taking care of everything. I still think about you all every single day.

xo
HP