As the weather and days in the Pacific Northwest offered the annual rhythm of short daylight days, overcast, and rain, it was time I turned off my simulated sunlight therapy lamp and journeyed to a more amiable climate. Africa popped to the top of the list.
Mount Kilimanjaro guards over an African savanna
This safari was my third but to a different country. Our destination, this time, was Kenya. I had already visited South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Egypt, and Rwanda on prior trips. Besides the weather, Africa's draw was its wildlife, savannas, and spectacular sunsets. Always amazing. Straddling the Equator, Kenya is slightly smaller than Texas and has twice the population. Home to more than 40 ethnic tribes, the Maasai tribe is the iconic symbol of Kenya and is number 10 on the size scale. Several of our guides were Maasai.
Preparing for a Safari, we launched our usual packing dance—whittling more than 40 pounds per person of stuff that we just had to have to less than 10 pounds. Angst peaked when the stuff had to fit into a soft, 40-liter duffle bag, as required for the small planes that land on remote grass or gravel runways. Fortunately, our Nairobi hotel was home base, where we switched and repacked and left our travel clothes in storage.
The flight to Nairobi was brutal, with two 10-hour flight legs bracketing a three-hour layover in Amsterdam. We arrived in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, late in the day, in time for a welcomed night’s sleep in an actual (not flat aircraft seat) bed.
Our Safari group consisted of family and our friend Sue, which made for lots of fun, shared experiences and stories.
Brent Schwager, Kelly Schwager, Bill Tobes, Kelly Slough, Andre, Sue Lukrich, Rosemarie Buonauro, Michelle Buonauro, Roselie Buonaoro
After meeting our guides and drivers, we reviewed our two-week itinerary, starting with key placess in and around Nairobi. Our first stop was the Giraffe Centre.
The Giraffe Centre, outside Nairobi, was founded in 1979 by Jock and Betty Leslie-Melville, to save the Rothschild giraffes. Giraffes are experiencing a silent extinction as their habitat continues to shrink. The Rothschild giraffe is a sub-species that dwindled to just over 100. The center has succeeded with more than 300 today, many resettled in Kenya’s wildlife parks. I had the chance to feed food pellets to Gloria, a not-shy ‘teenager’ who will be relocated to a park next year. Her long, purple tongue snaked out to retrieve the candy food in my palm. Very gentle. Those eyelashes are natural!
Hello, Gloria
Gloria loves her treats
Next came the Karen Blixen Museum, a farm at the foot of the Ngong Hills. Karen Blixen was the author of the book Out of Africa, which was made into a movie in 1985 starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. The movie is one of our favorites, and we watched it again just before leaving for Kenya. Most had seen the movie, except Bill, who was mercilessly harangued for never having seen it. He promised to watch it when he returned home. Hmmm! Did he? Karen’s home was the film’s location. We could readily identify many scenes, including those with her and her lover, Denys. In the distance, we saw the hill where Karen buried Denys following his death in an airplane crash.
Karen Bien dressed in European safari garb and her plantation home
We returned to central Nairobi to visit the non-profit Brilliant Beauty College, founded by our guide, Daniel. The college trains young women in all dimensions of beauty therapy and allows them to learn a profession and achieve financial independence. During our 2018 safari, the students demonstrated their skills by providing hair or facial treatments. It had been the first time the students applied their skills to a white woman. This time, they offered us a tour of the classrooms and the tools they used to teach. It took a year to reach the first skill level. They could continue for a second and third year to achieve the highest skill level.
Class of 2024 students
Getting from one location to the next involved experiencing traffic and our driver's skills. There are no stoplights. Nairobi embraced roundabouts, which were more like round parking lots. It took us ten to fifteen minutes to inch forward by playing ‘chicken’ with other cars, vans, trucks, motorcycles, or mopeds to finally exit. Motorcyclists had a clear advantage. The best strategy was to close your eyes, think happy thoughts, or nap and let our driver do his magic.
We're trapped in a typical Nairobi round-about
After the torturous ride, we were ready for lunch at the renowned Carnivore restaurant, a tourist must-experience event. It has survived on its historic brand and tourism rather than an exotic menu. Perhaps 20 years ago, you had the chance to taste a full spectrum of domestic and wild animal meat. However, Kenya has banned the killing of wild animals. Safari guides may no longer carry rifles. Poaching continues to be a problem, even though new laws allow rangers to kill poachers on sight. The poachers take the risk because of the money offered by foreign customers. The Chinese desire for rhino horns has driven the species to near extinction.
Today's luncheon menu
Only farmed animal meats were offered. Servers hovered, offering freshly cooked offerings. Taste or decline as you want. No, I did not try the Ox balls. I was surprised they didn’t offer camel meat. Camels are raised for consumption in Kenya. Kenya’s famous stew is based on Camel meat.
The 10-zone time suddenly hit us. We were ready for some rest at our hotel.
Nairobi is a large city of 4 million people, with a full spectrum of economics on display. . Kenya is best described as a banana republic with its vast wealth in the hands of just a few people. It looked and felt like other large cities in other third-world countries we had visited. The great news was that it is a leader in some new areas. For example, non-reusable plastics are banned, all children must attend school, and wild animals may not be killed for sport or money. While Nairobi was interesting, and I learned a lot, the Africa I came for still awaits.
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