A LOVE LETTER
TO KENYA
by
Suzanne North
Goodrich
San Diego,
California
March 1999
“If you visit only two
continents in your lifetime,
visit Africa. . .Twice!”
R. Elliot
This
quote says it all. I left part of my
heart and soul in Kenya. Never before
have I been so very sad to leave a place.
The land, the animals, the PEOPLE -- something very special and
different from the rest of the world I have been fortunate enough to see. Saying good-bye to our drivers and tour
directors was like leaving beloved family members behind, perhaps never to be
seen again. And the wildlife! For an animal lover like me, seeing
elephants, giraffes, zebras, lions and a mind-boggling number of other animals
in their natural habitat was almost too beautiful to bear. Imagine driving across the savanna and
stopping right NEXT to a lion eating a zebra, or huge elephants nursing their
young, or watching with an entire den of hyenas as the males came home one by
one from every direction after a night of hunting! Or to slip away along a brush-covered riverbank to get a better
picture of a sleeping crocodile, only to be warned when you returned that there
could have been a lion in the brush!
This
is the one experience in my entire life that exceeded my wildest expectations. I will never be the same.
I
left San Diego on Thursday, February 25, 1999, on my all-expense-paid House of
Lloyd training trip that I had earned with my 1998 sales. I have earned many trips through the
company, but I had no idea that the best one ever was awaiting me 9,700 miles
away. I flew on British Airways direct
to London, took a bath and a nap in a dayroom at the lovely Le Meridien Hotel
during our eight-hour layover, and arrived in Nairobi Saturday morning. Three continents in two days, about 30 hours
from start to finish!
Kenya
is a country of 30 million people, representing over 40 tribes, on the far
eastern side of Africa. It is bordered
on the south by Tanzania, on the east by Uganda and Lake Victoria, on the north
by Sudan and Ethiopia, and on the east by Somalia and the Indian Ocean. It has a democratic form of government with
a constitution providing for freedom of speech, assembly and worship. Official languages are Swahili and English,
so we had no problem communicating (in English, not Swahili!). Temperatures are in the 70- to 90-degree
range year round, rarely going below 55 degrees at night. Because Kenya is equatorial, there are only
two seasons -- dry and rainy. The
people are the real treasure of Kenya.
They are such wonderful, kind people and are disturbed by the violence
occurring around them in the bordering countries. The ones we met were peace-loving and almost all are Christians
proud of their faith and trying hard to live up to it.
Our
first stop was the Safari Park Hotel on the outskirts of Nairobi -- a former
British Army officers’ retreat which has become an internationally renowned
resort with ostriches and peacocks roaming the beautiful grounds. Hand-carved four-poster beds with mosquito
netting in a spacious room with a marble bathroom looked just like in the
movies. My roommate Laurie and I were
too keyed up to sleep, and undoubtedly suffering from jet lag, so spent most of
the night talking.
Our
first two days were spent relaxing and participating in classes related to our
business. Dinner the first night was
under the stars and featured numerous waiters offering cuts of meat from
skewers of roasted ostrich and eland (my favorites), zebra, giraffe and wild
boar (good), crocodile (awful!), hippo and one or two others I didn’t get to
sample, along with more familiar beef, pork and chicken. Dinner the next night was a gourmet affair
preceding our annual awards banquet; each course was a work of art and tasted
as good as it looked. We had a surprise
visit from a young African Christian choir that sang beautifully both in
English and Swahili.
Our
adventures in Kenya were guided by our tour directors, Dodson and Jason, with
Park East Tours. If you ever get to
Kenya, you had better hope these are the men assigned to your group. They are terrific -- informative, funny,
kind and always making sure everything is running smoothly and that everyone
has a great time. Dodson’s greatest
wish is that we all go home and become “ambassadors for Kenya.” I am more than happy to grant his wish.
We
traveled around in private minibuses with our assigned driver and must have
been the envy of those who rode by in city buses. While we usually had six or seven passengers, each with a window seat,
their buses were about the same size but they had 18 or more people in each of
theirs -- four rows of four, plus two in the front, and often even more
standing up! (Imagine that in 80 or 90
degree heat!) Traffic is a sight to
behold. Kenyans drive on the left, just
like in England, at amazing speeds and with no apparent plan, seemingly more
uncontrolled than any other country I have visited. They cut in and out and we just closed our eyes and held on! At least the roads in Nairobi are paved;
that wasn’t always the case. And the
potholes! They are everywhere and are the most impressive I have ever seen. Drivers from both directions zigzag all over
the place trying to avoid the worst of them, gliding in and out as if
performing some kin d of crazy car dance, and we passengers bounced up and down
nonstop while deep in prayer for our safety.
And those are the normal roads.
On some of our travels, we were warned that part of the trip would be on
really bad roads. “Bad” didn’t
describe it; dusty, rocky and deeply rutted, they bore little resemblance to
anything we would label a road. We even
occasionally bumped our heads on the roof, and conversation was next to
impossible. What an experience! (And I wouldn’t trade it for the
world.) The roads take such a toll on
our safari vans that they have to be replaced every two or three years!
After
breakfast on Monday, we flew to our first (and favorite) game reserve -- the
Maasai Mara, 700 square miles of wild animals.
Like everything else in Kenya, this flight was a unique experience. Airport?
What airport? The Maasai Mara is
in southwest Kenya, an extension of the Serengeti Plains, and the airport is
merely a landing strip out in the wilderness.
In fact, after we climbed out, we stood there on the grass as the small
prop plane taxied around and took off again.
We piled into waiting minibuses and headed for the Mara Serena
Lodge. Now THIS was the Africa I had
come to see. Wonderful little domed
huts in the style of a traditional Maasai manyatta (village), with bright
yellow and orange decor, on a ridge overlooking the vast savanna where animals
could be seen grazing and drinking right below our rooms. The real safari had begun.
That
first day brought more than any of us dared hope for. Our first encounter was right near the lodge, a herd of elephants
with babies in tow. We raced alongside
snapping pictures, then pulled into their path so we could get some shots of
them coming toward us! In three short
hours we also saw dozens of zebras, wildebeests, warthogs, impala, gazelles,
two lionesses walking home from a kill (one still had a blood-stained mouth), a
full-maned lion resting in the brush, hyenas, topi, a secretary bird, jackals,
vultures, eagles, cape buffalo and a mongoose!
We were almost too excited to eat dinner. I wrote in my notes: “Didn’t
know whether to laugh or cry, run in circles, pray, yell or what. Extreme emotions.” I will never forget that rush of feelings, just about the most
intense of my life.
In
spite of the excitement, we settled down for a great meal. Kenya has terrific meats, salads, soups and
fresh fruit -- not at all what I expected.
Maasai warriors danced after dinner (the real thing, not some Broadway
spectacle) and we relaxed under that magnificent starlit sky. Now began our routine -- wake-up call or
knock on the door at 5:45 a.m., tea or coffee in the lodge, in the van at
6:15 and out into the reserve before daylight so we could catch a glimpse of
the more nocturnal animals. Back for a
huge breakfast of made-to-order omelets or more exotic fare, varied activities,
a great lunch, out for our afternoon game run, back for a delicious dinner, and
leisure activities or conversation until bedtime.
On
our second game run the following morning, we saw many more of the same animals
plus a bustard, longclaw, a pride of lions with seven nursing cubs (making
adorable kitten noises), a den of hyenas with pups, a lone giraffe, hippos in a
pool with a HUGE crocodile (the one mentioned earlier), storks and baboons. At one point we were literally in the middle
of hundreds of zebras, wildebeests and gazelles, grazing all around us
with just occasional curiosity about the cameras clicking away. Surrounded by nature like we have never
imagined it. Zebras in Kenya are as
common as cars in the U.S. In fact, we
seldom drove along without several zebras breaking into a quick trot to get out
of the road as we zipped along missing them by inches. On our drive we interrupted a lion stalking
a wildebeest that had been separated from the herd. Our van’s arrival distracted the lion long enough for the
wildebeest to get away. The lion sat
and roared somewhat softly for several minutes, I guess in frustration.
At
the end of that afternoon’s game run, we spotted two cheetahs lounging under a
tree. They didn’t mind a bit when we
pulled up and sat watching them.
Suddenly it began to rain -- and African rains can be awesome. We could see the water immediately building
up on the hard, dry dirt. Our driver
became quite nervous about getting stuck and he raced across the savanna toward
the lodge. We made it safely but we saw
how quickly it could turn to mud. Many
tourists are not so lucky and end up in the mud trying to free their van.
Our
safari vans had pop-up tops and I spent most of my time in Kenya on my feet,
grinning into the wind and hanging on for dear life as our driver raced over
the plains searching for or chasing our prey.
Our driver in the Mara was only too happy to make a beeline wherever we
pointed, trails or no trails. We had
four women and three men in our van -- my roommate Laurie, another Laurie from
the home office, Debbie and her Hawaiian husband (nicknamed, of course,
“Kahuna”), Laurie’s son Bernie and his friend Geoff, both in their mid-20’s,
and me. The men were outstanding
spotters and our van quickly became the most successful in searching out the
more elusive animals -- cheetah, lions, etc.
Before we left the Mara, we had also seen eland, buzzards, hartebeest,
waterbuck, maribou stork and guineafowl.
I know there were others but I didn’t always remember to write them
down.
Because
space is limited when out on safari, each of us had been allowed only one small
suitcase or duffel bag and an even smaller carry-on. This meant most of us left 90% of our things back in Nairobi in
storage at the hotel. This also meant
we wore our two or three outfits over and over. . . and over again. Since we were all in the same situation, it
became a non-problem; we just washed out our undies when necessary and
overlooked each other’s dirty jeans. It
was actually quite freeing. We showered
at least once a day, so who cared what our clothes looked like! Next time I go to Kenya though, I sure will
pack lighter. When I think of all the
unused clothing and other items I lugged for almost 20,000 miles, it makes me
ill.
Here,
as in most of the hotels outside Nairobi, we were cautioned not to drink the
water, not even to brush our teeth.
Bottled water became a constant companion and our driver kept a cooler
of it in the van at all times. Like
everything else, it was “hakuna matata” (no problem) once we got used to
it. Actually, there were fewer
inconveniences than I had expected. Nothing seemed too much to bear. Even the heat was tolerable; we accepted
sweat as part of life and just took lots of showers. (My mother taught me that ladies don’t “sweat,” they perspire. Sorry, Mom, near the equator it is SWEAT.) The accommodations were great -- House of
Lloyd includes only the best hotels and lodges in their itineraries, the food
was always superb, and the experience was the dream of a lifetime.
Never
a dull moment in a game reserve. One of
my friends, Judi, and her husband had a hut a couple of doors down from ours
and were kept awake much of the night because of animal activity. First a hippo wandered up the hill from a
waterhole and walked up to the window of their hut! Then an amorous, and very noisy, baboon mated with several
females right by their front door!
Baboons are quite aggressive and close encounters are to be
avoided. Easier said than done. They hang around the dining room and will
jump through the windows and steal food right off your plate if you aren’t
careful!
One
of my favorite animals in the compound was the rock hyrax. They are technically rodents, but they are
the size of a rabbit and awfully cute.
They must reproduce like rabbits too because they were everywhere,
living in the plants and rock walls along the paths. We were warned not to touch them because they would bite, but
they loved to be talked to and would sit at our feet or stretch out
precariously from the top of a wall to be closer to us as we talked to
them. As with most other animals we
saw, they had lots of tiny babies to show off.
We were lucky to be on safari during “baby season.”
That
last night in the Mara, Laurie and I had another middle-of-the-night gab
session about the company’s COOKIN’ line of kitchenware. Since it’s new to me, I was plying her with
questions so she gave me a mini training.
Soon there was a soft knock on the door. A neighbor named Cathy not only could hear us talking in the
extreme quiet of the African plains but could even hear what we were
discussing. She had gotten dressed and
grabbed pen and paper to come take notes!
So she and I sat on my bed like good students while Laurie shared her
expertise with us till dawn. Fun!
Our
final game run in the Mara was the most exciting -- and bitterly disappointing
-- of all. As soon as we headed out,
one of the men spotted a lion crouched behind a shrub, obviously on the
hunt. Grazing nearby was a wildebeest
and a herd of zebras. We parked and
waited, hardly daring to breathe, vowing to stay all morning if necessary to
see the anticipated chase, something most visitors probably don’t get to
see. One by one, the other vans spotted
us and joined the growing crowd. All of
a sudden our driver started up the engine and we left! One of our group (who shall, in the name of
friendship, remain nameless) encouraged him to honor a promise to show another
driver where we had found the cheetahs the night before! The rest of us were furious with the driver
but he ignored our pleas to stay. When
we returned a bit later, still angry, we were further distressed because the
lion had just caught a zebra and we had missed the chase by only a couple of
minutes. The zebra was dead and was
lying on its back with its legs sticking stiffly up in the air. We pulled up to within a few yards of it and
started taking tons of pictures. If the
reader has a weak stomach, it might be advisable to skip the rest of this
paragraph because it gets quite gory.
Normally, I get weak in the knees by even a skinned elbow, but I guess
this didn’t bother us because it was part of nature. The lion began on the zebra’s belly, exposing a gray underlayer
of skin. When he finally broke through
that, the intestines were readily visible and, with a little help from the
lion, eventually fell out onto the ground like a pile of Jell-O. When he bit into them, a bright green
substance spilled out. What really
amazed me was that, once the intestines were out, we could see right into the
zebra’s body and it was like a big, empty barrel. When the lion began chewing on the thighs, we were so close we
could actually hear the bones crunch!
Once in a while the lion would turn and look at us, but then go on with
his dinner. Call us sick or perverted
if you must, but it was one of the most fascinating things we had ever seen.
On
our way back to the lodge after the morning game run, our driver suddenly
veered off the road onto a rutted path.
He wouldn’t tell us where we were going but hinted it was a special place. After some really rough going -- and even
some places where we thought we’d have to turn back -- we pulled into a
clearing and there we joined other surprised friends for breakfast on the Mara
River, home to hundreds of hippos!
Tables were set up along the riverbank and all the chefs from the lodge
stood there grinning in their white aprons ready to take our orders for
omelets! We dined in the shade of the
trees as we watched the hippos at play in the water below.
On
Wednesday afternoon we flew back to Nairobi and met up with our regular driver,
Freddie, to head for our next destination, the world-famous Mount Kenya Safari
Club several hours to the north. It is
a gorgeous hotel and is frequented by the international jet set including stars
like John Travolta and Michael Jackson.
Richard Gere had just been there a week or so earlier. My roommate and I shared a two-bedroom
cottage with a married couple. The
bedrooms were separated by a large living room beautifully furnished with
sofas, chairs, artwork, fireplace and an entire wall of floor-to-ceiling
windows overlooking the most beautiful golf course I have ever seen with large,
brightly colored native birds walking around.
I would have been content just to live in the bathroom -- it was all
blue and white, and basically one huge shower/bath. Three steps led down into the shower area which was surrounded by
railings. No shower door or curtain was
needed since it practically filled the entire room. Several faucets allowed water to flow in from different
directions for a thorough cleansing.
Great place for an orgy if you’re into that sort of thing! This resort was created by the late actor
William Holden and has been rated one of the top hotels in the world by Conde
Nast travel magazine. I won’t argue
with that. Dinner was equally elegant. Each course was more delectable than the
last, ending with dessert arranged on a plate decorated with beautiful
chocolate butterflies. I could get used
to this real fast.
The
hotel actually straddles the equator. When we arrived, we were ushered over to
one side of the courtyard walkway for a demonstration. Our host poured water into a funnel and floated
a matchstick. It swirled in a clockwise
direction. Then we walked over to the
other side and did the same thing. This
time the water swirled in the opposite direction. When he took us to the center of the walkway, the matchstick
stayed practically motionless in the water!
I can now say I have been in both hemispheres at the same time!
That
night was one of the most hilarious times of my life. I’ll describe the events, but I’m sure you had to be there to
properly appreciate the humor. I had been
rooming with Laurie up to this point, but we now switched around. I briefly met my new roommate, Terry, late
that afternoon and didn’t see her again until we met in the room several hours
later. We didn’t have a game run the
next day so requested a wake-up call for 6:30 a.m. (this was “sleeping in” by
safari standards). I had a terrible
time falling asleep because my bed was broken (even luxury hotels have their
problems); I had to brace myself to stay in one place. When the phone rang, Terry answered it and
it was the front desk. She thanked them
for the call, hung up and went on into the bathroom commenting, “Boy, that was
a short night!” I replied, “Yeah, I’m
exhausted!” I had already showered
before bed so got up and dressed and packed my suitcase. The phone rang again and it was someone
calling from the U.S. trying to reach the couple sharing our villa. Terry called the woman into our room and she
talked on our phone while Terry and I continued to get ready. When I finished, I checked my watch to see
if I had time to quickly wash my hair.
Yep, it was only 20 till. . .20 till 2:00!!! 1:40 a.m., not 6:40 a.m.!
That first call was NOT a wake-up call; it was the operator trying to
put the long-distance call through and Terry just assumed it was the wake-up
call and hung up on her! Well, we fell
apart laughing. There she is trying to
get a shower, our neighbor is in our room talking on the phone, I’m all dressed
and packed and it’s still the middle of the night! After we put our PJ’s back on and climbed into our beds, it got
funnier and funnier as we recalled our comments about how short the night
seemed and as I fought not to roll out of my bed. We both ended up laughing so hard we cried. As we finally stifled our giggles and
settled back to sleep, there was a knock at the door. This time it was both of our neighbors, Val and Murray, who came
in and plopped down to visit. You have
to understand, these three were friends traveling together but I hadn’t met any
of them until that day, yet here we are having a pajama party at 2:30 in the
morning -- me in my bed with the blankets pulled modestly up to my chin, Terry
in her bed doing the same, Val on the end of my bed, and Murray pulled up in a
chair! What a sight. Actually, the news turned out to be quite
sobering. That had been their daughter
calling from the States to tell them about the massacre of eight tourists in
neighboring Uganda and making sure we weren’t involved. They had then walked up to the lodge to
verify the info (no TV’s or newspapers where we were) and then brought the news
to us. After they left, I gave up
trying to stay in that lopsided bed and went into the living room and spent the
rest of the night on the sofa. One of
the world’s top hotels and there I was sleeping on a sofa without a blanket in
a freezing room in a mountain lodge where the fire had died out. All in all, an evening I won’t soon forget.
While
my roommate went horseback riding the next morning, Marlene and John, friends
from San Diego County, and I walked over to the Stephanie Powers Animal
Orphanage. (For those too young to
recall, she was Bill Holden’s long-time “significant other.” You may remember her in the “Hart to Hart”
TV series with Robert Wagner.) We got
up close and personal with an ostrich, a bongo and monkeys, among others. I had a lot of fun with an adorable little
Sykes monkey who hopped on my shoulder several times and liked to hold
hands. When she wanted to free her
hands to eat, she would slip her warm little foot into my hand as a substitute!
On
Thursday, after depleting the merchandise in the souvenir shops at the resort
and eating another delicious meal, we piled into our vans and headed north to
the Samburu Game Reserve and our next stop -- the Samburu Serena Lodge. Each lodge has been in a uniquely different
setting which surprised me. When I
arrived in Kenya I expected everything to be green and jungle-looking and it
wasn’t anything like that. Nairobi is a
dry, dusty, bustling city; the Maasai Mara is hot savanna with miles and miles
of dry, brown grass, occasional shrubs and even fewer trees; Mount Kenya, at a
much higher altitude, is a paradise of lush green grass, trees and flowers
(helped along with a bit of expensive irrigation, I’m sure) and downright cold
at night; and now Samburu, another hot but totally different environment. Here our lodge stretched along the
almost-dry Uaso Nyiro River with lots of trees and different types of
animals. We even had a big crocodile we
could see holed up on the other side of the riverbed.
I
missed the excitement of going on game runs as we had done at Maasai Mara so,
in spite of how lovely the Mount Kenya Safari Club was, I was glad to get back
out to see the animals -- 5:45 wake-up call and all. Each day we would set our sights on specific animals that we had
not yet seen, including leopard, rhino and python, and head for the area where
our guide felt they might be. We
finally saw our first leopard at Samburu because they put bait out each night
on the other side of the river and we were there when one leaped up to grab the
meat hanging from a tree. But still no
rhino. We had been in Africa almost a
week and still hadn’t spotted the last of the “Big Five” (elephant, lion,
buffalo, leopard and rhino). But we saw
a lot of other kinds. To our already
long list, we added gerenuk (a giraffe-necked deer that stands on its hind legs
to eat from the trees), reticulated giraffes which have different markings from
the Maasai giraffes we had seen elsewhere), the rare kudu, oryx, and the Grevy’s
zebra (which has stripes in a pattern different from that of the common
zebra). It is thrilling beyond words to
be able to see these wonderful creatures up close from the safety of our van. I also got a kick out of the numerous
vultures that sat around for hours in almost leafless trees along the riverbank
as if stupidly pondering what to do that day.
Samburu was very nice but the animals are shyer and therefore harder to
spot so it wasn’t quite as exciting as the Maasai Mara. However, this encouraged us to be more
resourceful and we learned how to follow animal tracks and droppings and spent
much of one morning on the trail of a meandering lion.
Friday
morning we saw a huge herd of elephants with several babies, one seemingly a
newborn. One elephant was lying on the
ground and another had it pinned with its foot, but Freddie assured us this was
how they play.
That
afternoon we visited a Samburu village.
On the way there we happened upon two giraffes fighting in a
riverbed. Freddie explained that they
were trying to break each other’s neck and would fight to the death, perhaps
not that day or even that week, but each time they met until one of them was
the victor. Such gentle-looking animals
with such a lethal goal! We watched
them for a while, marveling at how this death dance was so graceful. It was fascinating to see how the smaller
one stayed so close to the “bully” instead of running away. We were told that by keeping little space
between them, the smaller one is able to prevent his opponent from kicking him!
The
Samburu village was a real eye-opener.
Small grass huts with dirt floors and sealed with cow dung to keep out
the weather. Small and windowless, the
one I was invited into was divided into FOUR areas! Entry (living room?), parents’ sleeping quarters, children’s
bedroom, and kitchen (probably no more than three feet wide by three feet
deep). The beds were cowhides spread on
the floor, and no furniture at all.
From what I gathered, nine people shared that small home! Their village consists of a number of
similar huts surrounded by thorn bushes and barbed wire to keep out the
lions. They get all their water from a
nearby river which is also where they bathe.
It was a humbling experience. I
believe it has had a permanent impact on my life; I have a great desire to
simplify things now, not a bad thing to do.
The
Maasai and Samburu tribes are essentially the same people who live in different
areas, Maasai in the south and Samburu in the north. Since they believe their god gave them all the cattle of the
earth (even those in the U.S.), cattle are “taken back” from other tribes in
the area. I don’t know if this creates
a great deal of strife or not.
Most
of the members of these tribes have two of their lower teeth removed. This custom came about so they can be fed
food and medicine if they get tetanus (lockjaw).
Males
are circumcised at age 14-17 without anesthesia, using the same knife for
all. If a man cries out in pain, it
brings shame to his family. The
circumcision marks his transformation from boy to warrior and he will remain
single until age 30 while he is taught the ways of a man/warrior. His diet during this phase will include a
drink made of blood and milk, intended to make him strong.
Most
tribes allow men to have several wives; the more they have, the richer and more
respected they appear. When a man
marries, he is expected to provide his bride’s family with an agreed-upon
number of cows. If the man is unable to
pay in full, when his own daughters later marry, he can take the cows received
from that union and turn them over to his wife’s family to be applied toward
his debt.
A
fact of Kenyan life that intrigues me resulted from a question asked of Jason,
one of the guides, regarding how Kenyans dispose of trash. He said they don’t have trash; they use and recycle everything. We should be so smart.
On
one of our game runs, we came across two lions walking down the middle of the
road. We pulled up right alongside them
and got some great pictures. Geoff, who
was sitting up front with Freddie, was so close he could have touched
them. He was wide-eyed the rest of the
day and kept saying, “Freddie, they were this
close! This close, Freddie!”
Another
time we encountered a large herd of impala.
We sat for a long time watching as each one leaped high across the road
and disappeared into the brush. We had
a similar experience with an entire colony of baboons. One big fellow sat in the middle of the road
with his back to us as he waited for the others to cross one by one.
I
will always remember the Samburu lodge as the place where I was introduced to
banana soup. The chef had to convince
me to try it and it was so good that I had a second bowl in spite of the fact
that it was high noon on a hot day near the equator. From then on, I made it a point to try various unusual soups and
was never disappointed.
Each
time we traveled between reserves, we stopped to browse whenever possible at
little roadside souvenir shops where we learned to bargain and barter with the
best of them. Some traded T-shirts and
bandanas for necklaces and carved giraffes.
The rest of us struggled to mentally convert shillings to dollars to
determine if we were getting a good deal.
Sometimes we didn’t even need to leave the van to shop. Dare to stop in certain areas and vendors
swarmed to our van pushing all sorts of merchandise through the windows with
frantic negotiations back and forth until our driver eased away. That was the moment of truth; either we got
our souvenir at a rock-bottom price or we lost out to a savvy vendor. At first I hated it, but then it began to be
fun once we knew how the system worked and learned to be firm.
On
Saturday afternoon, Freddie loaded us up and took us to our final game reserve
– Sweetwaters Tented Camp, with a fantastic view of snow-capped Mount
Kenya. We all loved this place a
lot. It is a permanent (not mobile)
group of luxury tents, some on stilts (including ours), with thatched roofs and
private verandas that look out onto a floodlit waterhole in the middle of the
reserve. The tents are quite spacious
and each has a very large adjoining bathroom with all the modern
conveniences. You just zip yourself in
and out of the bathroom. The only thing
separating us from the animals was a shallow trench circling the compound with
a two-foot electric fence that didn’t quite reach the top of the trench! I guess it works but sometimes animals do
come into the fenced area. I heard a
lion roar twice the first night and it sounded like it came from right next to
our tent. I went out to investigate,
not yet aware of how low the fence was and that he could have jumped over to
our side! I still don’t know how close
he was. Apparently he wasn’t hungry
enough to go after me.
Dinner
that night was the usual festive affair but with an emotional ending. My friend Judi (she of wandering hippo and
amorous baboon fame), was celebrating her birthday and we had been stretching
it out all day by singing to her every hour.
After dinner, every available staff member came into the dining room,
led by waiters carrying torches and a birthday cake, singing a song we had all
come to love – “Jambo Bwana.” They
danced through the dining room and we all joined the line and sang along as
best we could in Swahili. Judi was in
tears and most of us were too; it was a really beautiful moment – these
wonderful, sweet Kenyans that we had all grown to love joining hands and voices
with us to honor Judi. I have never met
a group of people as warm, kind and friendly as the people of Kenya; they are
wonderful! I bet Judi never forgets
that celebration.
As
I wandered back to my tent, I saw some zebras near the waterhole so stopped for
a while. Sure enough, they gradually
and nervously came up to drink. Only a
few yards and a two-foot fence separated us in that dark, quiet night. It was another cherished moment in Kenya.
On
Sunday we visited a nearby chimpanzee rehabilitation center opened in support
of the Jane Goodall Institute. Back at
the lodge, as part of a local school project, we each helped plant a tree (now
I have an excuse to go back so I can check on my tree) and also visited Morani,
a rhino that was orphaned and has been raised at the camp. We didn’t count him as part of the Big Five
though; we still wanted to see one in the wild. They have been killed by poachers almost to extinction so are not
easy to spot, but we hoped to see at least ONE of the 20 or so that were
rumored to be in this particular reserve.
We went on our afternoon game run but still had no success in finding
the elusive rhino.
This
was our last night on safari and we were treated to a bush dinner. Freddie took us out into the reserve where
the hotel staff had set up tables covered in white linen with complete formal
table settings and a huge buffet. Armed
guards kept watch and fires burned to keep the animals away as we dined in
style with the brightest stars shining in the biggest sky you have ever
seen. You just cannot imagine what it
was like if you haven’t been there.
Since it was Sunday, we had a brief non-denominational worship service
and anybody who wanted to share his thoughts was invited to do so. The big, quiet “Kahuna” from our van
surprised us all by offering an emotional commentary on the time we had spent
in Africa and then sang “Amazing Grace.”
He has a beautiful voice and it was a perfect ending to a perfect day in
a perfect setting.
The
next morning was our very last game run.
We headed out of the compound and right away spotted our rhino! At last!
Big, shy and ugly – there he was off in the bush. We barely had time to snap a couple of
pictures before he disappeared. We
drove around trying to find him again but never did. On the way back to the lodge, we found another even bigger
one! No rhinos for almost two weeks and
now two in one morning! We got some
great shots of this one as it grazed, then ran away as Freddie raced the van
alongside it in reverse, then more exciting shots as it ran across the road
right behind us into the brush on the other side. The best part of it all was the HUGE smile on the Kahuna’s face
as he sat back in his seat with the most contented look I have ever seen.
I
never did see a python but that was about the only thing we missed. A real surprise was that we didn’t see a lot
of spiders, bugs and snakes. I had been
really nervous about that but in the entire two weeks, I saw only a few flies,
one small spider, a mosquito or two and heard about a couple who found a snake
in their room. (Glad it wasn’t mine!)
The
rest of the morning was a very sad one for most of us. It suddenly dawned on us that this dream was
about to end. I have visited many
countries with House of Lloyd and on my own, but I have never been so caught up
in a culture as I was there in Kenya.
It is almost a spiritual thing; even now, I feel I am being called to
something and I don’t know what it is.
Freddie
gathered us up with our luggage and we left Sweetwaters very reluctantly. However, we still had a few surprises
left. We stopped at a large public
school on the way back to Nairobi, in a town called Karatina, to distribute
books and pens we had brought with us to Kenya. The schools are very poor and these are very scarce commodities
so we had looked forward to donating them, but we had not expected the reception
we got. We were greeted as if we were
movie stars! My traveling companions
from San Diego, Dottie and Roger, and I were invited into a classroom of
seven-year-olds. The school has about
1500 children from kindergarten through eighth grade, and there were 55
children in the room we visited! While
Dottie and Roger spoke with the teacher, I sat down with some of the children
(all of whom seemed to speak flawless English) and began asking questions. Mostly I got giggles and shy smiles. They were too awestruck to speak. Finally, one by one, they began to offer
schoolwork for my review and I read over each paper very carefully, noting the
child’s name and matching that name up with a face shining with pride. The grades were terrific and they were pleased
that I commented on each one and they began to loosen up. First one offered his/her hand with the
greeting “Jambo” (hello), then another, then another. . .until I was besieged
with little hands reaching out to hold or shake mine. Eventually, the three of us moved on outside with the teacher to
join the others while the children in the various classrooms waved or reached
through the windows to shake hands as we passed. When the lunch bell sounded, they raced to our sides and that’s
when I knew how Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise and Harrison Ford feel. Every child in the school gathered around us
in clusters to talk, gawk or stroke our arms and hands. They were fascinated with our color (or lack
of it?); I’m sure they had seen white skin before but perhaps not within
touching distance and they were so sweet that we were only too happy to oblige
their curiosity. They vied to take
turns gently rubbing my arm while a teacher and I talked with them about the
differences in our skin and our countries.
It was a social and geographical lesson I will always treasure above all
others. My growing entourage and I sang
a couple of songs together, as did many of the other clusters of “movie stars”
and their groups of admirers. When the
visit was over, the children refused to let us go and hung on for dear life; we
were barely able to pry ourselves free to get in the vans. Maybe that’s what is calling me back. Education is one of the greatest needs in
Africa and those adorable children are so hungry to learn. I always wanted to be a teacher but
unavoidable events in my life turned me in a different direction. I wish I were years younger and knew where
to start.
Finally,
regrettably, we arrived back at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi to collect the
luggage we had left there in storage and prepare for the long trip home. I had purchased so many souvenirs that I was
seriously concerned about getting it all home since the baggage limitations are
quite strict. One of the House of Lloyd
staff members who had intelligently brought only one suitcase offered to check
an extra bag or box through for me and have the home office ship it to me when
it arrived in the States. I finally
avoided that inconvenience by leaving some unneeded items behind and “sharing”
my excess carry-ons with my fellow travelers.
One problem was the spears I had purchased. Ranging from three to seven feet long, these authentic souvenirs
were my pride and joy. A Samburu
warrior had taken them apart and tied them into a bundle, but I was fairly certain
I would have trouble getting them on the plane. The airlines did accept them as a checked item without charging
me extra, but they created a tiny bit of a stir when we arrived in the U.S. and
had to go through customs before getting back on the plane to come home. I had to personally appear and identify them
from a special “security” carousel – where I was greeted with, “Oh, you’re the one with the spears” (they
had obviously x-rayed the package carefully) – and then the security person had
to carry them and escort me to the desk so I could recheck them back on
board. I guess they were afraid I could
use them to hijack the plane.
(Actually, I’m glad they are so careful, but it makes for a good story.)
That
night we had our farewell gala at the hotel with yet another splendid dinner
served under the stars. We performed
skits spoofing some of our more unusual African adventures and then were
entertained by 10 or 12 VERY athletic Africans who performed the most startling
acrobatics I have ever seen. It was a
stunning show and I didn’t want it or the evening to end. One of my new friends, Denise, felt the same
way and we stayed to the bitter end. We
group-danced to some great African music with several others including Sara
from the home office and Dodson, our tour director. Even our company’s V.P. came out and joined us for the longest
song the band had played all night. I
was ready to drop by the time it ended but I wouldn’t have quit for the
world. Denise and I finally headed for
our rooms singing the “Jambo” song all the way.
Tuesday
morning was a confusion of packing, farewells, and a trip to nearby Giraffe
Manor where we were able to actually feed the giraffes by hand. Some went so far as to put a food pellet
between their lips and the giraffe’s 18-inch-long tongue would come zooming out
to grab it (euwwww). I may be
passionate about animals but I drew the line there; my hand was slimy
enough. We then were served a catered
lunch under tents set up on the grounds and were entertained by another great
group of African dancers. Boy, I love
that music! On the way back to the
hotel, we stopped at the Kizuri bead factory where we watched beautiful beads
being made by hand and purchased several of their necklaces, of course.
Since
our plane didn’t leave for London till 11:00 p.m., we spent the rest of the day
saying goodbye to each other and to our African surroundings. I had taken some T-shirts to Kenya to use
for bartering in the villages but hadn’t had room in my one suitcase to carry
them on safari. I sure didn’t want to
carry them home again so I wandered over to the hotel shops to see if anyone
there would trade. I walked into a
leather shop where I had earlier purchased a pair of sandals and asked the girl
if she would consider a trade. She said
yes and, to my surprise, asked how many pairs I wanted! I had been expecting ONE, so I hesitantly
said three and she okayed it so quickly that I knew I had underbid. Oh well, I still came out ahead, especially
when I sold two of those pairs to friends back in the hotel lobby! The lessons I had learned from the souvenir
vendors had served me well. I’ll need
all the financial help I can get to develop all the pictures I took – over 600
of them!
The
scene that evening at the airport in Nairobi was a wrenching one. We hated to say Kwaheri (goodbye) to our
wonderful Freddie. The Kahuna waltzed
him across the sidewalk in a huge bearhug and then the rest of us said our
farewells to this very special man who had become our close friend during the
many hours and adventures we had shared together. The dream we had been living was over and we had to fly back to
the real world of work, bills, problems and rushing from one project to
another. It was one of the saddest
moments of my life.
Kwaheri, Freddie.
Kwaheri, Dodson and Jason.
Kwaheri, Kenya. I will return!
Suzanne
North Goodrich
San
Diego, California
March
1999
|
On March 24, 1999, one week after I finished this
journal, Jason was one of 32 people killed in a train wreck on his way from
Nairobi to Mombasa to see his family. |
All Rights Reserved... No part of this story can be
reproduced without the permission of the author.