Lovely Kenya 1/16

January 24, 2003

Jambo! (Hello in Swahili)

Well, here I am, back in Nairobi after a 7 day safari. I arrived on the 16th (I think) to a message from my friend Dave inviting me on safari the following day. Perfect! I was good to leave Nairobbery asap. That afternoon I hooked up with another of my Thorn Tree (LP's web site) friends, Dana, and we tooled around. I don't really like this city. I'm reminded of how I felt when I first arrived in Cairo, but I learned that Cairo has a personality. Nairobi doesn't. Reasons I don't like it: I can't leave the hotel past 7 pm; you can't wear any jewelry, including a watch, even if it's busted and falling apart; you can't carry anything, a book, a pen, a piece of paper, anything! It sucks...you can never really find your way around because you can't carry a map. But people tell me that things are changing. They just voted in a new president and he's already done many good things. He's got rid of all the corrupted police and he's trying to fix the roads, which are horrifying (you have to drive in the ditch most of the time, on either side of the road). He's also introduced free education for all children. So the people believe that Nairobi will become safer soon; even they are scared of this city. And, of course everyone knows about the 'hidden' waist money belt. So I'm going to do as my friend Damo does: trick them by carrying a wallet.

Now the safari: It was amazing! Dana and I went together and we had only one other person, a Japanese guy named Kanji. He was awesome: ‘I like Hippos all’ the time in a thick Japanese accent. He had just come from Ethiopia and was on a year tour so really interesting. We started at Maasai Mara and managed to see Zebras (common; there are 2 types), lots of impala, and even a leopard crossing the road (this was a big concern since the animal could destroy crops and such so there was an immediate search for it). Now, you know the National Geographic pictures you see of Africa? Well, everything you see looks like that! We saw Maasai everywhere! Warriors walking down the 'road' in full gear. They really dress like that! All the time and not for tourists...of course you get the tourist tour of the maasai camp, which didn't thrill me too much...they wanted to keep us in a tight group and kept getting mad at me when I would wander off to talk to the women. Blah. And all the security at the camp was Maasai.

The camp gave you a false sense of security...you just could easily forget about the animals even though we were in tents. But they would tell horrible (yet funny) stories: 1) A few years ago, a British guy woke up early and left the camp for a stroll. He came across a pack of elephant and began taking photos. Well, the elephants didn't really like this so they pounded him to death. Both of these stories allegedly happened days before we arrived: 2) A leopard was chilling in a tree right beside the campsite when a giraffe came by for some breakie. The leopard ripped open the throat quickly and got himself a pretty good meal; as did the Maasai. 3) A leopard came into the camp and took their dog. The Maasai tried to stop it but they just carry sticks.

So every morning vervet monkeys would come into the camp to steal anything they could. They're very bold, thanks to the stupid tourists who think it's cute to feed them. Now they'll come right up on the table and steal food out of your mouth. Seriously! Ok, I did think it was cute at first.....

What can I say about the safari? It was absolutely amazing! I saw everything, at close range too. Lots of lions: one couple on a honeymoon with some cubs not too far off. One hungry little boy got up to beg mommy for some food, which she wasn't too happy about. She's hissed and hissed until he sat under the nearest tree with a pitiful look on his face. This happened about 5 feet from me :)
Baby cheetahs tearing around their mommy, climbing trees, wrestling. Elephants galore, which I think are becoming my favorite animals to watch. So much personality!

Our safari took us to Maasai Mara, one of the most popular parks in Kenya, then Lake Nakuru, which was created to save the Black and White Rhinos from extinction. See, the Chinese pay a lot of money for the horns, just the horns, so many Rhinos was killed until the government finally did something about it. The Rhino population has now risen 11% since '86, I think. The lake is also home to a billion flamingos. Now, here's a piece of info I didn't know about: they turn pink because of an algae they eat, same as salmon. I learned this when Nick, our driver and guide, kept calling me flamingo due to my pink skin (I'm on doxycyclin for anti-malaria and it makes you hyper sensitive to the sun...the top of my hand got a 2nd degree burn and became very swollen for a few days. I'm now even more careful with the sun). Then we headed north for Samburu NP, where there's a desert nearby so lots of camels! :)) I think Samburu NP was my favorite. It had such a diverse landscape. Some dry and little vegetation, other places lush with palms. And we got to see animals just be: Elephants fighting (bad boys) and being generally aggressive; bathing and drying off with dirt (also to keep bugs away); a secretary bird (which is huge) chase off mommy bird then eat all 7 babies in 5 seconds. Now I really wanted to see a kill so this was quite satisfying. I mean, we saw everything! Except for a leopard up close but I have Tanzania for that.

And our camp in Samburu was right in the park and you felt no security. It was great! One night, this Dutch couple (Elma and Mark) and I were playing Yahtzee when we heard a noise. We wrote it off until it happened again. Then we heard a grunt and snort and tore ass into our tents. It was wicked! I could go on for days about my first safari but I'm sure most of you have stopped reading by now :)

I really enjoy Kenya. The people are just lovely and of course, most speak english. Although my Swahili is coming along pretty well, I do slip into Arabic at times. I've already started my collections of souvenirs, thus ensuring my backpack will always be enormous. I got an old (so they say) Maasai witch doctors' mask, which was used to chase away animals when the witch doctor was heading to another village.

But my favorite souvenir has to be my ranger's pants. I was looking for good travel/army pants forever and I noticed how cool the rangers' pants were in Samburu. Nick spoke to one, who chuckled but showed up at our camp the next morning. They actually fit and now no one will fuck with me in Nairobi cause they'll think I'm army (yeah, right). But they are right on and I can pretty much guarantee no one else will have them :) Needless to say, I was a source of entertainment for Nick at all times. I even managed to teach the boys at Simba Camp in Mara to play backgammon...and they'll really good!

One final funny thing: it's an age old tradition to trade with the people for goods (and I stupidly didn't bring anything) so you'll often see Maasai in traditional gear wearing a digital watch or a NY baseball cap or Teva sandals. It's great! I've seen many 'I am Canadian' hats.

I'll sign off now as this email has become a novel. I hope everyone is good and happy and healthy...I am so far:) My plans now are to do laundry at my new lodgings at Upper Hill Campsite just out of Nairobi, where my new dutch friends are and where Dana will meet me after she's done with Mount Kenya. I'm thinking of heading out to Mombasa and the coast, then Amboseli NP which has a great view of Kilimanjaro. Then Dana and I head to a Maasai town, followed by Lake Naivasha and Hell's Gate, then onwards to Uganda and the gorillas! Oh, and the weather's beautiful....hot in the sun, perfect in the shade. Lovely!
love you all! thi
PS Could everyone please stop doing the forwards thing...my account won't be able to handle it. But I'd love to hear from all of you :)