Although “safari ” in Kiswahili means “journey,” it has popularly become the term for going on game drives to view Africa’s wildlife. After 7 days in two national parks, I am pleased to report that our safari was indeed “njema” or “fine.” In fact, it was superb.
(Let me take a brief moment to say that I am unable to provide photos at this time of writing. Our laptop is malfunctioning, and I am unable for whatever reason to retrieve my photos on this borrowed computer. Alas, another computer and internet challenge! So...please imagine plains of zebras and graceful gazelles as you read on.)
Our first 4 nights and 3 full days were spent in the Masai Mara, reputedly and deservedly Kenya’s premier safari destination. With a combination of 5 fellow travelers who were also totally into the experience, an attentive and knowledgeable driver, Paul, and vast, beautiful grasslands dotted with acacias, we were thrilled to see “the big five” - elephant, water buffalo, rhinoceros, leopard and lion - within the first day and a half. What would Africa be without lions? I cannot find the words to describe the awe I felt to gaze into the eyes of a lioness at close quarters, and to see a male lion just a few feet away from us. On our final full day, we drove the Mara Triangle, following the Mara River down to the Tanzanian border and stepping across for just a few minutes into the Serengeti and to take a look at the last of the migrating wildebeest.
But it was watching the glory of an African sunrise from our tent at the top of the Oloololo Escarpment at the west side of the park, of experiencing the silence of the plains broken only by an occasional bird song or grunting of a hippopotamus, of witnessing the harmony and balance of nature in this incredible ecosystem that was the magic of the Mara for me. I was full of tears the last morning; my soul was touched in a way I long for and find elusive.
Two days later we were in Meru National Park northwest of Mount Kenya. The park was green and verdant with the coming of the short rains. As our small bush plane landed at the airstrip, we were greeted by elegant reticulated giraffes that gracefully and shyly ran away from us. While the Mara is open and wide, Meru is contained and dense. There are many rivers, intense jungle-like areas with splendid, enormous raffia palms, and ever present sentinels in the Nyambani Hills on the western side. In Meru we saw what few see: the Greater Kudu, an antelope with magnificent curved antlers, and many white rhinoceros at close quarters. But what brought me to tears in Meru was our shining young driver, Benson. Extraordinarily bright and earnest, Benson is another of the remarkable Kenyans we have met on our trip. Raised by a single mother, he was able to be educated for 10 years in Nairobi with the assistance of an American sponsor. He has a diploma but dreams of achieving a degree and becoming a conservationist, like the Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai. I hope with all my heart that he is able to make his dreams come true.
Some of this will depend on the fate of tourism in Kenya. It is decidedly down with the war between Kenya and Somalia, and possibly concerns about the election coming up in 2012. Many people have earned decent wages through the provision of excellent tourist facilities, and through the Kenya Wildlife Service.
Although there is much more I could say, I have only limited time available on this computer. I hope that when we are back in Nairobi on Nov. 9 to 11 that I will have the opportunity for a final report to you from Kenya. It’s hard to believe that next week at this time we will be back “home.”
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