Asante sana, Kenya!

I won’t even try to capture what my talented new husband was able to express in the previous post but I wanted to write a couple of thoughts from my perspective…

My sense of Africa that I developed from my previous experience two years ago when I was volunteering in South Africa has been reinforced over and over again. Being in Africa feels like a homecoming where we are truly welcome. “Karibu,” the term used almost constantly by the Kenyan people and especially our Maasai friends, means “welcome” in Swahili.

We have felt embraced since the moment we stepped off the plane and said "asante sana" (thank you very much) dozens of time each day. The natural environment is also so warm and inviting with its warm colors of orange and brown and the characteristic smell of Africa is rich and earthy. I love it here. The Maasai people are so generous and spiritual, resourceful and communal. The have limited possessions and survival is not easy, yet they emanate joy and calm. They smile so easily and chatter endhey cross paths with one another. The fact that they honored us with participation in a cleansing ceremony and a wedding ceremony just demonstrates their instinct to share themselves, their energy and their culture.

All of these qualities seem to be magnified in Salaton, the chief of this tribe, and our primary guide. He said to us once, “When I am well, I use my energy to contribute to the community and during times when I am ill, I focus the same energy and that of my ancestors back to myself.” He displayed this throughout his life and within his village. He works to conserve the land around him. He supports a least a dozen widows who, according to their culture, are not able to marry again after her husband dies no matter how young she might be. So the widows support one another and Salaton provides support as well. Additionally, many orphans live in the village, many of whom are young girls who have been rescued from early marriage and female circumcision. Additionally, Salaton, has helped create a school for less privileged Maasai children. We visited the school and the children were so eager and well behaved and engaging. I felt so fortunate to be given the opportunity to teach these children yoga. They were very receptive and seemed to have a lot of fun and many fell asleep during the final resting pose! Why is it that children seem to “get” yoga so much more quickly than us adults?

After a few days in the village, Salaton and his friend Moses led us into the bush for two days of trekking. This was by far my favorite experience thus far! There wasn’t a car building, road in sight for two days. The countryside was dotted with red cloth (the Maasai’s traditional clothing) and the cattle and goats that they herded, Acacia trees and other plant life and more species of bird and other wildlife than you can imagine. Fortunately, our fearless guides carried spears, knives and bows and arrows for protection.

We arrived to the camp in the afternoon where we were joined by two more Maasai men and a cook, James (who by the way cooked the most incredible food on the campfire). We spent the evening exploring and talking and, my favorite, listening to the men spontaneously, throughout the night, break into a chanting song and dance – to create a beautiful sound and image and clearly a joyful and intimate experience for them.

One of the other men was there solely to keep the fire going throughout the night to deter large animals and prevent us from being trampled by elephants (not nearly as dramatic as it sounds, maybe, but a reality nonetheless – we learn in the morning that elephants wandered very close to our tent)!! Scary!

Luckily, he did his job well.

The next day we completed our trek through the bush and we when we reached our destination in Masai Mara – a 15,000 square Kilometer natural reserve park, we were greeted by Joseph who turned out the be the most charismatic, adventurous safari, game driver guide you could ever meet. His driving was dangerous, his joking was constant and his ability to seek out and site animals was uncanny. Throughout our two days and nights, doing game drives by day and staying in tent cabins by nights, a few highlights should be mentioned: watching several lion cubs nursing, ostriches fighting, hippos floating, giraffes, elephants, zebras, impalas, gazelles and cape buffaloes grazing, a leopard sleeping, thousands of wildebeests migrating, and, the grand finale…a cheetah chase and kill a gazelle while her 6 week old cubs crouched in the bushes behind her!! All so exciting, so beautiful.

It was soon time to leave our dear friend and mentor, Salaton. I admit that I cried when we waved goodbye from the window of the 12 passenger plane and sped down the dirt air strip off to Tanzania, our next African adventure. I think what I took from the experience was a deeper sense that all of us, all things: Americans, Maasais, gazelles, lions, Acacia trees, running water are all so vitally important, yet no one thing more than the other. We are all so interdependent and interconnected and we are all impermanent. All we are meant to do is live based on our instinct, connect with our community, and contribute whatever natural gifts or roles we are meant to contribute.

I am so grateful for this experience, and so grateful to get to share it with Nate, my perfect travel partner.