Jambo Kenya

January, 2018

JAMBO

Its been awhile but the travel blog is backkkk. I had to cheat on my 9-5 desk life for a few weeks and stretch the little legs...so here we are, Kenya baby.

This is my second time in Africa, but when I arrived in Kenya the locals immediately laughed at me and said that South Africa doesn’t count. Doesn’t count?!? Not something that a gal with an extensive travel bucket list wants to hear, but apparently South Africa has to tone it down a few notches to be accepted as part of its continent. That aside, it was soon clear that Kenya is very different from South Africa and we have been having a wild time exploring and navigating through this beautiful country. To paint a better picture for you...

1. Kenya is a COLORFUL place; colorful buildings, markets and clothing. The women are not afraid of colors, the brighter the better, which is a reason to put a smile on anyone’s face. Rainbow is the new black, amirightttt?

2. Even when you leave safari, you never really leave safari. We spent 3 days at the Maasai Mara National Park, riding through the reserve with our ride or die crew: a Kenyan family and a mother-daughter duo from Dubai.

The mother-daughter duo (who we called the glam squad) really brought their A game for the animals; with hair and make-up done each morning, lipstick freshly applied throughout the day, they were almost as entertaining as the animals (I joke). We loved our safari crew and spent our days driving through the bumpy, dusty, beautiful and expansive park in search of the wild thangs. We saw all of the big 5 except the leopard (cheeky bastards) but the safari didn’t end when we left the reserve. NOPE. The safari never really ends...as even outside of the parks you can see beautiful animals around you. I’m not talking about your average aggressive squirrel #childsplay, in Kenya you can see a casual giraffe chilling in the distance, baboons and their babes crossing the highway, hippos in the lakes, zebra being trendy and warthogs being warthogs (aka hilarious) on the side of the road. It’s an amazing place to see and experience animals up close and personal.

3. Understanding different realities. Things move a lot slower in Kenya. Coming from a country where everything is designed to be easily accessible and efficient for us, I am used to seeing the world through a western lens. I have come to learn that just because things are different here it doesn’t mean they are any less. It is admirable to see the way that people build their lives without all of the things that we think are so important back home.

4. HAKUNA MATATA is real. People actually throw around the Lion King phrase Hakuna Matata to brush off challenges and lighten a situation. No worries....don’t mind if I do.

5. Kenya is deeply rooted in tradition. As we made our way around the country and met people from different areas, it was clear that culture and tradition runs deep. Most countries have distinct cultures that make them unique but I was blown away by some of the tribes we learnt about. There are over 40 tribes in Kenya, each contributing to the diverse culture and heritage of the country. We spent time with the Maasai tribe and in villages in Mombasa and learnt many fascinating things.

Maasai boys train to become warriors of their tribe for 5 years. To complete their passage into manhood they go into the wild and must kill a lion, unable to return to their village without the maine and claws of the lion in hand... (so just to clarify, boys kill casual lions..nbd).

The higher men can jump, the less cattle they pay in dowry for their wives (they showed me their jumping skills and it was impressive...these guys can jump!)

The Masai tribe drinks cows blood on special occasions (damn straight!). I asked my friend Moses from the tribe to elaborate on "said blood" and he explained that they drink the cows blood for strength, as a form of protein and to stay healthy. Then he casually threw in that they also give blood to the elders to alleviate their hangovers... got to try that sometime.

6. And finally, I’m still trying to figure out Kenyan weather. I see people rocking puffer jackets here in 80 degree heat on the regular without breaking a sweat. Kenya is a very modest country and people don't expose too much skin, so here I am wearing long flowy pants and a high neck- t-shirt, sweating the day away, while people walk past me in thick sweatshirts and jackets...not even GLISTENING! Kenyan genes man, some people just got it.

Beautiful county, beautiful people. Keep it real Kenya.