Leaving Kenya Soon

Paul Phillips’ blog

July 25, 2009 – Masai Lodge in Nairobi to Masa Mara

Today was scheduled to be an uneventful travel day from Nairobi to Masa Mara, a game preserve in southwest Kenya. We awoke at 6, with breakfast at 7 – a buffet of fruits, meats, and eggs. We killed one of the cars yesterday returning from Shompole, so we met our new driver, Sam, and a new mini-van. We departed Maasai Lodge for the Karen Nakumat, where we loaded up on precious supplies for our trip (Toblerone, Coca-Cola, Pringles, etc.).

Our trip began as planned – uneventful. After a week in Shampole, we marveled at the paved roads from Nairobi to the bottom of the escarpment, and the quasi-paved roads from there to Narok – the halfway point. Soon after Narok, we went off road – the type of off-roading you would find in the American Southwest that would necessitate a 4x4 Jeep. Our Toyota 2x2 mini-van was a trooper, yet we still managed to break a control arm rod on the front tire. While McGyver (John Faulkner), removed the control arm, a few of us walked along the road and found all of the missing parts that had been strewn over the last ½ mile. With a wad of chewing gum, a zip tie, and a pair of nylons, we were able to repair the arm for the rest of the journey. Well, not really, but while McGyver worked, the rest of us played camp games with the Maasai cattle herders as they walked passed up along the road. They were especially adept at “Samurai and Lumberjack.”

Once our car was repaired, we kept driving along the “roads” until we entered the Mara. Here we were met with scenes directly out of the Lion King, or Out of Africa – miles and miles of open savannah, dotted with the occasional acacia tree. We saw Wildebeests, Hyenas, Harte Beasts, Impalas, Thompson Gazelles, Water Bucks, Zebras, and a few other critters.

The last two hours were spent driving, in the dark, along “roads” that would make a mountain goat nauseous. They were far worse than the fire roads in the Cascades. We were amazed at the skill of Sam, the driver, who was able to negotiate the road with our repaired 2x2 van. We found out later that this was not really a “road”, but more of a cattle trail that served only as a secondary road.

Upon arrival at our new home, Mara Timbo, we experienced culture shock. We had moved from the stark realities of traditional Kenya in Shompole, to the Kenya created for tourists. Our “tent camp” was breathtaking, and some even say it was worth the drive in. In reality, these are luxury hotel accommodation placed within the confines of bullet-proof (or at least lion-proof) canvas. Each “tent” had a king size bed, furniture, and a separate shower area. The canvas was equipped with roll down screens, curtains, and even floor rugs. The real treat was on the porch, where a writing desk, a porch swing, a sitting area, and a sunken outdoor tub sat overlooking the Mara River – with a herd of hippos lounging below the tent. After our jostling journey of 150km that took 10 hours, we feasted on Maasai beef and Tilapia, and then retired for the morrow, dreaming of the animals of the Mara.

--Paul


John Faulker’s blog

July 26, 2009 –Masa Mara

The morning began with Hippos make snorting sounds or was that Paul next to me in our king size bed? I grabbed my camera and Maasai escort to walk me to the river. The sun was rising above the trees revealing a group of Hippos relaxing on top of each other just below our breakfast tables. Is this real? Am I dreaming- no after a pinch – I’m awake.

My next move was to take advantage of the free massage waiting for me in a tall hut that overlooked the river. Those strong hands worked the soreness out of my neck and shoulders, the tension of the previous day’s hour under the van working with borrowed wrenches faded. I love the unexpected events that Kenya supplied in abundance. There were few days that passed without a delay or opportunity to learn about this amazing place. Imagine driving in a posh “camp” near the grasslands to find a full garage for maintaining a fleet of safari vehicles. It seems that in Africa everyone understands that helping with a problem is a group or village event. The word goes out and the men appear to help.

We began our safari about noon and began the visual feast of seeing (in no particular order): Zebra, Giraffe, Elephant, Lion, Water Buck, Topi, Impala, Thompson Gazelle, Grant Gazelle, Hyena, Crocodile (feasting on a Zebra mid-stream in the Mara), Wildebeest, Hippopotamus, Buffalo, Banded Mongoose, Silver Back Fox, Eland, Baboon, Monkey, Vulture, Eagle, Secretary Bird, Ostrich, Guinea Fowl, Grey Heron, White Heron, Yellow Horn Bill, Green Iguana, Fox, Jackal; and Spaniard, French, Japanese, Indian, Persian, British, German, and Swedish Tourists.

More surprises after returning to our camp, when we crawled into bed, a warm hot-water bottle had warmed the high thread count sheets under scores of pillows. Debbie Faulkner would have been in bedroom accessory heaven! Dreams began quickly as the animals noises drowned out the hummmmm of the generator. Too many stars to report……


Dina Marks’ Blog

July 28, 2009 – Relaxing in Nairobi

I’d never really liked long rides in the car; I could never understand why you would want to take hours driving somewhere instead of flying. What I’m starting to see is that my attitudes on travel, on work, on just about everything have less to do with experiencing and more to do with efficiency. If it takes me only two hours to get from here to there, then I have more time to do things once I get there. If I had flown, for example, from Nairobi to the Mara, then I wouldn’t have gotten to see John Faulkner fix yet another one of our vans, or seen Maasai children dancing with Lauren, Rebecca, Chris, John P., and Paul, or heard Michelle break down and laugh after four hours of Becca’s and Chris’ corny jokes, or seen how tenderly Sarah takes care of us when we seem to need it most, or prayed that Regina would let me take the first shower.

The Maasai are traditionally a group of people who live by experiencing, too. I remember that on one of our first days on the worksite, one of the Ensworth group said that it was a shame that we didn’t have a big machine to dig out the foundation for the school—that it would take a lot less time and we could get on with the actual building of the dining hall faster. Joel, our Maasai friend, looked at us and said “but that would be just one man alone digging; when we dig by hand, we dig together. Then, the dining hall belongs to all of us.” Our Ensworth group has been talking a lot over the past few days about sustainability—how do we keep the connections that we have made between Ensworth and Olokia, how do we make sure that the Maasai can maintain solar power to the dorms, how do we get our two groups of students together? And I think that the way we maintain that connectivity is by staying together and taking some of the “all in” Maasai spirit back home with us. The problems that you run into along the way don’t seem as scary when you have a group of people around you that you can depend upon.

So that’s where we are right now. Everyone is happy, soaking in the last few minutes of Nairobi before we’re off to the planes and back to our lives in Nashville.

See you soon,
Dina Sue