Traveling to Kenya is no easy feat. I flew out of JFK on Monday, February 4th, flew thru Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania and arrived on the 5th around 8 pm Kenya time. When the plane landed the feeling was pretty surreal. I was actually in AFRICA. The first thing I noticed was the scent. There was almost a grassy/smoky/warmish smell if you can figure that out in your nose. After going through a visa dilemma and a few bag dilemmas, not mine fortunately, we finally made it onto the safari trucks. That night we made it to a town about 40 minutes from the airport called Moshi. The next morning I opened my third floor hotel door to a sight of Kilimanjaro that will forever be engrained in my memory. I had this weird phenomenon when I was a kid, which my mom can attest to, where I thought Mount Haleakala in Hawaii was talking to me. Not in a creepy way or an over-spiritual way but in a pretty casual friendly way. Ever since then I’ve had this deep love for mountains, especially volcanic ones, and Kilimanjaro fits the bill. After a hearty breakfast from the hotel staff we hit the road for the long journey to Kilimanjaro Bush Camp (KBC) in Kitana, Kenya.
It was probably the most fascinating drive of my life. Since it was the first time seeing the country in light, I couldn’t take my eyes off the road. All the buildings were colorful and so were the people. Many women were walking with extremely impressive amounts of food and baskets and water on their heads. One woman had a giant white sack at least a meter long balancing on her head like it was a paper clip. It was interesting though because we were clearly more than just tourists, we were an attraction. Most of the adults just sort of stared, especially the men… but the children were incredibly enthusiastic. There was not one child that didn’t wave and most even said hello. I am really excited for when we get to go out into the local town and talk with the residents. The people of this region of Kenya are called the Maasai. They have been native to the land for thousands of years but within the past 40 or so much of East Africa have started to shift from a pastoral to an agricultural society. Along with that, the countries have been shifting to a more cash based economy. I still have a lot to learn as far as that stuff goes but that seems to be the root of many issues. We are studying these impacts on both the people as well as the wildlife. There are many wildlife/human conflicts that are multilayered and extremely complicated. The local people such as the Maasai benefit very little, at least directly, from the tourism, all while the government and private business owners rake in the cash. The animals invade their land and destroy their crops and the maasi people fight back by killing the animals. If they didn’t there families and livelihoods would be ruined. The question posed to us today in our introductory course was what can we do about it. With a world of finite resources and a rapidly growing population, these sort of issues are becoming more and more urgent across the globe. I’m hoping that here in Kenya and Tanzania I can get a better feel of both sides of these sort of issues and not just the westernized version.
There are a lot of things to scare you in Africa and sleep the past few nights has not been easy, but there is so much history in this lad you can really feel it. The people are full of hard work and suffering but also of so much joy. It can be different and hard and uncomfortable at times but that is 100% a part of the experience. You are forced to be aware of the land. There are black mambas in the grass, potential scorpions in your shoes and bristles on every tree (so far just the bristles for me) as a constant reminder that nature is here and it is strong. I think that’s a very important realization because back in the States, nature takes the back burner and as a result, it is being destroyed. Here, nature is fighting back but without support and nurturing from the natives and even more so the global community, there is not much hope. That’s why I’m here though, to bring and find hope. I plan on learning as much from this experience as I possibly can but if I can leave anything, it’s hope that there are people who care and people who are willing to get a few, more like a million, bristles in their socks if could better the life of just one. So far, my socks are full of bristles, and its only day 5.
Here are some the pictures from the first few days. There is a baboon problem on the site…apparently the steal things but so far they are just cute. Those are some of the local kids outside the camp waving on our walk as well as; my view from my hotel in Moshi and a man walking while we passed by in the safaris on the way the KBC. The hut is my living quarters for the next month and a half until we move to Tanzania!! Talk soon. (Hope Carly likes the pictures 😉
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Let Me Clareify 