Notes From The Travel Journal - Il Ngwesi

We were collected from Kifaru House by Fred and Jerom to make the two-hour over land trek to the Il Ngwesi Eco Lodge, the only lodge in Kenya entirely operated and owned by the Maasai people. Our Kifaru guide Philip had been happy that our next stop was Ngwesi. His brother was a lodge founder and they grew up nearby. You got the sense that this place and its singular success were an immense source of pride for the local people.

On the drive, we passed through the Lewa gates into residential areas with villages, waving children, goats, cattle, local people washing in the river, and ever-increasing heat as we descended. Just the drive made us happy we pushed to have this place included in our itinerary. It was clearly well off the "beaten track" of a typical safari. Being enormously out of place as the only white person for miles was a humbling experience. The young children waved exuberantly, slightly older children hesitantly smiled, and adults seemed to glower. I'm sure the relationship with white people is complex and complicated with layers of history I can't even begin to understand. Already it felt really important to have had this experience.

We arrived at the lodge and trekked up and down a bunch of steps to settle into our entirely open-air "honeymoon suite" with views out over the local watering hole then beyond across the vast valley. This place was an adjustment after the luxurious Kifaru House with lunch leaving a bit to be desired prior to loading back into the jeep to head to the local village.

The village tour was...I don't know...eye opening? Profound? Huge? I can't explain it. We started by learning history of the local Maasai, a tribe with a semi-nomadic lifestyle centered on their cattle herds. We witnessed a hunting demonstration, then honey gathering and fire starting operations outside the village walls before moving inside where the women greeted us with singing and dancing (I participated). It was simultaneously fascinating, amazing, and uncomfortable. Cattle and people mingle within the village walls, designed to protect the goats and cows from evening predators. We toured a dwelling made of sticks and dried dung that was probably over 100 degrees inside, entirely dark, with a non-ventilated fire constantly burning. Three dirt floor rooms, an itty bitty "kitchen," and a platform with cow hides for sleeping. 

I was struck by the contrast of this place with my two homes, space, car, furnishings, possessions, electricity, etc. It made me feel a lot of things none of which I can put into words, but aside from the wonder of the animals and vistas, I have been most affected by what appears to be, based on this one little experience, the dramatically different role of women in these cultures. That has really stuck with me long after we departed.

Unfortunately, later that evening, Simon developed a stomach issue so after an exciting night sleeping under the stars in the roll out "star bed" (highly recommend but perhaps not when it starts to pour at 2am) we hung pool side most of the next day. He felt well enough for a late afternoon trip to their rhino sanctuary where we came face to face with a rhino on foot. Holy. Moly. It felt immensely different to stand next to this animal instead of watching him from the safety of a vehicle. We were grateful for the armed guide and ravine standing between us and Mr. Rhino. 

Without Il Ngwesi, our trip to Kenya would've, likely unbeknownst to us, lacked "Kenya." By exiting those gates, we saw people living their lives in very different ways than our own. This was surely just the tip of the iceberg for seeing and understanding a new culture, but it is more than we would've gotten if we hadn't ventured beyond the typical safari path. It left me wanting to know more, learn more, and understand more about the Maasai, their traditions, culture, and history.

As ignorant as it sounds, it made me realize I had been programmed to visualize "Africa" as dry land sprinkled with huts of starving children and flies buzzing their faces. While the village tour affirmed that image, the Maasai way of life is just one of Kenya's many cultures as we were reminded by our dinner conversation with Il Ngwesi's new manager. She lives in Nairobi, where her teenage son is now. "He would never come here," she told us. "He would hate the rural isolation." Just like a teenager in New York.

Dinner And The Oscars - 2020 Version

I interrupt my travel posting to come back to the present for a moment. I've documented this experience three times, but I know we've repeated our Dinner and the Oscars "date night" many more than that. In a tradition that started in Boston, we visit a downtown restaurant for dinner then take in the Oscar nominated animated short films at a local theater. These tend to be the only nominated movies I actually end up seeing before the Oscar winners are announced, and it's also a fun way to watch short films, something we don't otherwise think to do. 

But boy oh boy, this year was rough. First of all we were pressed for time so started the night with takeout instead of a leisurely dinner downtown. But the five nominated films were all ridiculously sad - real tear jerkers.

Pixar's contribution, Kitbull, featured a cute-as-button kitten who made an unlikely friend in a pit bull abused by its owner. I mean c'mon, how was I not supposed to lose it? Sister told the story of a Chinese boy growing up with his sister, except the sister never existed due to China's one-child law. Based on a book, Hair Love is a beautifully rendered story of a dad who struggles to do his daughter's natural hair, a task her mother usually takes on, but can't from her hospital bed where she is dealing with cancer. Believe it or not, it got sadder from there with Daughter, an absolute visual masterpiece about a father and daughter reflecting on their fractured relationship. It was stunning animation and came in as Simon's favorite. My number one pick had me doing everything I could to stop myself from totally breaking down in the theater. From France, Memorable is about an aging artist starting to lose his mind while his wife deals the reality of their lives. The artist's paint was a huge part of the animation, slowly getting more and more fantastical as his mind left him. Devastating but so beautifully done.

It certainly wasn't an uplifting night, but perhaps speaks to an overarching global melancholy. Or maybe not, but I think I'll go back to posting pictures of gangly giraffes and baby rhinos now. 

Notes From The Travel Journal - Lewa Part 2

We enjoyed three blissful days in Lewa, quickly adapting to what we slowly learned was the classic safari schedule. 6am wakeup, in the truck by 6:30am for the morning game drive with a "bush breakfast" along the way, back to Kifaru around 11:30am, lunch at 1pm, rest by the pool, tea at 3:30pm, back into the truck at 4pm for the evening game drive with a sundowner, then return home around night fall at 7pm.

During our planning, we wanted to make sure we spent my birthday in Lewa, based on the arbitrary decision that Kifaru House looked like the nicest of the lodges we selected. It was a wise choice - my birthday was quite simply one of the best days I've ever had.

Before we left for this trip, people asked what animal I was most excited to see. Easy answer for me was giraffe. Aside from one guy running away from us the previous day, we had yet to spend time with them. But after an unreal New Years Eve sunrise and before we even made it down the hill from Kifaru, we came across Jeremy, a reticulated giraffe (not to be seen in more southern parts of the country) that tends to hang out near the property. There were more a short distance down the road. It was 7am, and my day was made.

I seriously couldn't get enough of these. They were amazing to watch as they munched on trees and scratched against the rough acacia branches. But alas, not everyone in the truck was as obsessed as me, so we moseyed on, quickly encountering a mother rhino nursing her baby as he cooed. We oohed and aahed over that for a bit then Phillip headed into a more remote part of the park we had yet to explore. We crossed paths with a dik dik  (a small type of antelope) before encountering three elephants grazing near a watering hole. 

Listening to the elephants was almost as fascinating as watching them. You could hear their trunks rip the grass from the dirt and shove it in their mouths. After hanging out with them for a bit, Phillip motored over to an open hilltop for our first bush breakfast. From there we could see the landscape filled with animals below - elands, giraffes all over, an ostrich and elephant crossing an open field, and other grazers scattered throughout. 

Following a delicious meal, we caught a glimpse of a family of warthogs, a shy male gerenuk (looks like a cross between a giraffe and an impala), and four rhinos rolling in a huge mud pit. It was hysterical. We stayed with them - as close as six feet at times - sitting quietly as the impalas and zebras circled around us with giraffes and elephants off in the distance. A huge waterbuck and tower of giraffe running across the road capped off our trip back to the lodge. 

My birthday continued with a relaxing massage back at Kifaru, another hilltop sundowner (accompanied by two retired male buffalo in the not so distant distance...), a group dinner in front of one of the fireplaces, and an exuberant rendition of Happy Birthday sung in both English and Swahili by the entire Kifaru staff and local Masai villagers. The camp manager then led us outside where the Masai performed their traditional "jumping dance" around a bonfire. If I have it right, this ritual occurs after the males of a certain age (late teens/early twenties) become warriors (coincidentally named "moran") and return to the village for a jumping competition with the victor selecting from the women who he will take as his wife. Simon was right alongside the Masai jumping, dancing, and clapping. It was so special to have this tradition shared with us and capped off the most spectacular day I can imagine. 40!!

Lewa and Kifaru House were enormously special in a way I have yet to figure out how to describe. Our time there was profound and transformative yet warm, relaxed, and brimming with natural beauty I hadn't expected. This entire adventure was overwhelming in its amazingness, but the moments this day were some of the most serenely magical during our entire time in Africa. 

Notes From The Travel Journal - Lewa Part 1

Lewa Wildlife Conservancy was our first safari stop and also proved to be our favorite. When we were planning the trip, we felt strongly about staying in conservancies instead of national parks/reserves. It seemed like hopefully our tourist dollars would be more likely to make it to local communities if we visited private conservancies as opposed to parks run by the government. Conservancies also have different regulations that allow off road viewing of animals, bush walks, and nighttime game drives. And they tend to have fewer lodges and therefore, fewer visitors and vehicles, all things we thought would align better with our interests. 

We started the day on an itty bitty Cessna for the hour-long flight from Wilson Airport in Nairobi to Lewa Downs, the dirt airstrip serving the Conservancy. On the short drive to our lodge Kifaru House we saw our first glimpses of wildlife - impalas, zebras, elephants, rare tortoise, ostrich, and monkeys. We were in awe. Already.

Kifaru House was sublime. A beautiful property with just 5 cottages looking out across the savanna. I call it a savanna, but Lewa's landscape was surprising. Lush and green rolling hills with vast valleys and even some mountainous areas. It initially reminded us of parts of Patagonia, which shocked me. It was stunningly beautiful.

Our first official game drive the afternoon we arrived included up close and personal time with cape buffalo, rhinos, birds (so many birds, none of which we'd ever seen), a runaway giraffe, gazelle, a lioness with her cub, and both Grevy's and common zebras (check out this article on the endangered Grevy's zebras). That was just our first game drive! Unreal.

The next day, our first full day in Lewa, our morning game drive featured getting so thoroughly stuck in the mud while searching for a leopard that we had to get transported back to Kifaru in a replacement vehicle while our guide Phillip dug out the jeep.

But that afternoon's drive was sublime with an educational stop at Lewa's headquarters to learn about their successful rangers program (they also have 6 women rangers!!) that are still in constant battle with poachers and other threats. It was great to meet the head ranger Abraham and gain a slight understanding of the magnitude of the operation required to preserve the land and its endangered creatures. Also made me think about the roles of race, gender, and culture in places very different from my home. More on that later.

We concluded the drive with our very first "sundowner" of the trip. Phillip pulled up onto an enormous overlook just as the sun started to sink. No one else in sight and vast vistas in every direction. Cocktails, wine, and snacks emerged and we enjoyed one of the most breathtaking, peaceful, and surreal sunsets I've ever witnessed. No words for the experience and the day. I was hooked on Kenya.