Jambo!
This is a tale of beauty. Violence. Hope. And, home.
I spent a significant part of my childhood in Nairobi , which happens to be the capital of Kenya in East Africa . I love going back there a couple of times a year as my parents still live there. For a young boy, growing up in Nairobi Kenya
The constant violence that was an undeniable part of my childhood notwithstanding, there was much to learn. And love. My family has been in Kenya
Lesson 1: You should know how to adapt to your surroundings at all times.
There are times I marvel at how different life in India Nairobi , I encountered numerous problems. Imagine driving your car at a speed of 20 to 30 kmph and finding a boy running up to your car. Nothing unusual, right? Wrong. Within a matter of seconds, he has made off with your headlights.
Lesson 2: Never rule out anything. Expect the unexpected and often, the impossible.
Petty robberies and discrimination owing to color or religion no longer surprise me. I have seen all sorts of people and the more I have met people, the more I have come to realize that discrimination is not limited to Kenya .
Lesson 3: The more people you meet, the more they remain the same.
The country is beautiful. Perhaps, not the beautiful of quaint European cities or the English countryside, but beautiful in a rustic, world before the ages kind of way. The people are largely peaceful and it would not be fair to judge the whole country because of the actions of a few.
In Kenya , the "Big Five" refers to a combination of the lion, leopard, buffalo, rhinoceros and elephant. Although hunting is illegal in Kenya , some people still continue to kill elephants for their tusks and rhinoceroses for their horns.
Giraffe Park is very famous located at Langata, approximately 5 kilometres from the centre of Nairobi , established in order to protect the endangered Rothschild giraffe. The establishment is stunning and you can walk right in to the tree houses and feed the animals yourself. Although it might be a wee bit daunting at first, giraffes are peaceful animals and will not attempt to harm you. You are not allowed to feed them food of your choice but you will be provided with their preferred diet in the form of cubes.
Have you ever fed a giraffe? Or ridden an ostrich? If not, Kenya is definitely the place to scratch those two off the list.
Lesson 4: Sharing might be caring. But, giraffes don’t care much for Subway and McDonald’s.
The best-known of the Kenyan nomads are the Masai (or Maasai). The Masai people are tall and slender and are popular for their skill in the use of weapons and their strongly independent ways. The Masai Mara was named after the Maasai people (the traditional inhabitants of the area). Masai Mara alone cross over 1510km², the name provides the description of the location from a viewpoint; circles of trees, scrub, savannah and cloud shadows that mark the area. The Mara is famous for its Big Cats. The annual migration of Zebra, Thomson's gazelle and wildebeest from the Serengeti considered as the ‘Great Migration’ can be seen from July to October.
Most people would find my childhood unusual. But, I have found that jungles can be of different kinds. Animals are to be found everywhere. Perhaps, in different forms but they exist nonetheless. If home really is where the heart is, the stark, rugged wildness of Kenya certainly has a hold over mine. And always will.
The Ostrich Park is located 45 kilometers from Nairobi on the Athi River and Kitengela Plains and is approximately 30 minutes from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport
The Equator divides Kenya into two almost equal parts. As a child, I used to think that the equator would be the hottest point on earth. But, when I finally visited it, it seemed no different to any other place. The only difference - there was a sign board mentioning that it was indeed the equator.
Lesson 5: Hot is a matter of perspective.
Some strange happenings at Kyamwilu were discovered by a white settler who happened to park his vehicle on that section of the road. He parked his car at the site with the gears free to go downstream to get water for his car engine. Upon returning he was stunned to find that the vehicle had moved about 50 metres up. This is also known as the Kituluni Hill or appropriately, the Anti-Gravity Hill. Needless to say, the stranger-than-fiction nature of this place has piqued the curiosity of thousands. I decided to test the theory myself. On one section of the hill, I poured water from a bottle and found to my astonishment, the trickle of water slowly but surely move up the hill. We then decided to try the theory out on our ‘Merc’. Despite being such a heavy vehicle, we found that it moved upwards as opposed to downwards. The law of gravity was certainly working in reverse!
This place was initially called Kyaume (meaning men in Kamba) as there used to live two men - Kyalo and Mwilu. They shared one woman as their wife in marriage. Their homes were separated by a small river which flows down the hill. The woman was, as most women in most folklore tend to be, beautiful beyond belief and used to go to rest at the river stream. She used to decide which home she wished to spend the night at from her place of rest. Increasingly, she began to spend her nights alternating between the two men. When the two men died, she was taken back by one of her kinship. The graves of the two men are still there and marked. Legend has it that it’s they who in their mortal state continue to fight over the woman and are thus responsible for the pulling force towards the grave yard.
Outsiders may dismiss these stories as works of fiction, but the local people hold on to them with a firm conviction.
Lesson 6: Life is sometimes stranger than fiction.
The Maasai are an ethnic group, semi-nomadic people located in South-East Kenya and Northern part of Tanzania . They live within most of the game parks across East Africa ; they are one of the most widely known ethnic groups that continue to be in existence. The Governments across East Africa have encouraged the tribe to abandon their traditions, but with little effect. The ethnic group seems less interested in the social realm we live in and continue with their own customs and traditions. The Maasai way of living is a pure example of how to prevent global warming with their traditional abilities of farming in deserts and scrublands. During my school days, I had come across information regarding one of their traditions, where a boy may only be considered a man if he would go alone and hunt a lion and bring his remains to their village. With this and the invasion of the Maasai over lion territories, there are only about 2000 lions left in Kenya. At this rate the lions in Kenya will be gone within two years. The government is taking appropriate measures to prevent this.
Lesson 7: In some parts of the world, Tarzan still rules. Man hunts and women cook.
Apart from the Kenyan safari, the country is widely known for its tea and coffee as well as being a sport Nation. Kenya is active in several sports among them are cricket, rallying, football (soccer), rugby union and boxing. But the country is known chiefly for its dominance in Middle-distance and long-distance athletics.
