Mal d’Africa
After finishing Too Close to the Sun (summarized in my Summer Reading blog entry below), the biographical novel about the life of Denys Finch Hatton (portrayed by Robert Redford in Out of Africa), I first started to understand the substance of what Italians call “Mal d’Africa.” Literally it’s translated as “the disease of Africa.” Metaphorically it refers to the vacuum that’s created when one departs from Africa. While randomly selected, the novel proved appropos for my first visit and created a context, albeit limited, from which I could start to understand and relate to life in Africa. I had been planning this trip in my head for a lifetime but the African experience is a unique snowflake to each visitor.
Eleonora and I arrived in Nairobi, Kenya on August 1st, 2007. After scrambling around the chaotic scene at the international airport, a warm “Jambo” rolled off our driver’s lips (Swahili for hello). We arrived fairly late and looked forward to a shower and clean cothes. Fortunately, we had two days to fill while we waited for Brian and Kellie, our friends who were joining us, to arrive. I learned the week before that Karen Blixen’s house was now a museum in Karen, Kenya, near Nairobi. This was the home of Finch Hatton for much of his life and had been restored to create the set for Out of Africa. Accordingly, that was our first stop the next day. The house could easily be described as non-descript and even irrelevant to those who weren’t fans of the movie or those familiar with the lives of Finch and Karen, two wanderers who loved Africa and left their royal roots in England while struggled to make a life there (somewhat together, some of the time). Nonetheless, I enjoyed the stop. Ellie wanted to see Nairobi’s Animal Orphanage, Giraffe Center and Elephant Center. Although we both dislike caged animals, I was reluctant to see such animals other than in their natural habitat. I “wanted to wait.” However, after surrendering, I must admit that I enjoyed the feeling as acutely obese giraffes reached into my hands with their 18 inch tongues to feed. What an awkward and magnificent creature.
Other than these few tourist attractions, we spent most of the time waiting/recovering at the hotel. While we consider ourselves fairly sophisticated travelers and generally “in tune” with our surroundings, we both felt relatively ignorant and highly self-conscious as a distinct and highly visible minority. The metal detector at out hotel certainly didn’t mitigate our sensitivities.
On August 3rd, to Ellie’s chagrin, we left on our first of approximately 7 small charter flights that would allow us to bounce around the dirt and grass runways throughout the reserves and parks of Kenya and Tanzania for the next several weeks. Our first flight was on a Cessna 206, a small 6-seater. As Brian, an expewrienced pilot, described, “it’s really not much more than a lawnmower blade attached to the front of a coke can.” I did not share with Ellie that a airport representative shared with me that the storks canvassing the runways had caused several crash landings and fatalities.
From Nairobi we flew to the land of acacia tree umbrellas and sunsets that caused me to think of a bright red Mars crashing into our planet. Our Masai driver Dennis picked us up at a runway that looked like a 3-par in authentic garb (a Masai shuka) in our similarly open air vehicle, a Land Rover.
Our friends Patrick and Camilla had been telling us for years about the Shampole Lodge, architected by one of their friends and created as a model of an environmentally, socially and economically friendly and sustainable partnership with the Masai. See www.shampole.com. That’s where we would stay for our first two nights in the Mara. It’s an open air lodge overlooking the 10,000 square acre Shampole region and conservancy. Every spot in the lodge has a view (including the toilets). The bed’s openly exposed but a mosquitoe net neatly zips at night. The ceilings extend to the skies with palapa roofs and beams that don’t seem like they have any possibility of being structurally sound (primarily due to their unique lack of symmetry) but reportedly have never failed. It’s this design which adds to the appeal. Three weeks later I am still struggling to remember ever staying at more memorable place and it’s difficult not to romanticize those days as they unfolded.
Both nights we had breathtaking dinners (which included our all-time favorite Banoffi dessert (essentially a banana cream pie with and toffee)) followed by memorable nights sleeping under the stars to the sound of animals we could never hope to identify. Our first morning initiation began with watching 2 females and 3 cubs drink from a stream not 20 feet from our vehicle.
While perhaps we didn’t all vocalize our fear, Kellie definitely captured all of our sentiments when her voice cracked “Dennis, are we safe?” There was no need to tell us to keep our hands in the Rover, especially since the windows and roof had both been removed. With Dennis we learned about the origin of the expression “Big 5″. It’s not the largest of game as you might think, but those that could generate the greatest financial return on the open market. They include the lion, elephant, water buffalo, leopard and rhino. I suspect that citing animals on the list still generates the greatest tips for the drivers (and unfortunately some poachers), especially of the last two which we didn’t see in the Mara. We did see many zebra, wildebeest, lion and giraffe. Admittedly, what I didn’t expect was how interested I would find the various bird species. They added another element to the safari for me (notwithstanding Brian’s mockery of my subscription to Birdwatcher magazine).
While in Shampole, we visited our first (and most unaffected) Masai Village where we learned about the making of huts from cow dung, the right of passage of men (who brought great shame to their family if they showed any emotion when they were circumcized in front of all of the men in their tribe at 16 years old), and the concept of a 7-10 cow dowry payable for each of a man’s wives (which were awarded to the Masai that could jump the highest).
It was moving when young males (who had not yet become men) would bow their head to be patted as their way of saying hello, each with a sense of innocence. Brian and I decided to milk our first goat, but passed on cow’s blood and milk drink that is a tribal favorite produced by spearing cow’s throats and placing a bucket underneath (my understanding is that there’s little pain/injury to the cow during this ritual).
In retrospect, what we all perhaps most appreciated during this phase of the trip (and yet took for granted) was that in the Mara, due to the fact it was a Conservancy and not a National Park, we could drive wherever we wanted and get incredibly close to the animals, have wine and picnic out of the car and even take a walking safari.
We moved after a life altering stay at Shampole to the Mara Explorer Lodge in the Masai Mara for 3 nights. This lodge was similarly beautiful but more of a luxury camping (on a river), whereas Shampole felt more like an eco-lodge. At the Mara Explorer we met one of those rare and genuine individuals with whom you feel you’ve made a lifetime connection — even if you know you’ll likely never meet again. James, our driver, seemed to be able to read our minds. He looked like he could be Kobe Bryant’s brother. I think I recall him telling me he was a Rastafarian but I could be wrong. He did speak of “one love.” We were fortunate to have our best driver/spotter in the region with the most animals (we also took this for granted at the time). In fact, Eleonora and I became somewhat of experts in tracking with some training due to our unique ability to identify animal scat by smell, shape, volume and composition. Dry Elephant dung looks like nothing more than a large ball of grass (and smells about the same). Notwithstanding my professionalism, I am not sure Brian appreciated it when I asked him to go deep for the Hail Mary pass and threw an elephant bomb.
During the next few days James would bring us to fresh kills where each of our senses were overwhelmed as we witnessed vultures tearing at carcass flesh (and each other) while jackals rushed in for quick scraps, hyenas carrying wildebeest hoofs in their mouths, lion cubs with their faces covered with fresh blood as they learned who was the dominant brother and cheetah’s selectively placing a perfectly intact wildebeest stomach aside for dessert so that the hyenas wouldn’t be able to smell the kill prematurely and they could enjoy it in relative peace.
After enjoining a sheer abundance of various genus of antelope, including the Dik Dik, Thompson Gazelle, Ekland, Waterbuck, Impala, Bush Bucks, we finished our days on the Mara watching hippos and crocodiles at a small passage of the Mara River, the site where many wildebeest, zebra and antelope make a daring cross. We held our breathe as a group of zebra worked up their courage to cross in front of the 4-5 meter crocs until a “home school” Suzuki Samarai driven by a Loggi Barra (Swahili for incompetent) drove up and caused them to change their mind, forver altering their fate and perhaps evolution. That was the closest we would come on the trip to witnessing a live kil. Nonetheless, as we left the Mara, our lives had been forever changed. While I think we’d evolved well beyond the informal checklist nearly every toursit brings on a safari, none of us could resist the desire to witness all of the Big 5 in the Serrengetti with a leopard and rhino siting.
We continued on to Lake Nakuru with our new driver who affectionately referred to himself and apparently his vehicle as “Dik Dik” (not sure which was which). The next few days would be our most challenging as we encountered our first swarm of mosquitoes and long hours in car in which we didn’t feel safe and with a driver with whom we didn’t click. I won’t belabor the difficulty this episode caused. Suffice it to say, a driver is the screte sauce to a good safari (note the photo below).
The perfect storm hit when Dik-Dik asked (after about 50 hours together in the car, on rough roads driven at 120 KPH) whether we came to enjoy a safari or to kill the mosquitoes. Nonetheless, with DD we managed to see our Rhino as well as an incredible array of Flamingoes and White Pelicans in the background. While I have seen the pink panoramic photographs before, nothing compares with first-hand experience. We weren’t sure whether we heard a waterfall in the background as we approached the lake, but ultimately realized this was the sound of perhaps millions of birds moving their wings simultaneously.
We stayed at Mbweha Camp which I would have described in greater detail here had it not followed Shampole and the Mara Explorer. While arguably it was all downhill from Shampole in terms of accommodations, it was downhill from a 5-star to a 4.8 star, 4.6 star etc. From there, we explored Lake Naivasha, a game drive through Lake Nakuru reserve from which we proceeded to the Great Rift Valley Golf Resort. Even if we were golfers, we would not have chosen such a resort in Africa; however, it was the high season and we planned the trip late. It exceeded our expectations and requirements.
Next we drove to Nairibo via the Great Rift Valley (foggy and cold). After a quick lunch at the airport, we flew to Arusha. Realizing the drive ahead would exceed our threshold, we modfied our plans and stayed in the small city at a “Hilton-like” hotel with a local feel, the Impala, to spend a night before flying the next day to Seronera in the Serrengetti where we were picked up by Nicholas, our new driver. We were driven to Mbuzi Mawe, another safari tent camp. Here we completed our Big 5 and saw our first leopard and far more baboons then we had seen to date.
We spent the second night at Simiyu “A” as a result of a wrong turn taken by our driver which brought us 3 hours away from where we had reservations (Simiyu B) to a “mobile camp.” This was after 10 hours in the car. While we were initially quite upset (including due to the fact we had to take the staff tent and had been dealing with Dik Dik for days), sitting by the fire that night with a glass of wine put it all in context. We overheard the most surreal sounds of our lives. First, sounds like planes were crashing into water echoed in the pure black behind us. Then I heard my first lion roar, immediately prior to seeing a shadow that was at least several tons run directly behind me in the black. I knew immediately it was a hippo running like mad. Finally, after the staff was sfaely clear and had motioned the guests to another part of the camp, I heard the bellowing cry of what could only be a hippo in pain. The area is known for having a large pride of about 9-10 lion (which sleep about 100 meter from our tent). The sound could be mistaken for none other than the pride attacking the hippo. The roar of a hippo and lion in the darkness of night perhaps 20 yards away tingles your spine. After our pulses slowed, I managed to eventually go to sleep (Ellie was unable to sleep for the next several days for reasons she feels are unrelated). I did awaken occasionally to the sounds of VERY large animals walking by the tent. At sunrise we went directly to the river but saw no signs of a kill.
From there we flew to Laka Manyara where we saw more white pelicans with hippos in an luscious green and lush setting. We stayed on a coffee plantation at Gibb’s Farm in Karatu Town for two nights. It was quite charming, at least in part due to the fact we had hot water bottles to keep us warm in the cold nights. It appeared that just about everything came from the farm, including the red bricks that were used in the buildings which were seemingly made in every backyard from the local red dirt. Perhaps it was imagined but this was the first town in which I sensed either some economic or racial tension as we drove past the middle school boys who pointedly stared with an angry look (the younger children waived and asked for sweets). Recognizing that the safari vehicles were the only cars on the street, I suspected I partially understood. The driver drove very slowly through town and my instinct was that if there was ever an accident with a local pedestrian, there would be a major problem.
Onward to the Ngorongoro Crater we drove. Climbing up to thousands of meters and back down into the 100 sq KM crater it felt like we had moved into the Land of the Lost. We were advised that it is the only place in the world with all Big 5. We didn’t confirm this but saw elephants, lion and wildebeest. Reportedly, only male elephants make the trek up and down the rim when they “come to retire” since there’s not a lot of competition in the crater. It was here I saw my first Tolkien-like Baobab Tree which I was surprised to learn could be up to 3,000 years old. We had a relaxing picnic by a hippo pool to wind down the day.
From there we headed to Arusha and flew to the island of Zanzibar to stay at the Kempinski, a 5-start resort on water that offers such a vivid acua-marine that it hurts my eyes. We’re staying here for 5 nights, including Eleonora’s birtday (which proved, I think, to be one of her best). I have mixed feelings about the resort. It feels like we earned this stay physically but certainly not due to our hard work since we’ve been sitting in a car for the past to weeks and on holiday for much longer. In any case, it’s like cool water to a parched throat. The smells and sites of the ocean and Stone Town market, including the chicken market, fish market and spice market make it difficult to think about much else, even the fact that we never experienced the pain or beauty of life that it associated with a live kill. I keep repeating the scene I witnessed yesterday in which 3 men struggled to throw a manta ray that weighed at least several hundred pounds off the roof of a car and into the street. The photo reminds me of the American soldiers raising the flag in Iwa Jima. The resort and island create a complex set of attributes that create the perfect setting to “try” to recover from Mal d’ Africa and slowly re-asymilate to society. Even if this proves feasible, I think we all agree that we’ll be back sooner than we had expected.
-jbp
Possibly Related Posts:
