Roses & Thorns and Wild Animals
I forget now where I first heard the phrase “Roses and Thorns” or the concept of recognizing the good and bad in a day, week, year, etc., but I was reminded again that both can and often do exist at the same time. In fact, the presence of one can make the other that much more noticeable.
This was the case with the past two weeks. We have been in Kenya since January 8th. Here for our much anticipated Safari, a true bucket list experience for all of us. Actually, we hadn’t intended to come to the African continent when we first planned our year abroad. As plans evolved and COVID continued to keep some countries on our list closed, we shifted. First plan B, which included Morocco and Egypt, then plan C, which added South Africa and Kenya, then Plan D, which removed Morocco and South Africa and added Barcelona, Dubai and Nepal (the last two still to come). In truth, we were only planning to be in Kenya for 12 days. We are on day 16, so I guess this is now Plan E, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
After a great week in Barcelona, we arrived in Nairobi, Kenya at 1am. We were met at the airport by a friend of the priest who married Ben and I in Kentucky, Father Joe Mitchell, who also runs the Earth and Spirit Center in Louisville. Father Joe has led trips to the Passionist Retreat Center in Nairobi and helped set up accommodations there for us with Father Jacob and transportation with Peter, “the best driver in all of Nairobi and possibly Kenya”. Peter is so close to Father Joe that he named his son after him.
Peter met us at the airport and took us to the retreat center where Father Jacob was waiting to greet us with a huge smile and a pick of rooms as we were the only guests at the center for the coming week. After a bit of rest and a wonderful breakfast provided by the center, Father Jacob and Peter took us to the Giraffe Center, were we were able to learn about, observe, and feed giraffes. The Giraffe Center is the backdrop for the famous Giraffe Manor.
Side Note: I had looked at booking rooms at the Manor, which boasts feeding giraffes from your bedroom window as an amenity! However, the place is booked months, if not years in advance (even during COVID) and the one or two nights still available were over $1,000 a night. So, I feel like we got all the benefit, without the cost!
Before heading back to the Passionist Retreat Center, we made two other stops. The first was to Kazuri. Kazuri, which means “small and beautiful” in Swahili, began in 1975 as a tiny workshop experimenting in hand crafted ceramic beads. Its founder started with two single mothers and soon discovered that there were many others in the villages around Nairobi, most of who were disadvantaged and were in great need of regular employment. Today Kazuri has grown tremendously and now has a large workforce of over 340 women skilled in the crafting of ceramic beads, strung into beautifully and artistically jewelry. During COVID they’ve had to downsize to 70 women working at a time, but they are rotating the 70 to keep as many women employed at some level during this tough time. They also provide childcare and health benefits for the women and their families. After buying our share of jewelry and two giraffe print beer mugs (for Ben and my dad), we stopped at a roadside Curio shop.
These Curios are all over Kenya and sell local crafts made primarily by the Masai people and some other tribes. Interestingly, Kenya has 43 different tribes, all with distinct cultures, languages, specialties, etc. The Masai are expert sales people and drive a hard bargain. Ben’s mom, Maddie and her friend Mona, found some beautiful pieces and made a successful deal with a very happy salesman.
Back at the Passionist Retreat Center that evening, I noticed a blistery rash on my lower back. Ben sent a picture to his Uncle Chuck, a dermatologist, who diagnosed it as a likely bacterial infection that would require an oral medication if it continued to spread. The next morning more pimple like spots appeared on my arm and chest and so I started a course of the amoxicillin we had brought from home (thanks to Luanne at the UofL Travel Clinic!).
Unfortunately, the amoxicillin caused flu-like symptoms and I was stuck with headaches, sore throat, chills and nasal congestion for the first three days of our Safari. Add to this my insomnia from the malaria pills we all were taking and you have the first thorn of our past two weeks.
Luckily, the roses were so much sweeter and the only possible counter to my mix of maladies.
After two days at the Passionist Retreat Center, which also included a church service on Sunday morning with Father Jacob at the Church of Guadalupe and a tour of the nearby Kibera Slum, the largest slum in East Africa with over 1 million inhabitants, but also self-declared the “friendliest slum in the world”, we set off with our two drivers/guides for our Safari.
Side Note: Despite the appalling living conditions (corrugated metal shacks, no running water, intermittent electricity, trash piles decaying and burning in every direction), the people in Kibera were dressed well and all seemed to be content. Not mad or bitter with their situation, but reserved to making the most of the life they have. We heard that even as the government is working to build affordable housing for them nearby, individual who receive the new apartments are subletting them out to others, keeping the money, and remaining in the slum. Appreciation for all that we have in the United States and have been blessed with as a family was a first rose.
Over the course of the week, Benson and Evans, our two guides, expertly navigated us through the Masai Mara National Reserve, Amboseli National Park, Lake Nakuru National Park, and the Rift Valley. We saw all of the Big 5 (elephant, buffalo, leopard, lion, and rhino) and the Ugly 5 (the warthog, hyena, marabou stork, vulture, and wildebeest) as well as cheetahs and so much more! Not only did we see them up close (like 1 foot away), but we got to see two leopards mating(!), four cheetahs eating a zebra(!), multiple lionesses with their cubs(!), a male lion, and then a lioness scare those same four cheetahs off her land(!), hippos in the water and out(!), and a herd of elephants with their young(!).
It is not an exaggeration to say that seeing all these animals in their natural habitat was truly life changing. Even my father admitted that this was the trip of a lifetime and worth every penny (not a statement easily made by Bill Grano). The roses this week were many. From delicious meals and live music at the lodges to stunning views and yoga within sight of Mount Kilimanjaro. Not to mention the quality time our kids had with their grandparents - riding with Maddie and Mona in their Land Cruiser all week and talking with Naunie and Papa over games of cards and backgammon.
Towards the end of the week, I started to feel a bit better, though Sophia and my father both started to have the same congestion and sore throat as I had had. My fear was I had some head cold that I had passed on. Still, we were all able to enjoy the week and were sad when it finally came to an end.
Our plan was to spend the next few days at the Passionist Retreat Center (where we had kept much of our stuff, not wanting to bring large bags on Safari). While back in Nairobi, we got to visit the Elephant Sanctuary for orphaned elephants and a park filled with very friendly monkeys, see a cultural performance at the Bomas of Kenya, and tour the Karen Blixen (author of Out of Africa; warning, the movie with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford is SO SAD) home.
Having seen and done so much, we were ready to declare Kenya a success and head on to Cairo, Egypt. Unfortunately, this was not in the cards for all of us. If you haven’t guessed by now, my illness was not a reaction to the medications, but more likely the Omicron variant of COVID. Two days before our scheduled departure, Paul, Sophia, Ava and I all tested positive for COVID (major THORN)!
Luckily, Maddie and Mona (who were flying back to the states), my parents, and Ben were all negative. We tested the next day in hopes maybe we had false positives and only Sophia’s test came back negative. Paul, Ava, and I were still positive. This meant, my parents and Sophia would continue on to Cairo and Ben would stay back with me, Paul, and Ava till we could test negative.
Getting us all back together in the same country has proved a bit of a challenge and as I write this, my parents and Sophia are in Jordan, Ava and I are in Istanbul, where a snowstorm has shut down the airport, and Ben and Paul are still in Kenya. I will have to write another blog documenting the crazy rollercoaster we are currently on, but suffice it to say, we are all feeling well and are grateful for the resources, patience, and good humor we have to deal with all the speedbumps/thorns we’ve encountered.
