Kenya
Nairobi, Kenya
I’m glad we went to Kenya. I’d never been to a country of all black people. There is a sense of serenity or calm here that’s different than I’ve felt in other places. At first blush it seems cold or rude, smile only when smiled at (and sometimes not even then). Maybe there is no need to put on a smile if you don’t feel like it. I just finished reading, “Talking to Strangers,” by Malcolm Gladwell who says people generally believe in the transparency of others; that facial expressions and body language do and should match. But in reality this is very inaccurate. Not smiling does not always mean unhappiness, nor does averting your gaze mean you are uncomfortable. I often don a big, dumb smile for no reason. Neither is right or wrong, just an awareness to cultivate.
I liked Kenya, but I thought I’d like it more. The safaris were super expensive, and I had recently read this WSJ article about how overrun with tourists Masai Mara reserve is becoming. Nairobi wasn’t the cosmopolitan city I expected, but that’s likely because I didn’t know the places to go or run in the right circles.
Instead, we opted for the local safari in Nairobi National Park, which we loved! It was $200 USD for all of us for half a day, and close enough to reach by Uber. Enclosed on three sides and adjacent to Nairobi city, it felt fresh and alive to hop in a jeep, driving miles and miles to catch a glimpse of wildlife. We saw white rhinos and black rhinos, loads of zebra, giraffes, a warthog family, a vulture, marabou storks (which have an oddly human-ish quality), hippos cooling in the water, and lots of different antelope. Learning about Kenya’s history in the Nairobi National Museum was also a major highlight.
Because we didn’t get to Masai Mara and decided against an even more expensive, multi-day trip to Amboseli National Park in the south, we took our new friends Steve and Hannah’s recommendation, rented a car and drove to Lake Naivasha. In lieu of speed limit signs, Kenyan roads utilize (sometimes unmarked) speed bumps on paved and dirt roads to slow drivers. The station wagon-style car we rented could barely clear them sometimes and the awful scraping sound of undercarriage on rock ripped right through us.
Hiking nearby Mount Longonot (an $80 USD entrance fee for the four of us) is near to Lake Naivasha. The MGs (us) have truly become hikers this year, but this is a hike that bested us. Longonot is an inactive volcano and the full route is straight up, around the rim, and back down. We made it up (stopping sometimes every 20m to duck into a tiny piece of shade), about a quarter of the way around the rim, then decided to come back. I hate not finishing something I start, but I also decided it’s a good sign that we’re challenging ourselves if every now and then there’s a hike we can’t finish.
