Part 2: Africa and Its People

The people of Africa excite with their unending joyfulness and joie de vivre. It was just as important in meeting them, along with being among the animals, to get a fuller experience in journeying to Africa.

UMOJA WOMEN’S VILLAGE!

I want to begin this story with an incredible one of strength, courage, and survival. Umoja, meaning unity in Swahili, is a village founded in 1990, as an all-female matriarchal society. Founder Rebecca Lolosoli, is a remarkable Samburu woman, and her extraordinary work in creating the village became recognized world over after her visit to the United Nations in 2005. She has relentlessly fought against female genital mutilation (FGM), which brought her to establishing the women’s refuge after having been beaten for speaking out on the horrific subject.

Rebecca established Umoja as a sanctuary for homeless survivors of violence against women, and young girls running from forced marriages. Her objective is to “improve the livelihoods of women due to rampant poverty and counter the problem of women being abandoned by their families.”

The women also help to raise orphans, abandoned children and children with HIV. They run a primary school, cultural center, camping site, and create and sell beaded jewelry and traditional crafts to benefit villagers. They dress in their colorful, traditional clothing and extraordinary beadwork of the Samburu people.

Umoja is made up of manyata huts built by the women, from a mixture of earth and cow dung. We were privileged to enter one to see how they live. They own the land itself, unheard of in Kenya.

Most exciting was their warm welcome into their unique sanctuary with a lively song and dance. It spoke of their resilience against all odds and the will to live and survive in a better place, settling into a safe, social sphere. It was a privilege to witness these women and so gratifying sharing some time with them. It was unforgettable. It reemphasizes how grateful I am in being able to visit this part of the world and enabling me to have a new perspective and appreciation of how well I live.

Shopping their wares, spread out for us on blankets, I was immediately taken with a large, wide, and bright red, beaded bib necklace that spoke to me. It will be mounted and displayed at home to remind me of these wonderful, beautiful women of Africa.

Rebecca has said, “When you have your community in your heart, you are really a leader.”

MASAI!

The culmination of our safari and the crème de la crème ~ is our final three day visit to the Masai Mara National Reserve in SW Kenya, along the Tanzanian border. It’s here that the tall Masai people, a semi-nomadic, pastoral indigenous tribe, live with their distinctive customs and dress. They’re known for wearing the colorful shuka cloth, the “African blanket,” a tribal symbol. Psst … a secret: what’s generally unknown is that it’s produced in China!

In their villages, Masai males compete and vie for the attention of women, by who can jump the highest and remarkably, they can get pretty high easily! Thanks to Sheridan and Dianne for these fabulous and colorful photos!

HOT AIR BALLOON RIDE!

What could be more thrilling than to glide effortlessly over the Masai Mara National Reserve? An early morning hot air balloon ride was the way to go, even if it meant departing at 5am (4am wakeup call!). Once the hour’s ride began with our group of 16 comfortably snug in the basket, lift-off and the wonders of the wild were beneath our feet. What would we encounter below …

Once airborne, the serenity and quietude of gliding above the sprawling expanse of the savannah was a gift from the heavens above. All the more amazing were the wildebeests below us, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, spread over a vast vista to the horizon. Scattered about with them were their fellow compadres, the zebras. An elephant there, hyenas on the hunt … all so surreal and unbelievable. Makes for an indelible impression.

Upon landing, a champagne breakfast followed out in the wild, perfectly capturing a moment in time. Cheers were said as we all toasted our gratitude and good fortune.

KAREN BLIXSON!

A brief mention of Karen Blixson, author of “Out of Africa.” A visit to her homestead, and now museum, is a good introduction to Kenya for any first-time visitors to Nairobi. It’s just 10 miles outside downtown. Its landscape features scattered remnants of its coffee production days in the 1920s. Inside the farmhouse are copies of her beautiful African portrait art of local farm workers. The originals are in her museum back in her homeland, Denmark.

The Oscar winning film was still fresh in my mind, from having watched it again a week before departure, in anticipation for my African safari adventure. Besides being a great romantic film and story on the famous author, her amour, Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford), was an interesting character in his own right.

In the late 1920s, Finch Hatton played host to the Prince of Wales, in a safari that switched from hunting to photography. The future King of England would take up the cause for abandoning cars for hunting safaris, and shifting towards filming wildlife instead of killing them for trophies. Imagine all the animals that were saved from certain death over these 100 years as a result of their early groundwork.

Part 3 concludes with the amazing array of animals found on the Masai Mara National Reserve. It would become the pinnacle and final exclamation point of our safari adventure. Thanks for reading along.