July 19, 2007 – Kenya
Our beds were very cozy—the kind where you sink beneath the covers. I slept so deeply I didn’t wake until 7:30AM. The sound of Giles’ conference call floated down from his office, which was above our room. I eavesdropped for a little while and then unburied myself from beneath the covers and jumped in the shower. Everything is solar powered, so I was impressed when hot water came out so early in the morning—they must also have a battery powered water heater.
As I dried my hair, the words “Mr. Bush” caught my eye. I looked closer to see a certificate hanging on the wall: it was from President Bush and his wife Laura, who were wishing Giles and Jesmina a happy marriage! If you ask Giles and Jesmina about it, they just laugh. They’re very liberal and don’t agree with most of Bush’s policies. But yes, the certificate is real. It turns out that Mr. Bush at one time dated Jesmina’s mother, long ago before presidency was even on the horizon.
We enjoyed a breakfast on the patio, overlooking the pool and the African wilderness beyond it. Spencer went for a ride on his horse (and tiny Oliver tried to join him), while Charly, Alex, and I enjoyed the peaceful patio. Jesmina certainly has her hands full with those two little boys! They are full of energy: Oliver never sleeps through the whole night and if you try to hold him, he’ll wriggle away; Spencer is very adamant with his yes’s and no’s and loves talking. Inside the house, we heard a mix of languages. Jesmina speaks to them in French, Giles speak to them in English, and their nanny speaks to them in Swahili.
At noon, we were joined by some Americans from AWF (African Wildlife Foundation). Jesmina invited us all to sit down for a cup of tea and then we packed up for our next adventure: a visit to Ol Lentille, another project that Giles has a hand in. We said our good-byes to Jesmina and the boys and then jumped in two cars to caravan up to Ol Lentille. Ol Lentille sits up on a rocky crag within a 6500 acre private conservancy, 75 kilometers north of Mt. Kenya. But unlike Ol Pejeta, it’s not really a game reserve, does not have as much wildlife, and is not set up to do wildlife watching.
Nonetheless, the scenery is astonishingly beautiful and we sat on the pool deck overlooking a vast, green plain as we ate a late lunch. After lunch, Alex and I were invited to go to a bead market. If it involves bead crafts, count me in. Alex wanted to see it too.
Big mistake.
I guess you can say we got more than we bargained for, but not in a good way. We took a van to a village area. Instead of seeing stalls with beaders and their wares, we were greeted by Masai women singing and marching towards us. Not only were they selling their beads, they were selling their culture. Next, the men came along doing their song and dance. Finally, we were allowed to go around and watch the Masai warriors playing a game like mankala and watch them making fire by rubbing a stick between two stones. You could even see inside a Masai home (upon further prodding, we discovered these homes were just set up for viewing). Alex and I are not big fans of this sort of thing, but we had a good time imagining what the American equivalent of this would be like…
Alex and I thought about setting up the hottest new tourist destination in North America: the American in his native habitat. You would come to the middle of the United States and go inside a suburbia house to observe an American family eating T.V. dinners and popcorn in front of the television. If you come at the right time, you can even see the rare teenage specimen playing video games. Okay, I’ll stop being so cynical. In fact, nothing is completely black and white and cultural tourism is not all bad. In some ways, I am glad the Masai can make money in a way that allows them to stay close to home and reduces their number of cattle and the stress on the land.
When we came back, I joined Charly for a refreshing jump in the ice cold pool. On the way back to our bungalow, we stopped by Giles’ place. Here at Ol Lentille, each party stays in a bungalow. Ours is called the Sultan House. I don’t recall what Giles’ is called, but he calls it the Austin Powers’ suite. And it truly is. There is a round bed with a shaggy blanket on top, two curvy vases, and a glittery curtain leading to the bathroom. I loved this place…it’s so out of place and crazy that it works. The other bungalows at Ol Lentille are less exciting. On the whole, the architecture is not as captivating or coherent as I expected. It may because the managers are not Kenyan and there is less of a local hand in the whole building, planning, and implementing process. Still, there are some really cool spots where the natural boulders of the landscape become part of the rooms, which I really liked.
Before dinner, Alex, Charly, and I enjoyed sitting out beneath the stars with Giles. We were getting him up to speed on computer technology, internet marketing, Google, and the internet world. It’s funny because Giles is so super intelligent, but then he just doesn’t know very much about computers. He was amused by the Silicon Valley techie world, which reminded us of the bubble we live in.
The four of us joined the AWF folks for dinner in the Sultan House. After dinner, Alex and I tucked Charly into bed and a huge tickle battle ensued. It appeared as though the children faction had gained the upper hand when suddenly Charly came back with full force and we ran away to our beds giggling.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment