Monday, March 09, 2009

Kenya trip: the most amazing things part 1

Safari. If you ever go to Kenya or any of the neighbouring countries and are questioning whether or not to do safari, stop right there and just do it! Fearing to sound like an easily amused American, i have to say safari was amazing. Who knew i'd be so mesmerised by animals. Or N, for that matter, the world-known animal-lover:) But i mean, who wouldn't be in awe when you get to see a family of lions up close and personal, or 70 elephants slowly and elegantly cruising through the Masai Mara. Don't even get me started on how funny the hippos were or how pretty the zebras and giraffes or or or...how cheetah was teaching it's cubs how to hunt a baby gasell. I learned more about animal world in 4 days than i have in my whole life. Did you know that animals are jumping around in the morning when the sun is up again because they are happy and darkness is scary :) or that all the different species have a lot of structure in their life, like avoiding inbreeding, even if for some it means living a polygamous and for some monogamous family life. Having George as a guide was helpful, too. I think you always are more eager to learn when the teacher's hot :) We were really lucky with the group as well - Bas, Kim, Caroline, Edward and Sidi - thanks guys for good company!


Lamu. I take a bow, pause for a second and say Lamu again. This little island really captured my heart. It's the little paradise in hiding. But paradise with a twist, not picture perfect and ideal, but perfect with its little flaws. After we'd had the 4-day safari we honestly did think the best part of the trip was over and we were actually quite fine with that. We had to leave a good group and great experiences behind, but boy did we get proven wrong, the best part was yet to come. We had a short stopover in Mombasa but were luckily chased away from there by that eager self-proclaimed tour guide who wouldn't get off our backs. So we escaped to Lamu (we literally escaped early in the morning) for a couple of days, or so we thought. We ended up staying til the end of the trip, stretching the stay til the last bit. Lamu is an island where time travels differently. It's like being lost in parallel universe. It's all too good to be true and even when you acknowledge you're lost in some surreal life, it still feels too strange to be true. How many times did me an N look at each other in all earnesty and say: "Is this for real?!"

I'm really torn on what to tell you guys about Lamu. Part of me wants to keep it to myself and part of me knows bits of it needs to stay in the surreality because you won't believe it anyway. I have to stop now anyway, i'm tired. More tomorrow.

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