Kenya
Chapter one
Arrival, giraffes, and Karen Blixen.
Sep 5 2021. Nairobi.
Already, Kenya is like a dream. Last night arriving in the dark I kept up a conversion with the driver as he told me about the roads, his history driving all the country, his children, his family back home in the village.
He pointed to the darkness to the left of the highway. A wildlife corridor, he told me. During the day you can see giraffe. I peered out the window towards the hills like knuckles in the distance as he described them to me. Ngong, he said. The Maasai word for knuckles.
In the morning, I ate breakfast and then looked up the giraffe center. I checked the prices on Uber and found a third option. A chap chap, which it turns out is their attempt to capture the lower end market with a fleet of smaller more fuel efficient vehicles with a lower price point. From the hotel it was a 3$ ride. I bought a ticket and booked a ride.
The giraffe center.
The center was under renovation and the raised skywalks were closed. Instead all the giraffe congregated near the feeding area with two large females crowding out a youngster who had to reach her neck out to reach the pellets we handed her.
It was surprisingly affecting, seeing such large animals up close, behaving in such a gentle manner. It wasn’t until one would crowd another, throwing her slightly off balance that you got a sense of their size and weight as they stumbled and loudly regained their feet.
I spent a lot more time at the center than I had anticipated. Upon entering they hand you a coconut shell with pellets and I rationed them out, looking to prolong the experience. Groups came and went and I watched these giant creatures reach out with their (sometimes slobbery) tongues for the outstretched treats.
I felt emotional as I left and flashed back to my last safari when I broke down in tears as I was leaving the park. I hadn’t realized how much I missed seeing animals in the bush; I can’t wait to begin safari tomorrow.
On the other side of the center, I followed a human path for the views of the surrounding hills. The path looped around and soon I found myself back at the entrance to the giraffe center. I couldn't resist walking back in for another look at the statuesque creatures, and enjoy the interaction that visitors had with them.
Karen Blixen.
I took a short Uber ride from the center to the Karen Blixen museum, “at the foot of the Ngong Hills.” The museum consists of her house sitting on part of the land that she once owned. Other parcels had been sold and now comprised the Karen neighborhood around her home.
A guide sat me down on the lawn and outlined Karen Blixen’s life to me. He was a university student studying tourism and wildlife conservation and spoke at length about the house, Bixen’s life, and the tourism industry on the whole in the wake of covid.
He said there were weeks with no visitors and that the museum closed for a time. He said they were coming back but the numbers are still small. Usually during the high season you were limited to five minutes in the house; the tour would be 20min. Now—he motioned around him at the two or three other couples who were on the grounds—you can spend as much time as you want.
At the end of the tour I took the nature walk around the grounds and back to the house, imagining Karen walking the same. Things have changed since she lived there, however. The hills were more easily seen, the brush had grown high. I downloaded the book to read it and in the opening chapter she writes about how expansive the view was. It’s not quite the same now, but having walked on her grounds I can sense it with a power I hadn’t felt when I read the same passage years ago.
After the tour, I walked the grounds, following a path as it lead into the bush and then back out again, finding myself once again at the back of the house.
Back at the hotel a small three piece band played yacht rock hits by the pool. Children raced around the pool but no one was in it. I swam a few laps but it’s cold and the altitude and my lack of fitness had me breathing hard quickly. A group of women dressed in white celebrated on the terrace. One wore an elaborate crown and a beautiful dress, white and blue balloons festooned behind her. 🦒
