The Mara

I am a 'place' person. The feeling of a place either makes me feel connected, happy and somehow contented in where I am, or not. New England, for example, is not a place I connect to. I went to college there and, yes, its beautiful and after four years I did come to appreciate it. (And love many good people there.) But it is not a place I resonate with, or came to love or felt I fit... That connection to place is something I've realized is extremely important to me. Conversely it is a deep sense of belonging and contentedness that connects me to place; I don't always know which comes first. But Kenya is the place where I was born and raised. And long before my earliest recollections, that connection was being formed and cemented in me through all my senses just being there, absorbing all that IS Kenya. The way it feels, smells, tastes, sounds, looks... is just Kenya. Its where I spent the first 18 years of my life, and is the place I feel most connected to. And absolutely adore.

Last weekend I went home. My brother is living and working in a little conservancy adjacent to the Masai Mara Game Reserve, building a tented 'eco-camp.' And being the occasion of his 29th birthday, well why ever wouldn't I go?? So I flew to Nairobi, on a quick barely-an-hour Air Uganda flight.... shuttled my butt over to Wilson Airport where I sat and waited for the better part of the day for my barely-an-hour Safarilink flight out to the Mara. On a wretched little place that bounced through the sky like a yo-yo on a string; YUCK. My one thought of some small comfort, if I was going to die, what better way than to crash than into the beautiful hills of Kenya? Denys Finch Hatton- style? It'd be a nice full circle sort of thing. But praise-be-to-god, my life did not come full circle that fine day (or four days later on my way back). We did not crash, and I did not die, only suffered a minor anxiety attack and an unpleasant queasy stomach.

But even just being back in Nairobi driving from one airport to the other--I got this giddy, ridiculously happy feeling of familiarity and home. I realized just how home it really is.

Flying over the Ngong Hills... close to where we used to live. (And where Denys Finch Hatton died and is burried. Go watch Out of Africa. And WEEP.)

We used to go to the Mara a lot as kids. Part of the Kenya Semester Program my dad directed was a two week field course in the Mara studying wildlife ecology and community conservation. I don't know how many years its been since I was there last, but oh, to go back. To feel my heart fill up to the brim and beyond just BEING there... it just felt good, so so good. Its just... part of me somehow, that beautiful, beautiful place.

Oh, my pictures feel far too one-dimensional to capture any real sense of it... On Thans birthday we got up in the chilly dark, make a thermos of coffee (true that in yesteryears it would have been chai, but this is one of the very small details that can be fudged and I'm very happily ambidextrous when it comes to my hot beverages...) and set out for an early morning game drive.
Thans camp... his tent and a few tents to store building tools/supplies etc.
Where I spent a lot of time enjoying the hot sun, warm breezes and animals passing though (thankfully no lions) as I read Someone Knows My Name. (Beautiful book, by the way, by Lawrence Hill.)
Thans tent... here he sits connecting with the great wide world through his magic internet wand on his computer.
For his birthday dinner we had a meaty braai-- (barbeque) thanks to Adrien and Carmen who joined us for the weekend from Nairobi-- loaded with Than's resupply.
And of course, there must be cake! (Thanks Mel!) And candles that you can't blow out. (Unless you're Than and have the lung capacity of a young hippo.) (He also got party popped, weehoo!) Happy Birthday NASAN!
Sunrise...
Adrien cooked us a delicious breakfast Sunday morning...
Than and Carmen enjoying coffe...
Sunday evening gamedrive and sundowners of course...
Overlooking the beautiful Mara...

April update

Ahhh... Friday morning. Can't quite believe its April. The rainy season is in full tilt here... which means exciting weather. We get both sunshine and thunderstorms in any given day, and either at any given moment. The air is fresh, the world is green green green with things growing double time, and red with mud everywhere. Bright sun shines while dark purple clouds hail the afternoon thunderstorm rolling in over the hills... or you wake up to a gentle drizzle with the sunshine poking through a slit of clouds on the horizon. And it must be spring because all of a sudden half of the troop of redtails have tiny little babies clinging to their underbellies (with their little bitty tails wrapped around their moms'! Oh!) as they trot heavily through the yard from the guava tree to the avecado trees squabbling over fruit- which is also in full season.

Among other news from the top of the hill, a family of mongoose (mongooses? Mongeese?) has moved in. They are fat, fury, striped little torpedos that hurtle through the grass... and I have yet to catch them on film. Or memory card. Also, the african greys are around in greater numbers and hang out for longer-- rather than just whistling on through every morning and evening. Oh, its just a fabulous start to the day, hearing their goofy whistling and squaking a way high up in the branches. I was talking to my dad on the phone the other day who, clear from wheaton, heard the hadada ibisis and then the hornbills. Kara heard them too! Its a veritable jungle up here right now.

This is the first uneventful weekend in oh, I don't know how long. I aim to enjoy it restfully. Next week is our last week of class... followed by a week and a half of exams and Rwanda. Followed by our 9 day Rwanda trip and debrief... to back here and then four days of overall debrief. And the students are outta here! The following week, I'm outta here! NUTS. So this is that point where we scramble back into the raft... catch our breath for a few brief minutes... and find our paddles, get back up onto the side of the raft and regroup before the the next rapids hit. Yes, that is exactly how I feel.

Sun rise..

I walked up monkey hill today-- the clearest day we've had yet. The lake- which usually feels way off in the distance, felt a mere stones throw away...

Looking down on the bustling town of Mukono:

And onto the next set of rapids...