Kenya

Life can take you many places in the world and teach you many lessons.  My friend Joanna Shaw had such a journey years ago, which helped shape who she is today.  Born in the Bronx and raised in Westchester NY, Joanna is an adventurous soul.  In 1992, after two years of college, she was feeling restless and unsatisfied. This prompted her to enter into a program called NOLS. A love for camping was introduced to Joanna during her senior year of high school so gravitating towards an outdoor leadership school was a no brainer.  There were about 15 people in the group that went to Kenya but separate parties would break off into different hikes.  The story that follows is about what this trip meant to her, the beauty of Kenya and a love of adventure.

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I had many experiences in Kenya that will stay with me forever. Like approaching a village of Massai for help finding water after following a map to a dried up river. They all came out of their bomas (Massai homes) curiously gathering around my group. A baby reached for my girlfriend’s blond locks and pulled on them wailing in terror…we were as foreign to them as they to us. Yet, a smile goes a long way and friends are easily made that way. A woman of the village led us to a water source where we camped for the night grateful for our new friends.

One night we camped near a waterfall that dumped into a small clear pool where we could swim. We were so excited as we were to take a break at this location and have a day “off” from hiking. The pool was reached by climbing down the lower side of the ravine it was nestled in. Two friends, who broke off to explore, came upon a dead buffalo that had clearly fallen off the higher side of the ravine. The buffalo had missed its step and stumbled to its death. The next morning none could wait to spend the day swimming and relaxing. That we didn’t have to rise at the crack of dawn and pack up our homes (tents) and kitchens (food and cooking supplies) and hike miles in the heat was nothing short of a blessing… except, that is, for the blessing of life. The dead buffalo was no longer. Barely any bones left and no scraps. Lions had come in the night and fed on it. Thank God for a big ravine and missed step.

But perhaps the greatest memory of my time in Africa was the morning of my 21st birthday when I summited Mt. Kenya. I had been living outside for 3 weeks at that point, cold, dirty, lacking a good amount of oxygen and very, very, tired.  To peel off my sleeping bag and sit up – at that altitude – was an unexplainable struggle. It was freezing cold and just sitting up felt like I’d run a mile.

It was a short hike to the summit – compared to how far I’d come – and I didn’t want to go. I was close enough in my mind. My friend, a Kikuyu named Mungai, tore open my tent, and tugged on my sleeping bag until I was exposed, freezing in my long johns. He said “get up, we’ll do this together”. I got (bloody) dressed and put on my (bloody) boots and hauled out of camp at 4:30am. At 5:30 am we summited. The sun was just rising. Mungai handed me a bag of chocolate and said “happy birthday”.  It was beautiful at the top. It was worth it.

I was in Kenya for a total of three months, first on the mountain, then in jungle, then on the coast where we sailed the Indian Ocean in motor-less Dhows with Muslims during the month of Ramadan. When there was wind it was easy sailing. When there was none it was rocking back and forth desperate for cover, trying to both cool off and not hurl. No wind for almost 24 hours once, our Muslim sailors cared only about the sun going down so they could eat and be festive, and boy could they be festive! The wind picked up in the middle of the night and, as if they were waiting for it, sails went up and off we went – incredible.

My journey through Kenya was a life lesson. From the Massai I learned that if you are kind to people they will be kind to you. In the jungle I leaned that everything happens for a reason and all living beings are truly connected. On the mountain I learned to never give up, and on the coast I learned you will go exactly where you need to go if you’re just patient (and festive) and wait for the wind to pick up.