Africa blues

....wonder, amazement, disbelief... are just some of the emotions my mind felt crossing the splendid land of Kenya. The route from Mombasa to Nairobi brings you, as if by magic, into a book by Hemingway, where the immensity and splendour of the landscape leave you breathless, where the suffocating heat doesn't weigh on you because there's no room in the mind for unpleasant feelings, where, in a landscape drawn with two colours, the red of the earth and the green of the shrubs, there seems to be no room for other colours, and yet now and then it's broken up by small villages, colourful only in the clothes of the people born along the road to take advantage of the passing of travellers. Suddenly the hour of dusk arrives.

The setting of the sun turns everything into a spectacle impossible to describe, the shades of red, with which the landscape is coloured, are infinite, from yellow to purple passing through various gradations of orange. You feel you can touch the sun with your hands; the same sun that during the day overheats the air at this hour radiates rays that give a pleasant warmth, making this moment even more evocative.

For five years now I've spent my holidays (always too few) in various states of the Great Continent; I've been to South Africa, Zanzibar, Niger etc. but this is the first time I've seen the Africa I always dreamed of, as a child watching Quark, as an adult reading Hemingway and others. I spent 15 days in Malindi, on the ocean coast, 100 kilometres north of Mombasa, in the house of an Italian girl, Mariam, who thanks to her willpower and her courage, moved there three years ago, giving us all the chance to spend a period in the flat she rents out. A well-kept and furnished flat, where a friendly "boy" with a smile that makes you think takes care of the cleaning every day.

The closeness to the sea (about 50 m) makes it ideal for those who want a relaxing holiday but the experience and helpfulness of the host mean that within a few days the guest wants to get around and look at something else. So, after 3 days of total relax, we start organising outings and safaris in incredibly beautiful places. The first thing is surely the safari. Four days spent in Tsavo East, Tsavo West and Amboseli in search of the animals of the savannah and not only. In fact I advise everyone not to go with the sole hope of spotting the lion, the beauty lies in roaming a fantastic territory where you're certain that it's the lion who sees us...then if you're lucky we'll be the ones to see him too.

It's not a zoo where the animals are our guests (even if not by their own will) but we are their guests and for this reason we must respect their will, including that of not showing themselves. The night spent in a tented camp (the standard of the tents is very high, they're 5-star tents) makes you live even more the feeling of being in a hostile but at the same time fascinating environment. The experience of the guides is of fundamental importance, both to enjoy everything to the full by listening to explanations from those who have known this land all their lives, and to be sure of never getting into trouble (if the car breaks down in the middle of the park only an experienced guide will be able to get us back on the road).

It's for this reason that I advise you to organise a safari with the help of Mariam and her husband Said, an expert guide and exceptional person with whom to exchange opinions and reflections on the history and current affairs that magically envelop Kenya, its people, and its nature. Back in Malindi, after the safari, my desire grew even more to get away from the classic tourist circuits and delve into the life that goes on inside the bush. So I rented a motorbike and together with Mariam and Said we rode for two days around Malindi in search of particular landscapes and situations. An important stop was the Malindi orphanage, where thanks to the help of Italians and Kenyans, 41 orphan children have found shelter and education.

I spent other beautiful moments during my 10 days in Kenya but I think it's pointless to list them all, I prefer to leave each of you free to dream your own Kenya and who knows, maybe one day your dream will come true as it did for me.

The Africa blues really exist but it's not an illness that affects everyone, only sensitive people attentive to particular situations can be infected by it. This is my Africa, the Africa of spectacular landscapes, the Africa of hospitable people, the Africa of a thousand colours, the Africa where 3 women in ten die in childbirth, the Africa where a child's life hangs by a thread, THE AFRICA TO HELP!!!!!

In saying goodbye I can only thank the people who made this experience possible and the participation in emotions that our everyday life increasingly deprives us of. THANKS MARIAM.....THANKS SAID.