Kenya: how much longer?

Kenya – how much longer? That's the question we heard most often on yet another trip to Kenya, made with my wife and my son Luca, aged 9.

We set off at the end of August to save a little on the air fare, and to get back a few days before school started, we flew with Egypt Air, with a stopover in Cairo and its brand-new terminal that would make Malpensa jealous. Arrival in Nairobi. Everything on time and without any problems… Hakuna matata.

We each had 20 kg, or rather I had 22, Luca 21 kg and my wife 20 kg… we went overboard with the hand luggage and we were lucky because nobody ever weighed it…. (thank goodness..)

We knew full well we had to do this, and over the year we had collected so much stuff that it took us a whole week to pack, so as not to leave anything at home.

Our Luca had his suitcase crammed with football kits and strips, collected from his friends who play football. It was so funny to see him dragging his trolley with effort through the airports, yet at the same time so proud of what he was doing that it made us realise, once again, that we had been right to come back to Kenya with him, involving him actively in our little aid projects for these people and these families who had made us fall so in love with their land and changed our lives for the better....

We had already organised our safari from Italy, as we always do, by emailing our trusted Thomas Mboya, a licensed guide for safaris and excursions in Watamu who works regularly for an all-African safari agency.. and every time we come back, he shows us another piece of his Kenya.

We set off right away the next day for a fine 3-day safari in the Masai Mara; we stayed at the Fig Tree Camp, and, as on all our trips to Kenya, this time too our spirit of adaptation helped us a great deal to get through the unexpected and to “gloss over” the flaws of this accommodation, which probably, in high season when it's fully booked, falls a little short on service and quality.

There's no point describing the beauty of this park during the animal migration; this time Luca never stopped taking photos, I don't know how many he took, I have two 2 GB cards to go through, but Hakuna matata — his enthusiasm stayed with us, along with his constant exclamations, questions and curiosity… One of the best moments was when, outside the park, we came across a minibus full of foreign tourists, stuck in the mud. Our driver immediately attached the cable to our jeep to tow them out, and it was hard because they were well and truly stuck. The jeep cut out and we couldn't get it started again…. at once the driver leaps out into the mud, opens the bonnet to check the engine, but he struggles to keep it open because the prop rod is missing…

We look around and start to see the children approaching with a Masai shepherd dressed in his red robe and carrying his stick…. at that point our driver doesn't think twice, takes the stick and uses it as a prop to hold the bonnet open and so have both hands free…. 2 minutes later the jeep is running again, the children cheer happily, and meanwhile Luca gathers up all the pens he had brought from Italy….

My wife and Luca try to communicate, partly in English and partly in Italian, with these children, trying to get them all into a single file so each can receive a pen…. I saw very tiny children queued behind the others, waiting composedly with their little hands, never trying to push past one another…. it was truly beautiful and my mind and heart filled with emotion.

Once the safari was over, an internal flight from Nairobi to Malindi with Fly540 to finally reach Watamu. The hour-long flight from Nairobi to Malindi was accompanied the whole time by the question.... Dad, how much longer till we get there?

Not long, Luca, hardly any time at all, and at last… here we are! Malindi airport is tiny, the luggage was collected straight away and waiting for us, as always, was our Thomas Mboya along with Anthony, his older orphaned nephew, 11 years old, who had organised the transfer to Watamu for us..

Luca greeted Anthony with a big open-handed high five, and like two old friends they hurried out of the airport, leaving us this time to carry his heavy trolley… he was too excited… he was telling Anthony about all the animal sightings in the Masai Mara and, who knows how, but they understood each other perfectly… one speaks little English, the other little Italian… but they understood each other…

Transfer from Malindi airport to Watamu all together in a minibus, laden with luggage and so many things to tell each other… but one question kept echoing… how much longer to Watamu? Not long, Luca ….not long!

Thomas had booked our accommodation in Watamu, which we then chose and changed together like this: For the first 3 nights we stayed at the Turtle Bay Beach Club, where we recovered from the exertions of the safari. The rest of the stay we spent at the Beach Vieuw, an all-African residence with a small pool.

By managing to save on the accommodation, we were able to buy a good deal of food, which we handed out one Sunday in the various little villages where Thomas took us. We got to know smaller places off the tourist circuit, ones that many drive through on their way to safaris in Tsavo East, but not everyone stops; I remembered them from the previous year and wanted to go back because the pull of those images and feelings had stayed with me all year and I had to return..

Here we also left much of the material we had brought from Italy, and plenty of medicines.

Our stay passed in the name of relaxation in the morning and play in the afternoon; Luca had finally managed to hand out his “load” of football kits and shorts, which he had collected in Italy, and had created a sort of little football team that somehow got together to play every day…

Every now and then I went to the internet point in Watamu and logged on to check my mail, where, instead of reading my clients' emails, I only replied to those from tourists about to set off on their holidays in Kenya who were asking me for practical info.

We went to Marafra and Timboni to say hello to our friends at the orphanage, many times to Malindi and to dinner at Thomas's house, with fish cooked by his mother Anna, along with polenta and various typical African dishes, all around a table lit by an oil lamp, where the surrounding houses were “huts”, where there was no cutlery, but where everyone ate happily and contentedly, singing the much-loved little song Jambo bwana…

For the whole time we were in Kenya and Watamu I forgot I had a mobile phone, I forgot I had a watch, I forgot to keep to mealtimes, I forgot that at home I suffered from insomnia,….

For us Kenya is also a natural medicine, a remedy against everyday stress

Dad, how much longer? Not long, Luca — soon we have to go home…. to Italy.

We want to go back to Kenya, to Watamu and to Thomas, again and again … it's a need that has to be met… it's a promise made to Anthony, whom one day Luca dreams of bringing to Italy as if he were his brother… his African brother!

Asante sana Kenya!

Mido helllost2@yahoo.com

Thomas Mboya 00254- 736 334 392 E-MAIL thomasmby@yahoo.co.uk