Kenya do it?
July 3, 2004 | 12:00am
Kenya is an immensely diverse country. Its landscape covers the range from dessert to Savannah to mountains, to tropical forests and a beach-filled coastline. Continuing on the trip we started last week we pick up from Nakuru Lake and its pink flamingos.
From the lake we crossed the country south to Masai Mara National Park to meet the famous Masai tribe; that jump-happy bunch much featured in movies and fashion shoots.
The whole park was over a thousand square kilometers, large enough to fit the whole metropolitan Manila and a province or two in it. Not only were the villages of Masai great to visit but they have more safari runs – lions, cheetah, gazelles, zebra and all manner of Savannah wildlife.
Our anticipated meeting with the Masai was a singularly unique experience. It was like being in a National Geographic documentary, what with TV Journalist of the Year Howie Severino covering each and every bit of interaction between the Masai and the Pinoy tribes. It was not so much a clash of civilizations but a comparison of practices and cultural modes of expression.
We found much that was similar to other Philippine northern tribes in terms of ritual, ornamentation and environmental sensitivity. The Masai, like most of pre-Spanish Philippine inhabitants, live in harmony with nature. Communal life is a complex, rich division of labor between male, female, children and adults. Villages are clustered in the round for defense and climate-control. The houses and fences are built by the women while the men go out to take care of the livestock.
Ornamentation is also rich. Weave patterns and bodily accessories remind one of many of our own. We traded with them (stuff we bought from Divisoria and Il de Tulle in Quiapo). The fun started with dances, first by the men, then the women. Then they did the standard jumping thing. No wonder they make good basketball players!
All these rituals were explained in full British English by Joseph, one of the tribe’s elders. Masai men earn their status, he explained, by the number of lions they slew. Only the Masai is allowed by Kenyan law to hunt wildlife since they kill only for traditional, sustainable reasons.
Finally we, or rather Howie, participated in another Masia ritual – sharing a drink of blood and milk with the Masai men. A calf was first chosen from the herd and brought inside the village. It was then "punctured" by an arrow shot at close range. Moments of panic by the calf segued into subdued resistance and blood flowed out like water from a faucet into a native gourd. The calf would recover, said our hosts as they mixed the concoction with a twig scrounged from nearby. It was down the hatch for our intrepid Mr. Severino. Not bad, said he of the numerous awards and near-death experiences. All in a day’s reporting!
Our stay in Masai territory included a long safari trek looking for game to shoot – with a camera, of course. Our trek was rewarded with close encounters with lions, zebras, gazelles and fellow humans on a safari. We covered the equivalent of Monumento to Canlubang and back just looking for all this fantastic fauna.
Before dark we had to trek back to our Safari resort nestled in the foothills, also in the park itself. Kenya allows a limited number of these resorts to be built for tourists; enough to be able to accommodate just the right number of visitors without compromising the animals’ habitat or the sustainability of the destination as both a national park and a tourist attraction. If only we could do the same. Dinner was again a fantastic feast of cooked meat and plentiful veggies and starch. We retired to our individual huts and warm beds on a cold Savannah night.
The next day we motored back to Nairobi to meet the Kenya Tourism Board and to catch the flight to Mombasa – the Boracay of the country. It was another scenic drive past the Great Rift Valley, which puts our own Marikina Valley to shame with views as breathtaking as the Grand Canyon’s.
Mombasa was a complete change in weather, flora and fauna. Kenya has over 530 kilometers of coastline facing the Indian Ocean. The scuba diving sites are among the most sought after, comparable with the Great Barrier Reef and the Red Sea.
Mombasa is a former Portuguese port and its physical fabric reminds one of Manila. It has the old and busy Fort Jesus, colonial buildings from the Portuguese and British eras and great nightlife and eating. The difference is that it has kept its beaches (yes, Manila used to have pristine beaches in Pasay and Tondo), heritage buildings and clean air.
The city center is filled with Neo-classic, Colonial and Art Deco buildings still intact of adaptively reused. There is also a cathedral although the major religion is Moslem. Mombasa is home to a multi-religious, multi-cultural mix, which make for interesting menus at restaurants (heavily Arab and Indian), and sights around town. The seafood is wonderful and views from restaurants in town rival Mediterranean resorts.
All in all it was a wonderful African safari. It is a trip worth taking, if you are interested in wildlife, African culture, good (protein-heavy) food, and diverse climates and landscapes. Kenya is comfortable for tourists. Accommodations are always comfortable and everywhere you go there are clean, soap and water-provided toilets. English is spoken everywhere and the travel a breeze.
Jambo Kenya, you betcha!
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