“There is something about safari life that makes you forget all your sorrows, and feel as if you had drunk half a bottle of champagne – bubbling over with heartfelt gratitude for being alive.” Karen Blixen
Those enlightened souls who have already been ‘on safari’ find themselves part of an exclusive club, a camaraderie unlike anything else in the world. We all know the feeling at the start of a safari – that extraordinary wave of excitement and anticipation. The smell of the bush, the red earth and the hot, dry wind, the sense of absolute freedom, and above all the feeling of being removed from petty human struggle and close to the mighty heartbeat of that primeval continent, Africa. It’s beauty is a tonic for any battered soul, and its savagery can break your heart, but above all, you cannot ever forget that you have been on safari and in paradise.
At this time of the year, when ‘The Migration’ of literally millions of animals is about to start in the Serengetti eco-system, all of us here at The Emakoko, as well as the rest of Kenya gear up for the influx of visitors, all anxious to see this amazing spectacle and to join the club of those who go on safari in Kenya. Camps throughout the country are re-opening, new staff are coming in, cars are leaving workshops with brand new paint jobs and for us there is enormous excitement as we all take our places in the “summer orchestra” of a safari performance.
“The Migration” of course is the burning subject of conversation. Where is it? Has it started? Is it early, will it be late? We sit at the bar of the Emakoko with friends in the business sipping my favourite Laphroig whilst the sound of lions roaring and the sudden bark of the odd baboon drift down the valley. The safari community is a small one and we all know each other and have done for most of our lives. We have quarreled and made up, changed jobs, changed husbands or wives, had our children and buried our friends. The environment and the preservation of the wonderful natural areas of Kenya is always a subject for empassioned discussion. The stories are endless and it is a magical time to be in Kenya, the beginning of the season, under the matchless skies of Kenya with their endless carapace of stars.
The Emakoko is of course the platform where safari starts and ends – in my view anyway – and thankfully the wildlife always performs as it should. Our beloved Genets – sleek, beautifully patterned members of the Ermine family have developed from a single, cautious individual into an army of five who believe the Lodge is run for their convenience and who grow bolder by the day. Sitting at the bar I often find myself in mortal combat with one female who has developed a penchant for Steve chef’s margherita pizza – much to the delight of our visitors. She will often leap onto the bar and try to snatch a slice and I find myself, armed with only a fork, trying my best to get her to give it back – needless to say this is not much of a deterrent and she simply curls away from my gentle stabs.
So welcome back, if you are old friends, and a very special welcome to all the newcomers to whom we wish a wonderful safari experience and hope this will be beginning of a love affair with Kenya.
Safari Njema!!!