TheMara

4 June 2009

The Mara


We are up early to leave for the Mara. We know it will be an 8 hour drive, but it doesn’t dawn on us until fhe 5th hour how truly long the drive shall be. The landscape passes, ending green,, vast skies that 4 June 2009

stretch to eternity. However, we have traveled so many miles during the trip that it is beginning to wear on us.

As I have the time to be still and watch out the window I think of the plight of women here. They are really, for the most part, no more than beasts of burden. The rights they have, they are mostly too afraid to exercise, and if they do they ri8sk ostracization from the community. Women are the ones who carry the water, the sticks for firewood, the sugar cane on their heads as well as countless other things. I see small girls no more than 5 carrying loads on their head. I try to think what this is comparable to. .Francis and I launch into our usual discussion of this. He comes at me with the same arguments men have used since time immemorial. 1. Women don’t have it so bad. 2. Some women have it better, they have formed some groups, 3. It is our Society (and with this I get a nervous laugh).It’s the way it has always been. (and I think to myself and how’s that working for your country?) . I give up because I remember this discussion from 45 years ago. My heart sinks. It is the same argument women in my country have had since we struggled for the vote and I know I am not here to change their political system

For a comparison t I go to what I know, the deep South during the time of slavery, but the analogy won’t work. There even under slavery, men and women were slaves, not just women. And then I realize that the society here is more like feudal China where men were all powerful and women were powerless to be sold, worked to death, pushed aside for a newer wife, girl children were considered a misfortune at best and a curse most of the time. I wonder if it will take a Mao Tse Tung here to bring about the change necessary for Kenya to come up to modern standards.

What I do realize is that someone like Monica or Miriam must fight even harder than I did. During the 60’s and 70’s at least I didn’t have to worry about dying for my beliefs. But AIDS ravages people in their prime. Since women are so devalued, they are used to being abused, raped, or girls going into prostitution right out of junior high because there is no other way for them., How do you fight with an army that is crippled by a disease they can’t even feel comfortable getting tested for. And if they have no reproductive freedom then where does one begin if they are either, pregnant, mothers of many children, or dying of AIDS or widows because of AIDS. The mind boggles and I must remind myself that God sends many angels and this is not my fight.

The landscape changes dramatically as we begin to enter the Mara. The terrain is more of a savanah than the the fields of Maize, and coffee and sugar cane which we have seen for hours. The people are elegant robed in bright red and purple. We have entered the land of the Masai. One cannot help but be overwhelmed by the vastness of the terrain, or the dust that blows through the windows as we traverse an unending road of sand and rocks. However when we first spot a herd of Zebras it is an incredible sight.

I suspect I have never gone on Safari because I have never dreamed of it as others do. That I guess and I don’t like to rough it in hiking gear and sleeping in tents nor rising at the crack of dawn to tick off my list seeing the “big 5” animals as t those who become dreamy eyed when they hear I am going on Safari. I’m much more of a pool and spa girl if I’m not working.

We arrive at the Balloon place first. I have graciously offered to take everyone since Francis told me it was about $50 US. I doubled that and figured even at $300 for all of us it was worth it. Wrong, seems the going price is $350 per person. And the guy just isn‘t going down on the price. He remains firm. It‘s way out of Brett‘s budget and I’m still mulling it over as we pull up to the lodge. There as we arrive are groups of baby monkeys and some other animal having the time of their lives chasing each other. One really understands the saying “monkey business”. I am enchanted and when we go to our rooms, I am giddy with delight..

How cool is it to walk out your front door of your room and have an elephant grazing less than 20 feet away, or have baboons frolicking on your front porch? Or a path of 300 meters that will take you to the Hippo pond? Yes folks we’re in the Mara where the exotic is everyday and most people are here to spend thousands of dollars to see the wild animals. .

The place is sensational with all the things MM needs to be refreshed and clean. It is a charming place, built by the Brits in the style of the Awanee in Yosemite if you know of that place. Definitely a lodge with fab cabins, a place of peace and serenity with hot and cold running water. Sweeeet!

The guy from the balloon place comes over that night. I have decided to go for it and take the balloon myself. That is until he tells me I have to be ready at 5:45A. Freaking M. Ah no, I’m all set with that. Not even the promise of floating over the Serengeti can get me up at that hour.

So it looks like we’re driving the Mara. We leave the next morning at a leisurely 9:30 which is just fine.
We do get to see more hippos and gazelle, huge giraffe and a few birds, no rhino’s or lions. Again you have to get up EARLY for that, so it’s an opportunity I can miss. We are back at the hotel by 2 ish and get ready for our massages. I trot off to the pool which is under renovation, but still great. I must admit hearing the hippos make flubby noises and having monkeys run across you as you lie down is alluring, but the massage is even more so. We are coming to a close. Tomorrow we shall drive unending miles in more dirt and bone racking hours in the car to get back to Nairobi tomorrow to leave. For now, though, I reflect on where I am and what we have accomplished and I secretly smile to myself. Today it’s good to be me