In to Africa

Traveling to Kenya was not at the top of my list.  Sure, I wanted to go, but there were many places I wanted to visit first.  Yet, when I reviewed what the Earth Expedition courses offered, I decided to give Kenya a try.  Originally, I had wanted to spend my third and final Earth Expedition (EE) in Thailand or Mongolia.  The dates for Mongolia did not work with my teaching schedule.   I had traveled to India the year before on an EE that focused on spirituality, so I decided to list Thailand as second choice.  I wanted to explore how Kenyans were managing wildlife and human development.  Also, I wanted to see big animals in the wild that I had seen only in zoos.

One of my favorite moments on the trip was the dawn hike with the Eco Scouts in Amboseli.  I loved walking with the scout, John, who taught me so much about tracking and how animals like hyenas and giraffes coexist.  He asked me what kind of large mammals we have in California and was nonplussed to find that mountain lions and bears are our largest mammals.  I remembered the elephant seals, and told him about the great, tusked sea mammals.  He was very excited about the news of the elephant seals.  

I didn't expect to be enthralled by hyenas.  I don't think I had even considered hyenas when thinking about Kenya.  Very early on, I became somewhat fascinated by them.

Another of my favorite moments occurred at dawn as well.  I think dawn in another place, or even at home is a serene and special time, and in the Maasai land in and around Olkiramatian dawn is magical - at least the few I experienced were.  Actually, there were two dawn events that caused me to feel almost spiritual.  The first dawn was the baboon count.  I loved walking along with Cisco while he described his observations of the baboons.  Along with the rest of my group, we watched the babies frolicking, teasing, chasing, and taunting one another.

The second spectacular dawn was the lion tracking morning.  I loved waking up before everyone else, and leaving the camp, heading to the place where Guy and the scouts thought the lioness and her cub might be.  Guy drove the land rover while looking out the window at the ground in search of tracks.  The sun was rising, and we were waiting to her the word "simba" as we groggily and quietly ambled along the savannah.  When we found the lioness, Brad and Laura and I thought she was dead because her legs were stiffly pointed upward as she lay on her back.  Also, she looked very bloated.  Soon after spotting her, she stretched and Guy pointed out that she had blood on her chin.  The bloating and stiff legs were just the lioness sleeping off a successful kill.

India: 2015 - Reverence for Water (Hindu Funerals)

The water temple sits atop a hill surrounded by lush, dripping forest.  The drive to the temple took us down a narrow gravel road.  As we approached the place where we would later climb the beautiful, albeit slippery, moss-covered granite stairs to the temple, we heard flute and tabla music.  As the music grew louder, we saw banners and flags drawing near.  Velcro rips emanated through the van as the four of us reached for our cameras, until the driver admonished us with a stern, “NO!”  The driver pulled to a stop, and we saw immediately why he had reacted with such severity.  The music and banners were part of a funeral procession.  The musicians led the solemn parade, and behind them were the mourners, all men, all dressed in white, about 20-30 in all. 

In the middle of the group, four men balanced a stick-and-canvas stretcher on their shoulders. The shrouded deceased, covered in a mound of orange marigolds, pink jasmine, and red roses, was barely visible.  The cortege ended with a bearded man carrying a sheaf of dried brush and matches.  Even though we were inches apart, the procession passed us, squeezing through the narrow passage left on the road between the van and the fence, without seeing us, so intent were they to tend to their ritual.

I don’t believe coincidence caused us to pass the funereal group on our way to the water temple.  Part of the Hindu preparation regiments for the dead requires using pure water to bathe the body.  Waterfalls flanked the temple along with streams of flowing, seemingly pure, water.  The cremation site, called a Shmanshana, is located near a river or water source.  Ideally, a few drops of water from the Ganges is placed in the mouth of the dead to ensure that the soul is properly liberated (Evison, 1990).

Evison, G. A. (1990). Indian death rituals: the enactment of ambivalence  

         (Doctoral dissertation, University of Oxford).