Loisaba

I was given the Samburu name of Lomunyak which means “The Lucky One”.  I thought it was quite appropriate.  Traci was given a name which meant cow.  She wasn’t so thrilled but was forced to remember that it was a compliment as the cow is sacred to the Samburu.  I truly appreciate that I am a lucky one.  On a ruse that we were headed to help rescue a baby elephant, we were instead loaded into a helicopter and treated to a spectacular low level flight over the area, ending up on top of a 3000’ cliff where we enjoyed coffee and hot chocolate.  It is the day before Hayden’s birthday and Nella said in Africa that the custom is to celebrate the past the day before your birthday and so we did. After the helicopter ride we sadly packed our bags and said goodbye to Sarara. 

We boarded the helicopter for another short and amazing ride to our next stop, Loisaba.  We landed on the edge of a river and were met by 2 guides and 5 camels.  I can now cross the camel ride off the bucket list.   We then hopped back in the chopper and landed at the ranch’s main house. An American couple run this huge reserve and travel June through August. Nella is good friends with them and arranged for us to stay in their house. I thought we were going to be staying in a tiny guest house, instead we are in a really cool, huge stone and wood house. 

 

We had a lovely afternoon of pool time. While touring the grounds I was pulled to the side by an elderly caretaker who challenged me to a game of bocce ball. He was expecting an easy match and I had a few lucky throws, but our sign language was inadequate and I couldn’t figure out why he was getting points when my balls were closer. In the name of being a good ambassador I didn't complain and lost handily. He still called me champion which I think was his only English word.  We finished the day with some much needed down time…enjoying a fire, reading, a huge thunderstorm and an amazing meal. Don’t wake up…Don’t wake up.

July 25. Our boy is 10. What an amazing couple of days. We went for a 2 hour horseback ride this morning, all riding in English saddles which was a first. English saddles are prevalent all over the world except in North America. They are smaller and don't have the horn in front. In other words, when your horse stops unexpectedly to graze you can easily slide forward and off. Thankfully our ride was uneventful. We were accompanied by 2 guides who were on the lookout for elephant as you want to avoid them. We followed our ride with 30 minutes of four wheeling, and then some more cherished downtime this afternoon. For Hayden's birthday dinner he was treated to a Samburu dance by about 15 warriors and staff members who danced around the table chanting a song that roughly translated to "keep growing and getting stronger." At the end of the dance he was presented with the traditional safari elephant cake. After several minutes with a sharp knife he was still unable to cut throught the cake. All of the warriors were laughing hysterically. They asked him to look closer at what the cake was and he was still smiling when they said "Elephant Poo!" Yep, a big old ball of elephant dung covered with frosting!. Hayden's dimples were glowing throughout, and he was then served a traditional cake and was treated to a rousing rendition of "happy birthday." Sweet kid. Tough to top those couple of days. I hope the girls have their father's memory and don't have similar expectations for their birthdays. It was great for Hayden to have such a nice party as being a summer birthday his birthday isn't celebrated to the same extend as those with birthdays in the school year. Good day!