Kenya - Mutara

During visit to Nairobi, Kenya, my best friend and architect Natalie Waters and I had the opportunity to visit the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Centre located in Nairobi National Park.  This is the “Nursery” where both orphaned baby elephants and Rhinos are taken after they are rescued.  At the Centre they are looked after 24 hours a day and raised by a group of keepers which go to the extent of taking turns sleeping with the orphans in their pens. The emotionally and physically rehabilitated elephants and Rhinos are ultimately re-introduced into the wild in Tsavo East National Park. 

The visit inspired me to learn more about elephants and as it turns out, they have an interesting way of communicating.    Elephants have an instinctive body language and telepathic abilities.  They also communicate with a spoken language that they learn from other elephants, some sounds of which are audible to human hearing, but also communicating over distance with low frequency infrasound hidden to human ears.  Additionally, they can detect and interpret seismic sound through their sensitive trunks & feet, a phenomenon which was confirmed when in Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami disaster in Asia, trained elephants in Thailand became agitated and fled to higher ground before the devastating wave struck, thus saving their own lives and those of the tourists riding on their backs.

JAM Language Ltd. is the proud sponsor of MUTARA, an orphaned elephant who arrived at The David Sheldrick Wildlife Centre, July 20th, 2009 as a week old baby and a victim of poaching.

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Kenya - Mombasa & Swahili

Mombasa is Kenya’s vibrant coastal city on the Indian Ocean. Home to the Swahili tribe in Kenya, one can visually see the influences left behind by more than twelve centuries of contact with Arab traders;  the mosques, the calling sound to player and the parade of Kaftans and Hijabs.

Swahili comes from the plural sawāḥil (سواحل) of the Arabic word sāḥil (ساحل), meaning "boundary" or "coast".  Swahili is a language adapted from Bantu and enriched with vocabulary from the Arabic (35%), Portuguese and Hindi Languages.  Swahili is the national language of both Kenya and Tanzania and is also spoken widely across other Eastern and Central African countries. From the Comoros islands, Zanzibar, Burundi, Rwanda, northern Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, and southern coastal Somalia.

The Swahili tribe are coastal people with very rich historical and cultural heritage.  Some of the earliest inhabitants of the East African coast were their ancestors, Cushitic herdsmen. The Cushitic people were joined by Bantu speaking tribes.  Other groups later migrated to this coastline, including Arab, Hindi, Portuguese, and Indonesian traders. They, too, intermarried with the indigenous people, giving rise to a new culture, people and language.

The Arabic culture though has had the greatest influence in shaping Swahili traditions. One major legacy of the Arab culture is the prevalence of the Islamic religion among the Swahili people. Swahili children, for example, must attend Madrassa - religious classes in which they study the Koran and learn the Arabic language -from an early age.

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Kenya - Kikuyu Wedding

My dear friend Sammy Njenga is Kikuyu. The Kikuyu tribe are bantus and neighbors of Embu, Mbeere and Meru tribes along Mt. Kenya. They are the most popular and largest ethnic tribe of Kenya making up 22% of Kenya's population. The Kikuyu language is predominantly spoken thriving to the point of becoming Kenya’s third language of choice, English and Swahili being the first two.  In keeping with Kikuyu traditions, the visiting wedding guests and bride received the complete trimmings of the rich traditions of the Kikuyu culture.    Sammy is married to Cecilie Folkestad, a gorgeous ‘saucy’ witty Norwegian with a quick tongue ☺, when I first met her I knew straight away they were perfect for each other.   So it was an honour to not just witness the union of two friends but also the union of two completely different cultures.  The wedding day started in true Kikuyu fashion with Sammy’s family parading to Cecilie’s home dancing and singing in Kikuyu demanding that the bride be handed over.  Cecilie and her family played their role in stalling the convoy at their doorstep for as long as humanly possible thus extending the singing and dancing to the amusement of everyone.   The short clip captures the moment and is a beautiful sample of Kikuyu song and dance. 

Kikuyus have historically influenced leadership and politics in Kenya.  The current president, his Excellency Emilio Mwai Kibakis is Kikuyu and so is Professor Wangari Maathari, Africa’s first female Nobel peace price winner and the first environmentalist to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her contributions to sustainable development, democracy and peace.  

Sammy is fluent in Kikuyu, Swahili, English and is currently undertaking the challenge of Norwegian.

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Kenya - Maasai

  My friend Sammy Njenga’s wedding celebration finally brought me to Kenya.   During the 6 years I have known Sammy he has never failed to remind me just how much I would enjoy adding Kenya to my travel circuit.  I wish I had taken his advice years earlier as the place is bursting with natural beauty although in my opinion the country's biggest hidden treasure is it's people.

  Enthusiastic to finally have the chance to showcase his homeland, Sammy organized the most decadent of itineraries.  A traditional Kenyan wedding celebration in Nairobi followed by Safari in Maasai Mara and then complete relaxation in Mombasa bathing in the Indian Ocean. 

  It was during the trip to Maasai Mara that I stumbled across the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Project.  Virgin Atlantic worked with Sarova Hotels, Water For All and 10 frequent flyer volunteers from Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club to renovate the Senekani School.  The project focused on revamping the boys & girls dormitories and adding shower facilities. This upgrade qualified the school with ‘boarding school status’ and therefore allowed the school to qualify for government funding.   The school founded in 1989 provides education to over 650 Maasai children in the Sekanani Township.  This was just 2Kms away from where we were staying at Sarova Mara Game Camp.

  The Maasai are an indigenous African ethnic group located in both Kenya and northern Tanzania. They speak Maa, a member of the Nilo-Saharan language family that is related to Dinka and Nuer. Maasai is taught in schools to some extent, though the languages of instruction are Swahili and English. There is a Maasai dictionary, a Maasai translation of the Bible, and a few other publications, but generally the language is primarily a spoken language.

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JAM English Flashcards: Fruit & Vegetables