A post in four parts...
Many visitors travel to Kenya to go on safari – to see well-known wildlife and wide-open spaces. But “safari” means “journey” in Swahili, and visitors to Kenya can spark as many memories during routine interactions with the Kenyan people as they can in remote national parks and tented camps.
After landing in Nairobi in the middle of the night with my mother just days before Christmas in 2017, I was disoriented. We had been traveling for more than 18 hours, and it was dark, customs felt like a cattle chute, and connecting with our driver to the airport hotel was not seamless.
However, after a few hours of sleep and having passion fruit at breakfast the next morning, I was reminded of how great Africa is.
Soon we were introduced to Samuel (Sam-well), our driver and safari guide - and in some ways our guardian during our trip to Kenya. After exchanging the traditional pleasantries, we departed the urban landscape of Nairobi and were on the open road to our first wildlife destination. The trip would take a few hours. Soon we were on the famed Cairo to Cape Town route.
Part One - Felix
Throughout the trip, Samuel carefully selected our giftshops based on restroom quality and availability of coffee. After a few hours we made a stop at roadside gift shop. The giftshop was not a building, but it was not a tent. Not fully indoors, but not outdoors, either.
After using the modest restroom, my mom and I lingered in the giftshop, admiring the finely carved wooden animals, beaded items, and other hand-crafted trinkets. After all it is never too soon to start picking up mementos for the people back home, especially from a such an exceptional place. My mom and I each selected a variety of small pieces. Bottle openers. Ornaments. Keychains. Such a collection of items would run a traveler maybe $50, even at an airport giftshop.
Felix, a young, friendly, and eager salesmen approached us. He took each item we had and examined it, made a note on his piece of loose-leaf paper, and then totaled it up and announced “243 dollars.”
We were stunned, and I’m sure our disbelief was clear by the expression on our faces. People often talk about haggling over prices in these situations. I have never been comfortable haggling, and this was no exception. I did try to reason with Felix regarding the cost and explained what $243 can buy in the United States. It was no use. He put his arm around me and talked about the craftsmanship, and the artists. This went on for a little while. And while we wanted to be generous, we couldn’t afford to be that generous, especially on day one of a two-week trip.
As a result, we put most of the items back, until our haul totaled between $40 and $50. After we paid, but before bidding farewell, Felix handed me a piece of paper, on it were written many animals, greetings, and other simple words in both English and Swahili, so that we could learn some of the common terms we’d hear on our journey. And were on our way.
While we had gotten beautiful souvenirs to share with friends and family, more importantly we gained a lesson for every subsequent roadside stop, and insight into the perspectives of an average Kenyan and a good story.
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