Illegal immigrants!

When I travelled to Kampala in October last year, I was very disturbed to discover a number of illegal immigrants crossing back and forth from Kenya to Uganda without any immigration checks, no passports and no travel documents. As a matter of fact, they had not even paid for their transportation yet they were happy enough to edge us, the paid up passengers, off our seats and were threatening to help themselves to our water and snacks!

The strangest thing about these stowaways is that they were content to just go back and forth between the two countries, never disembarking. At some point I remember wondering whether they are originally from Kenya, or from Uganda.....or perhaps from neither. Perhaps they were from a different country all together.

My greatest worry however was that one of them might take a fancy to me and decide to get off the bus and follow me home. So as I got of the Akamba bus, I picked my luggage gingerly, looked it over and shook every item thoroughly to make sure I did not inadvertently go home with one of the border crossing, freeloading disgusting cockroaches that had infested the bus!

Wild Animals aren't wild!

Last month I spent 2 nights in the home of a friend who is absolutely "tree-hugging" crazy about the environment has created a perfect retreat for anyone who needs to "get away from it all". She has made every effort to ensure anyone who spends time at the camp comes in touch with nature and appreciates the beautiful balance of life that exists in the wild. I had to drive 3 hours away from Nanyuki to the middle of Laikipia wilderness to get to Suyian Soul camp. The further I drove, the freer I felt and when my phone lost transmission, I knew it would be a unique 2 days, absolutely gadget free.

My room for my time at camp was a beautifully built "banda" whose design revolves around the principle of creating as little disturbance to nature as possible. All the posts and beams in the hut were taken from trees that had fallen naturally and not a drop of cement was used to put the walls of natural stone up. Every piece of furniture was handmade and the decor with an odd feather here and an old warthog tusk there reflected the "born-free" living of the camp. Its compound was undisturbed bush and my neighbours were a pair of shy dik diks browsing close to the verandah and a swallow that roosted in the makuti roof and seemed to take pleasure in startling me at night by swooping over my head when I turned out the solar charged lights.

The most amazing feature of my room - the view from a "walk in window"

The most amazing feature of my room was the view. As I settled in and unpacked my bags, I noticed the large, almost "walk-through" window with the most amazing view of a rocky hill in the distance. The window had no glass, no wire gauze, no nothing! It was totally barrier free. As I looked at it in horror, envisioning a visit by the neighbourhood leopard, my hostess was quick to reassure me and told me that the wild animals always kept their distance from the human-inhabited areas. To make me feel safe, I left one hurricane lamp burning just outside my hut because, she said,  wild animals generally stay away from fires and lamps.

At the end of my stay, I realised that it was true, wild animals observe a code of conduct. They have their area and we have ours and generally keep it that way unless they are provoked or their lives threatened. A simple hurricane lamp shows them where their limits are and they oblige.

Wild animals are unlike human beings who cut through fences, break down walls and crash in windows, totally disrespecting each other's personal space. Wild animals do not kill within their own species for sport or food. They jealously protect their young, unlike human beings who abandon, molest and sexually abuse their young. When they are designed to live in pairs, as the dik diks are, they mate only with their partner and are constant companions, separated only by death.

“Wild” animals are not wild!