Travels off the Beaten Path

In this episode, I dive deep into the controversial issue of Indigenous tourism. Is it something we should be doing? What harm do the Indigenous communities endure? Are there any benefits to them?

There has been a fascination with Indigenous or First Nation tribes for centuries. From the first explorers, to the colonists, to the missionaries - these people all had agendas to benefit themselves or their own countries. The tribes were an artefact along the way, to be dealt with accordingly, and mostly in a negative manner.

Then anthropologists came along and lived with the tribes. They also had their own agendas to learn about the cultures and report their findings in academia, but at least they did not want to harm the tribes. With my fascination with the different African cultures, I was often called a budding anthropologist that was 20 years too late. This sparked my interest so much that when I came back to Australia, I enrolled into university and became an anthropologist, along with my scientific interest - but I digress.......

Indigenous tourism has been around for awhile but it is only recently that they have started to control their own tourism and lead their own tours with more of earned revenue staying within the community. However, corruption still occurs. I remember my trip to the mountain gorillas, where I paid US$100 for the privilege. The rangers told me they were lucky to get $5 from that fee. It was a sad reality.

I discuss the pros and cons of indigenous tourism. The advantages include sustainable economic opportunities through Indigenous-led tourism, expanding the awareness of cultures and their connection to their land, creating employment that leads to affordable education and improving themselves, and also building community pride. The disadvantages include desecration of heritage and sacred sites, over commercialisation and loss of authenticity, the notion of visiting a "human zoo" just for the photo opportunities with little interest in the culture, and the loss of culture and connection through the mass production of trinkets and souvenirs. I also discuss the ethical dilemma of some customs and question if we have the right to judge. I offer advice of how we can still visit these communities but only have a minimal footprint, such as immersing ourselves into their cultures through extended homestays bringing in money to their village.

Lastly, I suggest the four basic rules to keep in mind when visiting a First Nation community

1. Stop - think before you visit

2. Respect - be respectful of the culture through your dress and your mannerisms, and who you are visiting. It is not a 'zoo'. Ask permission for photos and be aware of how you can impact a community through your actions.

3. Learn & listen - open your mind and take the opportunity to learn about different cultures. Many of these cultural tribes have oral traditions handed down over generations through story-telling. They are fascinating if you take the time to listen. You may also learn.

4. Behave accordingly and be mindful – you are also representing your nationality. Be courteous and patient. Time has a different meaning in these communities. Learn to go with the flow.

Photo: A Turkana girl standing outside huts on the edge of Lake Turkana, northern Kenya. Note, her expression at the influx of tourists with cameras clicking away. Source: Justine Murray, Pentax Z10.

In this episode, I describe how I was able to start visiting the Samburu tribe in northern Kenya through meeting a Samburu man who was a night watchman at the tea plantation where I rode horses. He took me to visit his family north of Mount Kenya. It was by bus as far as you could go and then walk for two hours across a vast plain teeming with wildlife till we reached his family's hut. I proceeded to replace my Maasai visits with the Samburu visits as these were much more enjoyable. I recount my wanders past zebra, antelope and giraffe without concern until one day I was on my own surrounded by baboons at a rocky waterhole and realised this was good leopard country as well. Another time I nearly broke my neck helping them carrying water. This gave me great respect for their strength and abilities. I also spent time trekking with the Samburu between different bomas (average of ~30 kms distance each), just walking through the Kenyan Highlands with a few Samburu passing wildlife, including seeing elephants push over a game sanctuary fence and continue on their path.

We mostly attended ceremonies on our treks, where many people arrived from everywhere and joined in the ceremony. I watched morani (warriors) dancing, singing and jumping with the girls watching and joining in at times. I was often busy taking photos and videoing them. Remember, this was the time when mobile phones and digital cameras did not exist so they did not have access to them. The video was a great hit as they could see themselves immediately. At one time, I was threatened with a spear as soon as I arrived to not take any photos. I said okay and walked off, visiting the women elders and drinking chai in a hut. The morani were not expecting that reaction. I knew they would come around. After about 20 minutes I was asked to come outside and start take some photos. I spent much of my time taking photos and getting them developed and giving them copies. It actually was a bit expensive for me with film development in Nairobi at the time around $20, basically a day's wage, but the experiences were so worth it.

In this episode I really learnt to appreciate what it was like living in a hut with limited resources, having to collect water from a spring and carry it back, dealing with daily situations and how visiting meant grabbing your spears and hiking long distances across amazing terrain and past abundant wildlife.

I also start to discuss some of the controversial experiences I witnessed and express my thoughts on the matter. Please note, when I mention 'barbaric', I mean the particular practice and custom is barbaric to the western civilization and I am not calling this tribe or other tribes that practice it 'barbaric'. I believe we really need to understand tribal customs and practices and their meanings so we can support them finding alternative outlets to convey the same meaning when stopping questionable practices instead of just blanket bans with no alternatives. I will continue this discussion in my next episode.

Photo: Samburu warrior at Lerogi Plateau, northern Kenya, surveying the Great Rift Valley. Source - Sapra M.M. The best postcard I ever bought, so much that I bought two of it. This image beautifully sums the magnificence of the land and the pride of the people of northern Kenya.

This episode relates my short trip up to northern Kenya to the Lake Turkana district. This is such an area rich in human history and really stunning scenery across the Great Rift Valley, amazing geological formations and volcanic activity, and lots of wildlife and absolutely incredible examples of some of the Kenyan tribes living their nomadic lives in one of the harshest areas in Africa. These tribes include the Samburu, the Pokot, the Rendille, the El Molo and the Turkana. They belong to the Nilotic group of people across the Nile Valley dispersing from Sudan and through Ethiopia thousands of years ago. 

Currently the area is in the grip of a lengthy drought and the effects of river damming upstream in the Ethiopian Highlands has caused much of their livestock to die with lack of feed, and they are struggling to survive. Combine this with political corruption and reduced tourism dollars as a result of covid, has left more than two million people struggling to survive.

We need to support aid organisation helping these regions at this time, and get back into the communities at the first opportunity to bring back tourism money to help these communities survive. It is an amazing region that I highly recommend to visit and see another side of Kenya.

Photo: Rita Willaert on Flickr

This episode recounts a typical day when I worked in Nairobi riding horses and the choices I had when I had to get from farm to farm. One way was catching the local mini-buses (called matatus). I always got plenty of stares walking down the back streets of Nairobi, dressed in chaps, spurs and carrying a whip. Interestingly, I was never robbed. However, the overcrowding of these vehicles, their state of roadworthiness and the state of the actual roads accompanied by speed meant there were often fatal accidents. Somehow I survived the many trips to tell the tale. At times I had access to a car and drove between sites. You had to be careful when driving, especially at night. The car could be forced off the road and be hijacked. At one time when I was house-sitting, I did not return one night as the rain was so bad. There was an attempt of a break-in that night when no cars returned. Luckily the servants were loyal and raised the alarm. 

From the time living in Nairobi, I learnt to be thankful for the relative freedom I have in my home country. I don't have to live behind high fences and lock myself into my sleeping quarters with alarms and an assortment of weapons beside my bed. I can also drive at any time within relative safety from being forced off the road and my car hijacked. Our public transport is very safe and reliable, and our roads are generally in good condition. Having seen this in Africa, I have so much gratitude for remaining safe throughout my travels and my many journeys. However, I do not regret any of my adventures as I feel I have lived life to the fullest, as one big adventure - risks and all.

Photo: Matatus lining up in Nairobi - Doreen Ajiambo 

This episode recounts the fantastic time I had a Aberdare National Park in Kenya, spending the night at The Ark. The Ark is a lodge that overlooks a watering hole and a salt lick within the park. The adventure starts when you drive to its sister property, the Aberdare Country Club. The Aberdare Country Club is an old rambling homestead reminiscent of the old colonial days of Kenya. Here you leave your vehicles and are bused into the national park to the Ark. The Ark has viewing decks, a ground-level hide and beautiful furnishings throughout in the typical African lodge theme. They have spotlights set up for night viewing of which the animals are familiarised. I spent the entire night in the hide watching the amazing interactions between the animals, especially in the early hours of the morning when everyone else went to bed. 

I highly recommend The Ark as a wonderful place to visit and soak in nature's surroundings and get up and personal with the animals without disturbing their behaviour.  Seize opportunities when they come up - like myself forgoing a night's sleep just to get every moment of that unique situation and watching the animals throughout the night. Step out of routines when situations arise as you never know what an opportunity will bring and the rewards make it all worth it in the end. 

Photos: Taken from https://thearkkenya.com/ 

In this episode, I interview my good friend Jacqui. I met Jacqui on the overland truck through Africa and we hit it off straight away. Jacqui has already been mentioned in a few of my previous episodes. Jacqui was my partner in crime when we took off after the boat ride down the Congo and through the many adventures until we reached Kenya. Since that time Jacqui has travelled extensively across the globe, including spending over nine months in South America and living and teaching English in mainland China and Hong Kong. As a result, Jacqui has gained a network of friends around the globe and this has been the highlight of her travels allowing her to travel for a year visiting each of her friends in their home country (including myself). Our conversation was so interesting and inspiring, the episode goes for a bit longer than normal. It makes me want to to just get up and travel......  

Photo: Jacqui at the Wrynose Pass in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria, United Kingdom.

In this episode I describe how I go searching for an authentic Maasai Village in Kenya by catching a matatu until I could go no further. They thought I was lost but I finally convinced them of my interest in their culture. I was invited to stay the night with a family in one of their typical bark and dung huts. This led to a friendship in which I returned every weekend after living for the week with white Kenyans in high-fenced estates, looked after by servants, and then each weekend living in the Maasai boma with the family, eating the ugali and spinach and drinking sweet milky tea. 

One day I was sitting on a stool in the smoke-filled hut when I felt a sharp pang in my forearm. I was told it was a scorpion and I should take my clothes off. I thought it was weird but I am glad I changed my clothes as I found the tiny scorpion still on my skirt in the morning. I felt the toxin move up my arm and by morning every nerve was alive and I had similar feeling of pins and needles over my whole body for three days.

I spent each weekend at this boma for a couple of months, being taken to some of their ceremonies and enjoying the bizarre lifestyle I was leading as a horse rider during the week and as a budding anthropologist on the weekend. I eventually stopped going when I was continually asked for big sums of money each time I turned up.

From this period, I learnt that sometimes it is scary to take a risk but if you do not take a risk, then you don't get the reward. I took a risk going out on my own to find the Maasai and accepting their invitation to stay, but this allowed me experience their life, their culture and immerse myself into their activities. The lifestyle I lived felt surreal - colonial living during the week and as a nomad on the weekends with pastoralists. The rally car event through a village with no resident car, made it feel even more surreal.  

I was very lucky with the scorpion incident as my body reacted to the sting but not to the point to be life-threatening. Note, pandadol does not help! You cannot carry a chemist store with you, but it may be worth carrying strong pain killers and always have a backup plan if things go wrong, especially if you are travelling alone. 

Lastly, unfortunately we have created a lot of these problems changing Indigenous cultures through tourism. Just turning up changes their lifestyle. We come through sometimes flashing enough money that would keep them for a month to a year. Some take advantage of it and suddenly it costs money to do anything. The Maasai have been very popular to the tourists, e.g. charging US$20 for a photo (equivalent to a month's wage when I went through). It became easy money and the Maasai got good at asking, and less time finding other work. I don't know what it is like now but I would be surprised if it has changed. We need to be aware of how we interact with different cultures and think of the potential long term impact our behaviours can cause and act appropriately to minimise our impact. 

In this episode I am now on my own in Nairobi, Kenya. I needed a job so I turned to my riding career. Kenya is a former British colony so there are many British residents and expatriates. I knew the British love their horses and the wealthier groups often own horses as a hobby but not always have time to ride them. I had to get in contact with them to see if there was any job opportunities and i did not know anyone. Remember this was the time when there was no mobile phones, no email, no internet.......I went looking for hoofprints in the dirt on the outskirts of Nairobi. I saw some from the local bus (matatu). I then left a note in the local shop looking for work as a rider and to leave me a message through my backpackers accommodation. I was contacted within that day. I was invited to spend a weekend at a horse event being introduced to potential employers. I readily accepted but I did not look the part as an equestrian rider and so was immediately judged. However, two families were willing to give me a trial on their horses and after one ride, I suddenly had a full-time job riding horses and training people to ride their own horses. 

There were two life lessons from this period of my life. 1) I needed a job and I managed to get one in a foreign country within 24 hours. This was with no digital technology to help me. Where there is a will, there is a way. Using my initiative and perseverance, I came up with an idea and did not give up on it until I was successful. Having that drive to see things through has got me a long way in life and I have used it continually in my travels and other aspects of my life. Have a vision, set some goals and don't give up, even if you have to ride some setbacks along the way.   2) I mention I was judged by my looks when I was looking for horse employment. I did not look the part as a professional rider neat and tidy in the "right" clothes. However, some people took a chance with me and let me ride their horses. Once I got on the horse, I was able to prove my worth by the way I was able to train the horse. If no one took a chance with me because of the way I dressed, I would have been out of a job but also I would not have been able to help these people. I had recently come from an Austrian barn where I as riding up to 15 horses a day, so I was a good rider and there were very few horse trainers/coaches in Nairobi at the time. So be careful how you judge someone by their looks, the way they dress, their background and associations. They may just be a diamond in the rough waiting for a chance to shine. Give them that chance to help them be the person they are meant to be. On the flip side of the coin, you do not have to act, dress or be like anyone else just to try and fit in. You are unique. Given the right opportunities, even if you have to make those opportunities happen, you can shine your own light and be yourself. 

This episode describes our trip to the Masai Mara Games Reserve in Kenya. We found a safari company in Nairobi and booked a four-day, three-night package for a reasonable price. My fellow travellers were from the overland truck. It was my last adventure with them before they headed south and I stayed behind. Knowing this was my last time I would see these people I had spent nearly every waking moment for the last few months was scary. We were travelling in a minivan, which had a roof that lifted up so we had better viewing of the animals. We stayed in budget accommodation, which was not bad at all considering how we had been sleeping on the truck. The accommodation was a permanent tented site with a pair of real beds and an adjoining toilet and shower. This was luxury. It was April and we had the short rains occurring so the grass was green and high. Still, we saw lots of wildlife. Because of the rainy season, there was not as many tour groups and often we would have a wildlife sighting to ourselves for long periods.

We spent two whole days in the minivan driving around the reserve. However, knowing everyone well and being used to travelling for long periods of time, we did not mind it at all. The highlight was seeing the lionesses and their cubs winding their way past us with no real concern. However, I felt we did intrude too closely to the wildlife, affecting their behaviour. It is wonderful to view this wildlife from the safety of a vehicle but I wonder on the intrusiveness of what we do with the self-righteousness of humans detaching ourselves from the animal world as observers.

The Masai Mara is a must-see but pick your time to visit wisely. During the migration, the park is packed and it is difficult to see the animals for the people. We chose the rainy season and it was less crowded. The Masai Mara village visit was staged with the only purpose to buy jewellery. They were also ruined by tourists flaunting their dollars around. I was not impressed. I vowed I would never willing attend another of these staged "village visits" but go searching for the real experiences myself. However, you have to tune into my future episodes for those stories.

Photo source: Craig Stevenson on Unsplash

This episode discusses the potential dangers of travelling not just off the beaten path, but really anywhere. We had spent the last few months travelling through West and Central Africa. We tried to immerse into each culture and were often invited to share meals, and refusing was considered an insult. When we came into East Africa, we had not changed the way we interacted with the locals and we had to learn quickly to bring our guard back. This was brought home when a friend of mine was drugged on an overnight bus from Kampala to Nairobi and her money and cards were stolen. There was three of us so she sat by herself. A man sat beside her, befriended her, they chatted for a long time and he eventually offered her a sweet. The sweet was drugged. We were oblivious to the event until we reached Nairobi and we could not wake her up. The man was long gone. We took her to Nairobi Hospital and she recovered there for a couple of days. This event made me more cautious. We were now in east Africa, where there were more tourists and more opportunities for thefts. Not every one could be trusted.

I ended up staying six months in Kenya, mainly Nairobi, and I did not have another incident. However, I became more vigilant of who was around me. I let my own intuition decide on my actions. I still accepted offers of hospitality but only when it felt safe. My intuition never let me down. If I ignored it, I usually did to my detriment. Travelling solo really meant no night life as it was too risky. I made friends with the local boys, with friendly banter each time I passed,  and I think as a result, they looked out for me. 

Travelling in any country can be dangerous but if you keep your wits about you (whether you are solo or in a group), trust your intuition, and be respectful and friendly to the locals without encouraging too much familiarity, you should be fine. I also avoid any areas that are current hotspots or any war zones. No point asking for trouble.......