August
27
2010
By Lauren Scott
We've captured ourselves a prize pig—our friend Lauren Scott is currently on a three month safari in Kenya, and sending us weekly dispatches about her finds along the way. Check out her first installment.
In my humble opinion, the best travel tales come out of trips to Africa. Whether it's a campfire story borrowed from your dashingly handsome guide, or one you create yourself upon returning home (with various embellishments of course), there is nothing like an African anecdote with which to regale friends and family. The combination of the untamed wilderness, threat of danger and sense of romance often make for the very best dinner party material. And if it's material you are after, look no further than Borana Lodge, set in the Samangua Valley in Northern Kenya.
Like any safari lodge worth visiting, the photos on the walls and books on the shelf are all gateways to the stories that give your trip that touch of magic. Borana was one of the country’s first purpose-built eco-lodges way back in 1990. It is owned and run by the eldest son of the Dyer family, one of Kenya’s most legendary families for both safari and conservation projects, with a long history of intrinsic involvement in the development and protection of the Kenyan tourism industry. Dig a little deeper, a few generations back, and you'll discover the stories of Rose & Tony Dyer, matriarch and patriarch of the Dyer clan (Tony is a highly respected author, photographer and former chairman of the East Africa Hunters Association, while Rose is the daughter of pioneering farmer Willy Powys).
From time to time, it's the story beneath the story that really sticks with you—not the elephant charge bravely faced, but the tiny, brilliantly coloured beetle you found in the bathroom. Back in the 1920s Will Powys bought land near the Ngare Ndare forest and started farming sheep and goats. One day a young blind boy from Lake Turkana arrived on the farm asking him for employment. Will first sent the boy, Rubin, to the Mehru School for the Blind where he learned basic skills. Having finished school he returned to the farm and it was then that Will conceived of the tannery… But that is a beetle of a different colour; a tale for me to continue next week.
Lauren Scott has been visiting Kenya with her family for years—each time pretending to lose her passport at the end of the trip, so that she wouldn't have to leave. Keep reading The Sounder for Lauren's updates on her travels, and follow us on Facebook or Twitter if you'd like a reminder. If you're planning a Kenyan trip of your own, get in touch with us and have a look at our trip planning site.