Going walkabout

22 September 2007

Court, non-residents were only allowed access to the four ‘public’ beaches as the guest of a resident.

Tassia and the surrounding countryside form part of a protected wildlife sanctuary — the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy — overseen by the Lekurruki Conservation Group. The Maasai elders in this area realised some years ago that farming the land intensively was destroying its natural beauty, so they began to think about tourism, and agreed eventually to remove all livestock from the protected area and shift their families to the Mokogodo escarpment, where rainfall is higher, fresh water more plentiful and access to schools and roads easier. So that the tourism would be unintrusive, they made sure Tassia lodge was ecological. It’s built in the Maasai tradition, using wood, thatch, mud and woven matting, not one tree was cut down to build it and it nestles into the boulders of the escarpment like a leopard in a Loimugi tree, and about as visible.

There are a number of ways to reach this ethical paradise. The first is to fly to Nairobi and transfer to Air Kenya for the flight to Lewa airport, then it’s an hour and a quarter drive to get to Tassia. Alternatively you can charter a light aircraft from Tropic Air or Boskovich Air Charters and Jamie Robert or Ben Simpson will fly you straight into the new Tassia airstrip. By road from Nairobi it’s a six-hour trip.

But whichever way you come, once there you are met by the lodge managers, Martin and Antonia, and the rest of the team, traditionally scarlet-robed Maasai, all eager to show you around. They give you a tour round the five double bedrooms and one twin, all with en suite bathrooms and spectacular views, and explain that although the lodge is in a malarial area, the dry surroundings mean few mosquitoes.

Spa? I’m pleased to tell you there is none. A swim in the pool leads to sundowners and supper. The food is delicious. No ‘drizzle’, no ‘jus’ — just delicious. There’s organic veg from the newly planted garden and fresh bread baked daily to complement the more traditional and carnivorous menus.

The principal activities are game drives and game walks — the walks being favourite. You trek up the luggas (dry riverbeds) or along the elephant paths through the forest alongside Martin or his father, Charlie, who is casually but reassuringly armed to the teeth. All the while, Simon — an extremely high-ranking Maasai — identifies birds, insects, plants and recounts habits, history and medicinal properties. The birds (over 300 species — and the dawn chorus kicks in at 5.45), butterflies, reptiles and insects on offer are startlingly diverse and plentiful, and the joy of walking is that you are entirely enveloped in that hot, dusty, aromatic atmosphere that is Africa.

Charlie says that if you get within 25 metres of an elephant, he can’t have been paying attention — 30 metres is plenty close enough. But looking at him, with his quiet voice, 1,000-yard stare and 25 years living in Lewa, you can’t imagine a Cape Buffalo giving him much of an argument. Once an elephant fell into one of the rock pools and, Aesop-like, Charlie and Martin simply rolled rocks into the pool until the elephant walked out.