DOOMED AT CAMP

Hello Beautiful People,

All right, time for a Kenya Story. This is a wee bit longer then most stories (sorry) but, lots of fun and explains things one should not do while on safari!

It was Dec 25^th 2006 and as tradition has it we always go to the coast for Christmas and New Years Eve Holidays.

My Dear sweet Princess Savanah (my youngest, then 14) decided she wanted to fly down with her friend and her friends family and meet us there, while Tiva then 17, Rian 15, David (who would be 21 in a few days), Dawn (the goddess) and myself decided to drive down in our glorious old Land Cruiser with our driver David, who was a new hire.

We all wanted to camp that night and drive into Watamu the next day. Dawn had booked us a tent at a very special, African owned and run camp in Tsavo. It was cheep and had an ok reputation, plus the kids could camp just next door to us at a KWS campsite. Yes, this was one of those years Dawn and I tore up our house scrounging for every last dime we had to ensure that we all had fun and an amazing holiday.

We were driving through Tsavo and the only mammal we saw was an elephant in the far off distance, as it had been a bad drought year.

After around 10 hours on the road we reached the camp.

Walking in to the camp Dawn and I were pleasantly surprised at the cleanliness of the place and the kindness of the staff. One gentleman showed us the path that would lead us to the campsite, where the kids and David would be staying. Yes, alone! Are kids have been camping their whole lives and know all about the bush. Plus there was a ranger near by, just in case.

We helped set them up (which, in Dawns and my Motherly way means, we dropped off their tent and all their belongings, kissed them and said we would see them for drinks and dinner in the camp mess at 7pm) and then Dawn and I walked back to our tent, which we were sharing.

We were walking with the manager who was showing us to our room. We arrived at our tent and set our things down. The manager was standing outside our tent and asked us if we needed anything else before he left. Dawn and I said we were fine. He nodded, and then said, “I just need to tell you a few things. One; we ask all our guest to join us around a fire before dinner so we can get to know one another and go over all the safety rules while you are staying with us, the fire will be just outside the mess tent.” Dawn and I both looked at each other and smiled (meaning, ugh) and, “Two; dinner is at 8pm.” With that he smiled at us and walked off.

Dawn and I walked back in to our tent and retrieved our wine and two glasses and walked out to the plastic floored veranda to relax on the safari chairs. Beautiful birds were in the trees and the smell of the bush was the perfect perfume to relax us.

Not far off was another tent and a very nice African couple that were so excited to be camping. The gentleman walked over to our tent and politely introduced himself and then said, “If you would like to see some Impala they are eating right behind your tent”. Dawn and I got up to see, as we hadn’t seen any wildlife driving in, except that lone Elephant in the distance.

We slowly and quietly got up and walked around the tent and there they were, 5 goats! We just busted up laughing; thank god the nice man had walked away before seeing our explosion of laughter.

We went back to our tent and sat drinking our wine enjoying the stillness of being on the ground and out of our Old land Cruiser, which was extremely bouncy to say the least.

It was time to get ready to go join everyone by the campfire, we had already let the kids know what time to join us for drinks before dinner. We were starving and we knew the kids must be too.

The mozzies were out in force and I had left my mozzie spray with the kids. Dawn had not packed any, knowing I would have packed some.

She looked at me and said, “we have to do something, hold on I have an idea”. Now remember this is, ‘The Goddess’ my all-knowing dear and kind friend who confirmed that humans can be kind and good. She taught me how to be more diplomatic. To say the least I TRUSTED her.

She had walked in to the tent and came back out with a can of DOOM in her hand. She said, “Here let me spray your legs!” “ Are you crazy, that stuff is pure poison!” I bellowed. Dawn reassuringly told me, “Don’t worry, it will be fine, I will just spray a little bit, it will work!” Now I am thinking TANA DON’T DO IT! Well, unfortunately I TRUSTED Dawn. She gets this look on her face that makes you think twice of your own good judgment. So she sprayed away, her feet then mine.

As I was waiting for the burning pain to follow, I was relieved to feel nothing. I thought to myself, darn she was right again! LOL and left it at that.

We headed off to the campfire and found around 10 other people plus the kids waiting for us. The manager stood up and started his introduction spiel. “We would like to welcome all of you and wish you all a Happy Christmas. I have a few points to go over with everyone before you head off to dinner.” At this point Dawn, the kids and I were just waiting to get to dinner and eat.

We were all sitting there listening, when we couldn’t believe what we just heard.

The manager of the camp says, “ If you see a lion while you are back at your tent, DO NOT call me, I wont be here, no one will be at the office, stay where you are or in your tent and call out MAASAI, he should get to you as soon as he can.” Dawn and I fell off our logs that we were sitting on. We tried so hard not to laugh out loud, but we didn’t succeed. If the man said anything after that, I truly don’t remember it. The kids and us couldn’t stop laughing at the looks on the other guest faces. They looked like a deer in headlights. We were trying to figure out if they were scared that a lion could walk into camp, or that a Maasai would “try” to get to them on time.

We all had a wonderful Christmas dinner; we walked the kids back to their tent and made sure they were all settled in. We walked back to our tent, trying to get each other to call out ‘MAASAI’ just to see how long it would take for a Maasai to get to us, but we were behaved and didn’t. We got to our tent and got in are own beds. Dawn had let me pick which bed I wanted, very kind of her!

I got comfortable and had the lantern on to read my book, when all of a sudden my feet and legs started to itch, then burn. I asked Dawn if her feet were itching, to which she replied, “no”. I informed her that I thought that I had bed bugs. I threw back the covers and turned on my torch. I didn’t see anything! Except a huge rash running up the front and back of both of my legs, from were Dawn had sprayed the Doom on me!

Dawn was cracking up, most likely because she didn’t have an allergic reaction, and seeing me in a scratching frenzy made her whole night.

From my stupidity from the doom incident, I didn’t get much sleep. Dawn on the other hand slept like a baby! I jumped in the shower first just letting the cold water hit my feet and legs trying to get some relief, it worked for a short while. Dawn kindly reminded me we could stop at a chemist shop in Malindi, which was another 20 minutes on from where we would be staying in Watamu and we still had about 5 hours drive in front of us.

We met up with the kids for breakfast who were full of exciting stories from their own camping experience. The stories involved Baboons in camp and David who forgot to check himself for ticks before going to bed and woke up itching like me. There were at least 6 ticks on his body, of which the girls kindly removed with huge mocking for each tick they plucked off, at least the ones that were not in private areas.

We sent one of the camp staff to find David, who had been in the staff quarters, making new friends. We packed up and got back on the road.

We had been driving about 2 hours when we hit a small town, where everyone stopped at while driving this road trip; as it was one of the last stops to fill up with petrol or diesel. We pulled over in to one of the petrol stations. David turned off the vehicle and the kids all got out to find the nearest toilet or bush. The vehicle had been filled up and paid for, everyone but me was in the car, as I had gotten out to pay and was waiting for the receipt.

I heard the one noise that makes you cringe when out in the middle of nowhere, the key being turned, and the car NOT starting. David tried about 5 times and I told him to stop, as I was afraid he would flood it. It sounded like the battery was dead, and there was no way we could afford to buy one here.

I looked where the vehicle was parked and saw it was on a very slight slop. I yelled to David to put the car in neutral, which he did. Not thinking, I am sure due to the immense inching restraint I was concentrating on. I walked to the back of the car and started to push this 1200lb car forward. Now I am sure most smart people would have called out to all the teens in the car and asked them to get out and help! But no, I was a bit loopy at the time, and of course thought I was wonder woman.

Sweat started to form on my brow when I heard laughter coming from inside the car. I looked up and of course it was all the teens and Dawn laughing at me. I looked around and about 4 African men were staring at me in complete disbelief.  I had to laugh at myself at this point in time.

The African men were walking over as I started to push again, sure enough I got the vehicle moving forward. Trust me everyone was shocked at my strength at this time. The African men got to the car just as it was rolling and started pushing with all their strength. The car started to move, and David through the car in to 2^nd gear and took his foot off the clutch, and presto the Land Cruiser started.

All the African men patted me on the back and were grabbing my arms muscles, extremely excited about seeing this crazy white woman pushing a Land Cruiser by herself and how strong I was! I thanked all of them and jumped in to the land cruiser. The whole car exploded with applause and jokes began about good old Mum. I thanked each and every one of them for getting off their butts and helping me! They all agreed that I was doing such a great job on my own they didn’t want to take the fun away from me! Adorable children and friend!

We finally got to Watamu and Dawn and I walked to the reception area. The first thing I asked for was a large bag of ice for my massive rashes. They kindly looked down at my legs and all squinted up their eyes and said, “oh Tana, what happened to you?” I informed them that, “my darling and most dearest friend sprayed me with doom.” Yet Again, huge amounts of laughter exploded. Yes, I am the dummy. Huge bags of ice were brought to me. While Dawn signed us all in and our bags were taken to our rooms, it was time to get to the chemist.

Savanah wondered over all fresh and lightly tanned with an ice cold drink in her hand! “Hey Mum, how are you? How was your trip?” I pointed to my legs. “Ewww, that looks like it hurts. Well hope you get something for it, love ya, see you later.” She walked off, and at that point I am thinking to myself, “I know I have loving children, has anyone seen them?”

We drove up to Malindi and found the nearest chemist. I am sure I bolted in there like a crazy person looking for any kind of relief. The woman at the counter asked if she could help me, Dawn was standing by me and said, “We are looking for anything that will stop her itching.” At this point I threw my leg up on the counter and pointed (All lady like behavior out the door). She put her hand over her mouth and then slowly pulled it away to say, “Oh, that looks like it hurts!” I just thought, ‘do you think so?’ She went behind the counter and handed me some cream and a couple pills to take; I didn’t even ask what they were for at that point in time, I just popped one. I started putting on the cream right there and then. We paid the heavenly chemist and I, for the first time since the night before had total relief.

On our way back to the hotel, Dawn and I stopped at the local dukas. Dawn was craving a ham sandwich. Now remember when I said Dawn and I had to find every last dime we had to take this holiday? Well, this is how poor we were! Dawn walks in finds the ham pack and puts in the trolley, she gets a roll of bread and puts that in the trolley, then ever so stealth like walks by a head of lettuce and tears off a piece and puts it in her purse. I looked at her with wide eyes, and said, “What are doing?” “ I just want one sandwich, what am I going to do with a whole head of it.” Coming from the woman who I let spray Doom on me, how could I argue with her. “Besides, they won’t mind, I have been shopping here for over 20 years.” She added.

We all had a wonderful time that holiday and many stories to laugh about. For those friends of mine who asked for a Kenyan story and how things are done here, I hope I answered some of the questions. Although I think I answered more of what not to do. Do not spray Doom on your body parts, Have a second battery with you in an old vehicle if going on a long journey, remember to pack insect repellent for everyone’s bags if staying in different camps, Ask for help when pushing a heavy vehicle and always trust your own instincts.  LOL…

xxx

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WRESTLING ALLIGATORS

When I was about the age of 15, I was sitting in class when I received a note from the office that I had a phone call. I excused myself and ran up to the office desk and picked up the phone. As students we knew that when we were getting a phone call at school it was not usually a phone call from one of your parents telling you they loved you.

I picked up the phone and said, “Hello, this is Tana.”

“Tan it’s your Dad, Hey babe, how are you?”

“Dad, what’s up? Everything ok?”

“I am sending your Mom to come pick you up, I need you to wrestle an alligator for the ‘Mike Douglas Show’ today.”

“Dad, I have never wrestled an Alligator before why me?”

“I thought it would be fun for you to be on air with your old man, plus you’ll do great as long as you listen to everything I tell you, kid. I love you. Mom should be there in the next 30 minutes, go home and get some shorts and tee-shirt. Love you.” And the phone went dead as my heart jumped into my throat.

I am not sure what the poor secretary was thinking as she overheard this conversation, but I am sure she was thinking of calling child services. I smiled at her and just said, “Family Fun Time, thank you,” and walked away. I couldn’t stop going over the stunt in my head. I had been around alligators and didn’t have a problem with them nor was I afraid of the stunt, but pleasing my Dad on National TV, now that was terrifying. I hated to let my dad down and loved to prove I could do anything the men could do.

Mom collected me from school and drove me home to get a change of clothes for the show. She said, “Dad wants you to wear a tee-shirt and shorts.”

“Mom, I am not wearing a tee-shirt while wrestling an alligator in water on national television! Don’t need the world to see my ittie bitties, thank you very much!” I went to my room, picked out a red flannel shirt and jean shorts and got changed. I packed clothes to change in to afterwards. I knew this would not please him and he preferred me to look more girlie, but he had a tomboy for a daughter and this was what he would have to settle for.

We got to the set and everyone was hustling and bustling around. I loved being on set as I felt right at home. Mom and I were greeted when we walked in the studio and we were shown where my dad and the guys (trainers) were. We walked over and I was greeted with a hug from my dad and a collective “Hey Tan” from the guys!

Dad, affectionately gripped my shoulder with his hand and led me over to where the metal swimming pool was where I would be doing the stunt. I saw this thing and said, “It really isn’t that big”

“Na, you’ll be fine.”

“Okay. Dad, where is the Alligator and how big is he?”

“He is in the back right now chilling. He is just over 6 foot, perfect size for you!” I just gave him one of those quizzical looks. I was 5’6”.

Dad gave me the up and down look, cocked his head and said, “ What are you wearing?”

“What I feel comfortable in,” I said.

“Well, I guess it will do,” said Dad.

Dad pulled me to the side where no one would hear us and started to talk to me about the stunt. He always talked to me right before and never let me rehearse, which was unheard of for most stunt people. Dad new I had already been working with animals longer then anyone there besides him and he trusted his animals and me completely. Keep in mind that doesn’t mean I went in all conceited, it means I knew better then to ever think I couldn’t get hurt. I always had a respectful fear, a lion is a lion not a dog, no matter how loving, their natural instincts always came first and I respected that at all times for every animal. The animal’s safety and the animal feeling safe with you was also very important.

“Okay Kid, this is what you have to do. The men are going to hold the alligator in position for you when you step in to the water. I want you to kneel down, one knee on the right of him the other leg over is back so you can lie down when we let go…” This conversation lasted about 3 minutes, we covered hand and body positioning, his teeth, mouth, protruding scales, nails and tail- I had it all down. I was ready.

“Dad, since I have never wrestled an alligator before, what is the hardest thing to do, and to make it look like a great stunt?” “If you can flip him over on his back. It is not easy and takes a lot of strength and I am not expecting you to be able to do that. Just do what I have told you, be careful of the things I have warned you about and you will be fine!”

“ One last question Dad, do I have to be with you during your interview? Can I just be waiting by the ‘gator?”

“Of course you will go up with me! You’ll be fine and Mike is looking forward to meeting you.” That was when my heart started to pound! I hated being in front of the camera, alligator no problem, but when that darn red light went on and I was meant to talk, the world started to spin.

I went back and reacquainted myself with the Alligator and gave him a pat. All the guys were there making fun of me as usual and trying to wind me up, but it never worked, I was comfortable with stunt work and at home with the animals, it was all the rest of it, which no one knew, I was smart enough to keep that to myself and just breathed deeply.

We were in position to go on stage, ugh, head spinning, heart pounding…

We were introduced and walked on stage. I was trying to smile without my lip quivering, it always gave me away if I didn’t control it. Mike and the guests were all very nice and concerned for me. Dad and I assured them I would be fine. I was thinking, just let me get off this stage. Finally it was time for me to wrestle the alligator, I just thought ‘thank god’. We all got up and walked over to the metal pond and I stepped in, my whole body relaxed as soon as I was with him, my head cleared, my heart slowed down. I got in position and the guys asked me if I was ready. I said “Yes, let him go,” and the wrestling started.

When I was in the middle of any stunt, everything came naturally and instinctively.

I knew before I started this stunt there was only one thing I had to do, and do it fast, as I would only be on camera for less then a minute, and that was to figure out how to hold him tight and flip him over so his belly was up.

Time was ticking down, I couldn’t hear anything except the alligator and the water splashing. It was about 20 seconds into everything I got my hands and legs in position, I was getting tired so I had to act now. I pulled him in to my chest. I took a deep breath: I knew I might go under the water with the weight of him on me. I held on, flipped us both and his beautiful shiny belly was up! Just as I did this I heard “Cut” and then all the applause from the audience, Mike and his guests. I flipped us both back over and waited for the guys to step in and take over.

I stood up, wiped the water from my face and looked for the only person who mattered to me, my dad. My dad’s and my eyes met, that was all I needed. He had a huge smile on his face and he helped me out of the water and patted me on the back! “Great job, kid, you did me proud.”

xxx

PILOT FOR DAKTARI – TANA AND FOLSOM

I was known as the tester child amongst the family and close friends (trainers on the ranch). Whenever an animal was up for a movie or TV show and there was a child actor involved, my dad would always say yes to the production, even before knowing which animal would work best with the child actor. That is where I was always brought in.

I was about 4 or 5 years old when a call from the studio came in about doing a “pilot” show and they needed a child who could ride a zebra. Of course my dad took the production, before any child had ever ridden ‘Folsom’ our Grant’s zebra. He could be ridden, but on his terms of course. Folsom had a mind all of his own and animals, like humans, pick and choose whom they like and don’t like. When my Dad came to me and told me he needed to see me ride Folsom, the first thing I said was, “Are you crazy?” as I had seen Folsom throw grown men who he didn’t like. And although Folsom and I always got along well, it was with my feet firmly on terra firma at all times.

My Dad said, “Tana, you have been riding since you could sit up, you can do this.” “Dad, I know I can ride, it doesn’t mean Folsom wants me to ride him.” “Tana, don’t let me down honey, I need to see if Folsom will be ok with a kid on his back, I will be right next you in case he try’s to bolt and Frank will be holding the reins.” “What is in it for me?” My Dad took a deep breath, as I had learned to negotiate at too young an age. “I will be extremely proud of you,” he said. I laughed, “Dad that worked when I was a little girl. How about I get to choose the next movie we all go to?” “Ok, kid, that sounds fair to me.”

The next day we were at the ranch (Africa U.S.A.) and I was watching Folsom come out and a couple of the guys with him. My Dad called out for me and asked me to join them. I yelled back, as he was a ways away, “I want to see one of the guys get up on him first, to see what kind of a mood he is in!” My dad dropped his head, as he was not use to anyone questioning him or not jumping to his every whim. He called out to Dick (a trainer) and asked him to get up on Folsom. Dick walked over to Folsom and jumped on, sure enough it took Folsom all of 2 seconds to decide he didn’t like Dick and he took off. Poor Dick was being bounced from side to side for about 20 yards before he could jump off.

I was rolling with laughter watching, till my Dad walked over and said your turn! I straightened right up and said, “Did you see that? He is not in a good mood, and you want me to get up there? Are you crazy?” “Tana, trust me, have I ever let you get hurt? I love you honey, please.” I looked up at him with my hands on my little hips and said “NO!” I walked off to the nearest fence, climbed up and refused to move.

My Dad took a deep breath, walked over and for the next 15 minutes stood there looking up at me and pulled out all the stops to talk me down. I finally came down and walked over to Folsom, I approached him from his head so he could see me, then I slowly walked to his side and put my little hands on his belly and slowly walked towards his head while talking gently to him the whole way. I was explaining how I had to ride him and I would so appreciate it if he would allow this and not try to run off with me.

When I got to his head he lowered it and I kissed his nose. I looked at my dad and said, “Okay, lets do this.” My dad slowly lifted me and gently put me on Folsom’s back, he didn’t let go till he saw I had the reins firmly in my hand and that Frank had a good hold on Folsom’s head collar. He looked at me and asked, “Are you ready?” I nodded back and said, “You so owe me,” and one by one each person released and it was just Folsom and me. I kept talking to him and gave him a gentle nudge with my feet and he started to walk. I set out and then turned him so we were going in big circles then I reversed the circle, he was a perfect gentleman with me. I jumped off and gave him a hug around his neck and walked him back over to Frank who had a grin on his face. I looked up at my Dad and said, “There you go!” He cracked up and bent down and gave me a hug and then said, “See you listened and all was fine. Good job kid.”

When the producers came out to see the animals they wanted to hire for the production they asked to see Folsom and me, I rode him around for them and to my huge disappointment they not only hired the animals, but they wanted me to be the little girl in the pilot! I hated acting and now to my poor Dad’s apprehension he knew negotiations were about to begin all over again with me! The TV show pilot was for the hugely successful TV series ‘Daktari.’

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0375046/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daktari

The child star was Erin Moran

xxx

TANA, TEACHERS AND MODOC

There are those who would call me an “odd duck”.  Those who know me well would have kinder things to say. Being born amongst the king of all kings “Zamba”, a Lion who laid with lambs, it was he who first protected me and it was his great grandson, Zamba Jr. who last saw me whole, the person I was before my life changed.

My true friends, who have seen me through thick and thin, know my true soul. I am not, nor have I ever been “normal” I fight for justice, defend the innocent and stand by my word. Something the animal kingdom taught me. Not any human.

Because of the way I was raised, I never knew the true meaning of being a human. I know this sounds strange to most, but I was raised amongst the purest of souls and the humans were on the sidelines. I didn’t realize I was so different till I entered school and had to play with human children, some incredibly cruel and others with kind souls. This perplexed me to no end; it was a challenge I would face my whole life.

When I was in grade school, I was under constant discord with my teacher, who persecuted me and said I was a Liar who needed help. I told my father what the teacher had said;  “Tana, you can’t come into my class and tell stories of swimming in a lake with your elephant, and riding on a Lions back!”

My parents received a letter from the school stating that they highly recommended I be given a psychological examination because; I have a very vivid imagination and continued to tell lies. And I would not stand down, after the teachers confronted me.

My father came to me and said,  “Don’t worry honey, this will all be sorted out soon. Be strong and stand your ground!”

The morning before I went to school, my dad pulled me aside and said I have a very big surprise for you and all those who have doubted you. I am sorry it took so long for me to understand, but meet me in front of the school at lunchtime.

I went to school that day and carried it on like any other. At lunch I ran to the front, as Pet day was about to begin. At the entrance was a huge semi truck and I knew!

I ran to my fathers and mother’s side, standing next to the semi, and hugged them both. Then I heard Frank, one of the trainers, calling out to Modoc. She started to descend from back of the open truck one massive leg at a time.

Modoc was one my parents greatest of animals. She stepped down from the massive slab of timber and turned around to greet me, with an explosion of air from her partially paralyzed trunk, I lifted it with my 6-year-old hands and blew into it, a greeting we had. She blew back and I released her trunk and walked to her front leg and gave her a massive hug. Frank, took me by the hand and said, “stand back Tana! I need her to stretch her legs first.”

I hadn’t realized that a crowd had gathered and standing amongst them was the teacher who had called me a liar! I looked at her and stared, as any cub, which knew she had strength behind her. The teacher was speechless. My dad walked over to her and said, “Don’t ever call my child a liar again.”

Modoc had stretched and was asked to come down. Which meant, she got down on all fours and awaited my ascension. I climbed up her side with help from Frank and upon reaching her back I scooted up to her neck. Frank yelled out “Tana hold on” I leaned in to Modoc as she stood up, feeling every muscle underneath my tiny frame and her coarse hair tickling my thighs and felt Frank’s hand on my foot the whole way. I loved Frank tremendously. He was always kind and good to all.

Now I was on top of Modoc, an elephant like no other, who was majestic in her own right and had survived incredible circumstances. I felt pride and honour to just be with her. She was loving and gentle and had a soul that was beyond any human I had ever met.

Frank yelled out, “Mo, move up” and with that one statement, Modoc took a step that rocked me from one side to the other, then another step. We were on our way into the school for all to see.

The Principal of the school was a kind man. He didn’t know any better until he received a phone call from my Father, who explained who I was and who he was! The Principal granted full permission to my Dad to bring Modoc to the school and to put a stop to all the bullying I had undergone.

The teacher who never believed me and had written the letter recommending me get psychological help, stepped aside as Modoc’s massive tonnage walked by her, with me on top, feeling like a princess and right at home.

We walked into the school and huge cheers of excitement exploded!

That was the day I realized I was different from others, because of the life I was born into and the privilege of being raised with such amazing creatures. Very few would ever get to know or understand. It has been both a curse and a blessing. And I have learned so much more in the years since!

Thank you Modoc, Frank (R.I.P.), Dad and Mom. It was the one of the proudest moments of my young life.

xxx

A TRIBUTE TO AN AMAZING YOUNG LADY, MY DAUGHTER TIVA

Tiva turns 21 today! Anyone whom has ever watched a child grow up understands the immense pride you can have for your child, even someone else’s child. Tiva and her sisters have brought me overwhelming pride and joy every moment of their existence.

This story is 100% true, nothing elaborated on and all because of Tiva’s eminent enlightenment at the age of two.

At the time we were living in Washington State as I had the children there and then would come back to Kenya later. I had just had Rian in January of ‘91 she was about 6 months old at the time of this story and Tiva was 2 years old. We lived on a small plot with a huge forest for our back yard which we did not own. Tiva loved the forest and often I would find her sitting by the fence looking at the trees and the small wildlife playing. She would play around the trees in our yard and hug them.

It was early morning and I had been up for a while cleaning and feeding Tiva and Rian. Tiva was watching her little sister in her bounce chair and talking to her as big sisters do. I had stepped in to another room to make a bed when I heard Tiva start Screaming “NO, BAD MAN, NO, GOD BE SO MAD AT YOU!” I came running in to the kitchen to see Tiva banging on the sliding glass door and overwhelmed with grief and anger. Tiva just kept saying the same words over and over. I ran over to her and picked her up and asked her “Tiva, what is wrong? What man honey?” She pointed with her little finger to the forest. That is when it struck me, she saw a tractor and heard the chainsaws. I too had heard them but, to be honest, I just said a prayer for the forest and left it at that.

Tiva had tears rolling down her Cherub face and just kept repeating “NO, BAD MAN, NO, GOD BE SO MAD AT YOU.” I sat her down on my lap and tried to explain that these men were just doing their jobs to feed their own families and that I was sure they didn’t understand they are hurting anyone who loves the trees. Tiva would not have any of it. I set Tiva back down on the floor and she ran back to the sliding glass door and started screaming at them again. The tractor was up and running and the chainsaw was in full force, you could now hear tree’s falling and Tiva was furious.

I called my Mom at this point in time as Tiva was inconsolable and explained what was going on. My Mom said, strangely, to videotape her so she could see it later and talk to her. I did this for a short while for my Mom and then turned it off and went back to Tiva. I picked her up and picked up Rian who was now crying in her little bounce carry thingy and walked to the sliding glass door and opened it. The noise of everything going on in the forest hit us all with a huge force of sound. I set Rian down where I could keep my eye on her and I looked at Tiva and I said, “Tiva, lets see if we can talk to the men in the forest, ok?” Tiva nodded and continued her chat, “Bad men, god be so mad at you.”

We got to the fence and I waved at the man closest to us and he walked over to us. I introduced him to Tiva and introduced myself. I proceeded to explain that Tiva was very upset about the forest being cut and I had hoped he would have a minute to talk to her to help her understand what his job was. He smiled and started to talk to Tiva with kindness and said, “Tiva, I cut the tree’s so good people like you have a house to live in and chairs to sit on,” and then he smiled. Tiva was having none of it, she put her little finger up and said “ You are a bad man, God be so mad at you, STOP.” I looked at Tiva and then the man and I asked, “Is there anything we can do?” He amazingly said, “Well, this is strange but it just so happens the man who owns this forest is here today and I can get him for you if you would like?” I said, “Yes, please.” Tiva and I waited as we watched the logger go get the Owner. When they were walking towards us I could see the owner was of Oriental decent and was listening to what the logger was telling him.

They approached the fence line where Tiva and I were, the Owner politely smiled and gave a small bow to Tiva and introduced himself. Tiva looked at him and said “Hi, YOU BAD MAN, AND GOD BE SO MAD AT YOU, TREES’ MY FRIENDS.” The owner was a bit taken aback, not by a two year old raising her voice at him, but at the conviction in her voice. I explained that Tiva would play in this forest and she loved it. I was polite and asked if there was anything he could do.

The owner stepped backed and started talking to his logger (site manager) and the logger started to get a bit worked up and then the owner turned and bowed to Tiva and said he was so sorry and hopes this is ok. I looked at him a bit perplexed? Is what ok? The logger turned at me and said, “Well you wont believe this, but he has ordered me not to cut any of the trees along the fence line and three inward. These are the biggest trees and he will lose a lot of money. I tried to change his mind, but he refused and said we must honour Tiva’s wishes.” The logger was dumfounded and I couldn’t believe it either, I was stunned, I had never heard of anyone stopping a clear cut and losing money, let alone doing it for a child.

I am sure there was a tremble in my voice as the tears welled up and I thanked them both immensely and did a small bow back to the owner.  I turned and was walking away with Tiva, I was proud of Tiva for speaking up and speaking her truth, I was so proud of the Owner for listening and caring enough to do something.

As Tiva and I were walking away I explained to Tiva what she had just done, she had saved a huge part of a forest. She looked at me and said “Save all trees?” I said, “Not all of them, but a lot of them.” She looked at me and said “GOD BE SO MAD.” We sat down on the ground next to Rian and I held Tiva and I told her, “Tiva I am proud of you for what you did today. And I am sorry we didn’t save all the tree’s, but you saved some and that is HUGE.” She leaned over to Rian and put her head in Rian’s lap and hugged her, then kissed her forehead and then Tiva looked up at me and said, “Thank you mummy.” To which I replied “For what?” and her sweet response was, “ You listened.”

Well that did it. I was emotionally gone, tears were just pouring down my face and I grabbed her up and held her. Then I stood up, took Rian while holding Tiva’s hand and we walked inside together.

When people heard this story and saw the video they were so moved they too started listening to their children more, knowing their children too could make a difference. They even went as far as to start a foundation called “Kids 4 Earth”, which is now part of the United Nations global 500. http://www.kids4earth.org/index.html click on “Tiva’s Sacred Grove”

From the mouths of babes, God Bless them all.

From one proud Mummy.

xxx

DONT LEAVE FOOD OUT (OOPS)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngorongoro_Conservation_Area#Wildlife

On our second night at the Ngorongoro crater, we were celebrating a wonderful time. We had seen splendid game that day, close encounters with Elephant, wonderful Lion, Lioness and cubs, and cheeky monkeys who tried to share our food. We even spotted tourist, something we do at times for fun! Spot which country they are from. Amazingly enough they all have their own quirks. At one point, we had spotted some lions and we were parked there having a silent giggle watching the cubs wrestle with each other and one little guy would sneak up around the back of his mum and then pounce on her and think this was the funniest thing he had ever done! Mum would feel this thump on her back and then roll over and put a paw on his head, at one point she pulled him in to her with her massive paw and pinned him down lovingly and started to lick him all over, the little guy just lay there looking like a drowned rat! Too cute.

Then the loud tourist came, the driver politely drove up, and then unleashed his clients on all our serenity. They were loud Europeans, I am sure they had no inner voice barometer, even the lions who are used to being on stage, sat up! We looked at them, with kind smiles but slanted eyes! The driver put his head down and raised his hands in the air palms up and shrugged apologetically.

He didn’t know we were from East Africa, must have thought we were tourist too. So you can imagine the look on his face when Tanyth spoke to him in Swahili and asked him “tafadhali utaweza kuu mumbia hawa ma punda kuu nyamazia”, although with a bit of a teenagers twist of language, translation: Please would you ask your car full of donkeys to be QUIET! We all quietly cracked up laughing, even the other guide did. Then he turned to the back of his mini van and explained to them that they should lower their voices. They did and we waved to them in appreciation. The guide in the Europeans vehicle smiled at us as we drove off.

David our driver had a great sense of humour and thought we were all bonkers, but enjoyed being with people who also do safari, we laughed all day telling animal stories and of sightings we had in our pasts. There were a few animals between us that we had not seen in a while or ever. Anteaters, Giant Forest Hog, Large Python and a few others.

We were back at the camp and had a huge roaring fire and full tummies, although not fed by the Over-Lander this time, I had treated the girls to dinner at a nearby lodge.

We were full of laughter this night and being a bit silly, playing games and singing songs and joining us were the staff from the Over –Lander Truck. Their clients had gone off to their own fires and made it clear they wanted to be left alone.

The stories were amazing and funny from all sides and we started imitating different animal sounds to see who had the best imitation. Again much laughter followed. It was about 2am when most of us decided to go to bed. With hugs all around and shared appreciation between us all, I excused myself. About 30 minutes later, I was sound asleep. A little later in the night I was woken up by our driver David, tapping on my tent. I woke up thinking this was a joke that was being carried on from earlier and played along. “Yes, what’s up?” David Said “Tana, I have a Giant Forest Hog in my tent (Adult giant forest hogs can weigh between 300lbs to 600lbs and have very impressive sized tusks, and we had just been talking about how I hadn’t seen one in years and would love too)!” I broke out in laughter, thinking this is a good one, never heard that before! I laughed and told him to go to sleep and that was a good one! He walked away. I didn’t hear any ruckus or screams, so was convinced it was just a joke especially since he was casual about it.

In the morning, I woke to the beautiful sunrise and crisp air. I got dressed for the day. I climbed out of my tent to see who else was up. It was fairly early still, except for the Over-Lander staff, whom I waved to.

I walked over to our Land cruiser to get some supplies, only to see our driver sleeping in the back. I threw my hand up to my mouth in shock, as there could only be one reason he was in there and it wasn’t because it was more comfortable. I ran over to his tent and saw the entire front of his tent was torn to shreds and all his stuff was askew. I felt horrible, as I knew instantly that the poor man was indeed scared out of his own tent by a Giant Forest Hog. I seriously had thought it was a joke when he came to me that night.  And because he didn’t make much of it, I didn’t think twice about it till now! I turned around and he was standing there.

“Oh David, I am so sorry, I had no idea you were being serious last night! Please forgive me, are you ok?” He laughed and said “yes, but I thought you were some big animal trainer and stuntwoman who would come to my rescue!!!” I looked at him and he busted out in huge laughter, I joined him.

He then said, “it was pretty scary trying to get out of my tent while he was trying to get in, I had to throw all the apples and oranges at him, I think he liked that part!”  I could visualize this scene immediately and I started to laugh with him at this point, then remembered when we had come back yesterday that we had dropped off food supplies at his tent and we all had forgotten to put them in the vehicle before we went to bed. We were in the wrong, as you never leave food out, but this was thankfully a lesson well reminded with out anyone getting hurt, except of course our tent.

xxx

Why People should be nice to strangers

I decided to take my daughters and Tiva’s best friend Tanyth (whom I call my adopted daughter, she lives here with her Father, Step Mum and three Brothers) and Seb (a son of a friend who was visiting from the UK) on safari to Ngorongoro Crater ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngorongoro_Conservation_Area) in Tanzania one summer. We all piled in to our old beige Land Cruiser and set off on the road with water, sodas, bitings, music and plenty of excitement.

We set out that day around noon and drove in to Arusha that early evening. This would normally be about a four hour drive, but we were delayed at the boarder because Seb forgot his passport and we had to send him back to Karen with my driver to get his passport and ID. We had to leave them there with money in their pockets to grab a bus back to Nairobi while we carried on on our own. Seb took a bus the next day to Arusha and we collected him at the hotel where we were staying.

There are many stories to tell while we were on this amazing holiday, but the one I am going to tell for now is about what happened when we were camping at the crater itself.

We hired a driver in Arusha to drive us to the crater, as I had never driven there before. We unloaded our gear and put up our tents. We hit the mother lode when we saw an overlander (these are the big trucks that take 15 plus people all together on safari, I call them cattle trucks) pulling up just below where we had set up, this meant they could cook food for us if they felt like it. As there were always leftovers after feeding their guests.

We made friends right away with the driver, guides and cook from the overlander and negotiated a deal as their smaller vehicle had broken down and all their firewood was in it, which lead to our good fortune, as we said we would collect dry wood for them if they fed us. As they were exhausted from a grueling drive and breakdowns along the way they happily agreed. We happily obliged.

After about an hour of collecting wood we started a fire for them and piled up the remaining wood.

My daughter Savanah had been watching how to fire dance via Zoe – Zoe, my friend Dawn’s (the Goddess) daughter, had been learning and Savanah had been watching her and started teaching herself. I had not allowed Savanah to light them for at least a month until I saw she wasn’t hitting herself and Tanyth had been fire dancing for years and convinced me Savanah was ready to light them up. That night was going to be her first time fire dancing with fire!

A few of the people that had arrived with the overlander where not at all the friendliest of sorts, they were loud, disruptive and judgmental of the fine crew who were looking after them and showed no appreciation of where they were. They were also complaining that they had not seen an elephant and blamed it on the guide.

It was dusk and the beautiful orange and red sky was getting darker by the second, Tanyth decided Savanah was ready to light up and give it a go! We were all so excited for her and sat on the lawn and awaited her debut.

With all the grace Savanah possesses she lit up and started to dance in amazing unison with the fireballs blazing by her head. I was so proud of her and we were all clapping and cheering her on.

The not so nice clients of the overlander were sitting nearby and started making very rude comments of how dangerous it was to let a child do that, loud enough to make sure that I could hear. We all ignored them and kept our attention on Savanah who after about 4 minutes was finished performing and smiling from ear to ear. Just around this time and before it was completely dark, I looked up and pointed towards the bush about 20 yards from us, walking out of the bush was this massive six ton male elephant. If I had not been sitting where I was I would not have heard him as he was in stealth mode. By his movement we could tell that he knew these grounds very well and knew exactly where he was going.

The girls looked at me and said should we tell the mean people? I just smiled and said if they are meant to see him they will. We all just sat there and looked on at this magnificent creature for about 5 minutes, moving so gracefully along the path as he then disappeared back in to the bush.

It was one of those moments where you felt blessed to be alive and in the presence of Mother Nature. The mean people never saw him, as they were to busy complaining to one another.

Savanah has been fire dancing for several years now and has been asked on numerous occasions to perform at events through out Nairobi. I am so proud of her.

God Bless and Best Wishes to everyone!

xxx, T