Experience Africa as few tourists do by backpacking in Kenya. With the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), come celebrate a warrior graduation. Or find lion tracks outside my tent. Try talking to a potato farmer’s kids who had never seen a wazungu (white person). And hearing a charging water buffalo ahead on our path is something never to forget. I went to learn outdoor skills. But I also had a chance to meet another culture on its own terms, and come away better for it.
Backpacking in Kenya
The National Outdoor Leadership School had one of its programs in East Africa. I didn’t know anyone who had been to Africa. I was looking for a big change and a backpacking trip to Kenya sounded like just the thing I was looking for.
The course was full of amazing things to do and learn. It listed mountain climbing, photo safari, backpacking, and sailing down the Kenyan coast. Who wouldn’t want to see Mount Kenya or hike with Maasai warriors? And taking the night train to Mombasa sounds like the stuff of travel novels.
We would see a Kenya that few tourists get a chance to. I would witness a warrior graduation, find lion tracks outside my tent, and get invited to a wedding. A farmer, whose children had never seen a white person, would gift us potatoes. And hearing a charging water buffalo ahead on our path is something I’ll never forget. NOLS gave me a chance of a lifetime to meet another culture on its own terms.
You will read the journal I kept during my trip to this East African nation. This was my first trip anywhere abroad and I wanted to remember it for years to come. You will read about beautiful days and spectacular sunsets, my fellow students and instructors, the people from many tribes, wild animals like lions and elephants, blistering heat and bone-chilling cold, and sailing along in a dhow. So, this is my story. Enjoy!
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