Kenya memories.

It was a nurturing way to grow up in Nairobi, Kenya. I remember carefree days of endless summer like weather. The temperature was always mild. Daytime would be warm and cool evenings. We had two seasons, dry and rainy. We had pomegranate trees in our yard, along with guava and mango trees. I used to spend time sitting in the pomegranate trees, or under the house. During the harvest season of pomegranates, my brothers, sisters and I would spend Sunday afternoons with our parents in our yard eating the seeds mixed with salt, ground red cayenne pepper. Yum! It sounds strange, but it's all so delicious.

Once a year my parents would pack all eight of us into our tiny little Fiat and make a trek to Mombasa, a beach town on the east coast of Africa. The journey was always memorable. We would start at seven in the morning and be in Mombasa by teatime-- 4p.m. I think Mombasa is about three hundred miles from Nairobi. I don't remember the road being paved, it was a dirt road with gravel. My father always drove fast.  I wonder where I get my need for speed when I am driving?! I remember a time when we had to come to a complete stop because, there in the middle of the road, an elephant sat. You don't honk at an elephant. You wait until the elephant decides to move. Kind of like the buffalo who sat in the middle of the Al-Can hi-way.

This was all before the elephants were being hunted close to extinction. It was towards the end of the golden era of the wildlife of Africa. Before the animals all had to be herded into preserves. Before the time of wildlife safaris. You took your chances while you were on this road from Nairobi to Mombasa. It was beyond awesome!

I remember the white sand beaches of Mombasa, I didn't know how to swim, so all I did was put my toe in the ocean. I could not believe how large the ocean was. It was terrifying and awe inspiring at the same time. Since I came from a modest Indian family, I didn't own a swim suit. I wanted to have one of course. I got that swim suit as an adult and I also learnt how to swim. I am the only child of my parents who can swim. I took lessons after being married, living in Shawnee, Oklahoma. I was determined to swim in as many oceans as I could. So far I have managed to put my toe in many a different body of water. It's interesting the paths our lives take. Born in Africa, raised on three different continents and then finally making my home here in America. I feel blessed to have led such a life.