The Maasai Mara National Reserve is the ancestral pastoral home of the Maasai tribe, with open grasslands favored by large cats — lions, cheetahs, leopards — and dotted with trees. As we drove into the park from the Wilson airport, the very first thing we saw was a leopard in a tree with its impala dinner hanging in the limbs below. And, we weren’t even on a game drive yet!
Because of its proximity to the Jomo Kenyatta airport, we returned to the Nairobi Tented Camp before flying back to the States. It felt full circle, returning to our starting point. By now, after more than 20 game drives, we felt like “old hands” and the camp was familiar…yet, this last day had a sad quality to it. Luckily, a few things happened to lift our spirits.
My feelings about returning home from South America were quite complicated, a strange mix of sadness and anticipation, of struggle and apprehension. I expected to stay with the group for four months but came back home after three. I was clear about this decision and yet apprehensive about re-adjusting to my previous life. My trip so completely consumed me, I was so immersed in day-to-day challenges that home now seemed distant and even strange. This is how it all fell out.
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accidental goddess 