The below post was written on my drive to the Omo Valley. I had the unrealistic expectations that I could blog along the way. This was my third trip to the Omo Valley in 13 months and over 15 trips to Africa, yet is was the most challenging journey I have ever had, yet it was also the greatest experience in Africa yet… again I say that is the magic of Africa… it always delivers and tops itself.. or maybe that is my extreme love and passion for the continent, people and wildlife….. Although this was written weeks ago now as I now sit at a beautiful lodge in Tanzania awaiting my group to arrive tomorrow, I still want to share these thoughts with you. I have so many new wonderful stories of this past 16 days in the Omo and although I will not share them in sequence, the order that they happened, I look forward to sharing the stories and photographs as I continue my travels in Africa over the next 6+ weeks……
Sat Feb 4
Driving through the beauty of the hills of Ethiopia scattered with thatched roofed huts I am deeply filled with gratitude in having the courage to take risks and experience the things that enrich my life. We pass through little towns where the quaint thatch roofs are being replaced with new metal ones, modern and less expensive. It is on these long drives through Africa, a place that fills my soul, where I am at peace. It would be hard not to be when surrounded by such beauty in a place where life, though more physically hard perhaps, is simple and enjoyable. This is changing as the modern world pushes it way through to these raw places. Tarmac roads are under construction, cell towers are popping up, motorbikes are seen more and trucks are bringing in the trinkets of desire which only money can buy. The world is changing so quickly I wish I could push a button and selfishly stop it for just another decade so I can still get to all those wonderful untouched places before the innocence is lost. But I am also glad to see these changes making the local peoples lives better. My wish is for everyone to experience these extraordinary places that can change your thoughts and change your life.
Many times we look back in life and say I wish I would have known that now…. Well I can look back at my old life in the fast track of the Fashion world 60 hrs a week but very success and realize I was missing the whole point of life. Having an adventure, experiencing something extraordinary, meeting fascinating new people whose lives are so different than your own, and really living your life. As I say often these days…. creating stories for the rocking chair. This does not come without a price and extreme sacrifice but later in life when I am sitting on the porch with a cold one looking back on life, it is not the grind of a career I will be fondly thinking of but of the many drives on dirt roads I drove through Africa and all the extraordinary people I met that enriched my experience in Life.
Join me sometime, I promise it is not a regret you will have.
Comments are open and I would love to hear from you.
You make a wonderful point with this posting! Many people move through their days on auto pilot and seem to be Extras in other people’s movies. I believe we should all sieze the opportunity to produce, direct and star in our own life stories, just as you have. Reading about the adventures of others is not nearly as enriching or satisfying as having our own adventures and placing our hearts at the heart of things… and time is short – we need to just get up and go do it!!! Whatever the “it” happens to be. Thank you for being so good about sharing your life with others – Old Bwana
I can’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy when I read about your trips to Africa. I was with you on your first trip to that beautiful continent and I, too, was changed forever by it. I have only been able to go back one time, but I plan to return and teach there one day.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful thoughts and photographs.
I see that you adhere to my philosophy! Life is a journey. Great photos.
Do you wonder sometimes if we do them a favor by exposing those native tribes to the civilization and making them realize and long for the items they don’t have? They were leaving for centuries the same way as their ancestors. Yes, the natural selection was brutal, no hygiene or modern medicine. Yes, they did not have access to education. But why would we think they need it? Why everybody has to live their lives according to like “Western Civilization” rules, with electricity, Internet, but also stress, insomnia, high blood, pressure, obesity?
Iza, I would love it they were left to live as they always have been, but the world is changing at a rapid pace and one that cannot be stopped. What is lovely is seeing the tribes adapt the western world as they see fit and still keeping the strongest values of their culture. What is tragic is the destruction of the modern world taking their lands and using for there own greed and gain….it’s complicated, like so many of the issues in Kenya.