Postcard from Kenya: The Last day
“All I wanted to do was get back to Africa. We had not left it, yet, but when I would wake in the night I would lie, listening, homesick for it already.”
Ernest Hemingway.
The way that flights work in Kenya, your plane back from safari in the Maasai Mara or Tsavo or Amboseli lands in Nairobi at around noon, plus or minus. Your international flight back to the US doesn’t leave until just before midnight, leaving you with 8 hours to kill before heading from the Wilson regional airport to Jomo Kenyatta International.
I couldn’t leave Kenya without visiting the Karen Blixen Museum to see her stone house and coffee farm among the Ngong Hills, just outside of Nairobi. So, that was my first stop. What used to be a 2-hour carriage ride from the city is now a 40 minute drive to the posh suburb of Karen, named after the author.
Except for the wicker furniture missing from the covered terrace, the house looked just like the movie, “Out of Africa”, which was filmed there. The gun rack, the gramophone, the white iron bed with mosquito-netting and the fireplace when Meryl told stories to Robert Redford before bedtime were all just as imagined. The antique coffee sorter was there and you can take a nature walk up to Denys Finch-Hattan’s burial site, about 3 km away. I didn’t hike up to see if lions are still gathering on his gravesite, because I had one more last-minute addition to my itinerary….Shagala Bagala.
The Serian Company has recently leased a circa 1922 Dutch Colonial mansion, which they’re turning into Shagala Bagala, a rum and gin distillery and exclusive-use hideaway. It’s not far from the Karen Blixen Museum, and in fact, the 2 estates were neighbors during the 1920’s. I met back up with fam-host, Wazha, and Serian host, Candice, and was introduced to Raymond, the on-site manager/distiller, and Frazier, the chef.
The white stuccoed house has a wide yard with century-old trees, surrounded by lush tropical foliage. There are comfortable sofas for lounging in the yard and under the covered terrace, where a table was set for lunch.
The interiors are a work-in-progress and, once renovations are completed, there will be 4 bedrooms and baths with a full staff onsite. Guests will be able to rent the entire house for a pre or post-safari stay or, if available, as a day room to fill those 8 hours before your flight home. I fell in love with the place.
We enjoyed cocktails and wine on the grass, followed by a wonderful lunch of grilled tenderloin, barbecued chicken, salad greens from the on-site garden, more cheese, more delicious wine, and homemade ice cream for dessert.
After lunch, we were given a crash course in gin distilling and a tour of the gardens and orchard, where herbs, vegetables, and fruits are being lovingly cultivated by a local gardener. A bit later, Raymond lit a fire in the living room fireplace and we had one last cocktail together. It was the perfect way to end a most memorable trip.