Yoga on Safari Gets Press! Tatler & Drum...

The June issue of East Africa's DRUM magazine has a profile feature about me and my yoga safaris. So tell anyone you think might be interested in trying a yoga retreat to check it out.

Also, the June issue of TATLER Magazine is advertising my Bush and Beach Yoga Safari this September in collaboration with Borana Lodge and Manda Bay. This is an ideal way to experience an African safari with a bit of yoga everyday.  

Namaste!

Nella

Upcoming Yoga Retreats!

June 23-26 Yoga Retreat at Samatian, Lake Baringo. Samatian is a beautiful setting for yoga amidst lapping waves and singing birds. This retreat focuses on yoga and meditation as well as doing bird watching and boat rides and lots of chilling by the pool.

Please contact nella@yogaonsafari.com for more information on these soulful events. 

Internal Transformation through Outstanding Travel!! 

Holidays that Make a Difference

A private sailing dhow cruise, 
A swim with dolphins...

A safari for couples...

a difference... to your life and the lives of others. Your life because if you go to a secluded beach in Lamu and swim with dolphins, you will never be the same. I know. I went to review some private beach houses (7 stunning private homes on a long stretch of beach, all with gorgeous views, pools and roof-top terraces that literally leave the jaw agape). The owner whisked me onto her traditional dhow for a sundowner sail and booked me in to swim with dolphins the next day. We came across about 30 dolphins in several schools. We jumped into the warm water and snorkelled with them for over two hours. I had NO IDEA that swimming with dolphins was this amazing. It is one of my life's highlights for sure. There is something about listening to the dolphins sonar and chatting underwater and then seeing them come to the surface to investigate you that makes you feel that all is right with yourself and with the world. The only problem is that I can't hold my breath as long as a dolphin. Otherwise it was perfect. At one point I was swimming sideways, about a foot away from a dolphin who was also swimming sideways looking at me. We went to the surface together, took a breath and went back down to swim along together. Bliss.  If you want to participate in an upcoming yoga retreat, 

In May, Loisaba Lodge in Laikipia is offering a very good special yoga package. The idea is to convince couples to come and enjoy all the fun of the bush (riding, walking, massage, swimming, watching elephant, zebra, giraffe, lion and leopard) while having the opportunity to do a bit of meditation and yoga to deepen the experience even more. 

The monthly weekends at the foot of Mt. Kenya continue and offer the perfect respite and restoration to the body and mind. Mukima House is gorgeous and so comfy and cozy for these weekends that no one ever wants to leave. 

So whether you are living in Nairobi or in California,  this is the opportunity to have a quality holiday that enriches your life and helps to keep so, so many people here in Kenya going. It's a beautiful holiday choice to make for yourself and for many others indeed.

A Flying Safari to Kalacha

Think the border of Kenya and Ethiopia....

Think English Patient.....Think Doctor Zhivago....
Think vast expanses of sand running from the North of Kenya into Ethiopia. Think an invisible sand airstrip that takes five passes to find. Think hot wind, camels, herders, goats, palms and thousands upon thousands of sand grouse flying in at dawn and dusk to drink. The male birds soak their breast feathers in water and fly back to the nest to give their young a drink of water.  
This is Kalacha, an oasis on the Chalbi Desert. After flying over nothing for an hour, a green island appears. As I buzz the camp and the nearby mission town, the camels and goats scatter. Finally I land and taxi through the trees (literally!) to the camp. An old man from the Gabra tribe, known as the "camel nomads" of Northern Kenya politely tells me that there is a big wide (OBVIOUS!) mission strip just over there.  I smile and thank him, feeling absolutely ELATED that 1. we found the strip finally and 2. I did quite a nice landing if I say so myself. 

The instructions had been to look for "a biggish tree on the left and a pretty normal tree on the right and land between them. But don't land at the beginning because there is a hump that will get you airborne again. If you get it wrong and DO land on the threshold and get airborne on the hump, add power and settle down again and DON'T worry that the strip starts to go downhill and you feel like the palm trees are racing towards you, you'll be fine." Hmmm. Quite a lot to think about for someone with only a 120 hours in a plane. And that didn't include thinking about the HEAT and the WIND. 

This was my biggest flying safari so far and it was one of the "must do" trips in Kenya. We departed Greenpark on Lake Naivasha, walking down to the strip and loading the plane with all the gourmet food, wine and beer we would need for our "self-catering" trip. We flew to Nanyuki at the foot of Mt. Kenya and loaded the plane TO THE GILLS with fuel. We took off and set course for 003 degrees - pretty much straight North. We passed the beautiful Matthews Range and then the Ndoto Mountains, looking for strips marked on the map, timing progress and flying first by dead reckoning with a gps for backup. After the Ndoto's we came across a sand storm as the wide desert opened up before us. I tried to go around it but saw that it was never ending in width but not too high. I climbed up well-above it for fear of dust clogging up my beloved single engine. That worked fine and soon we could see the end of the storm and a clear path ahead. 

Once the landing at Kalacha was done, and the taxi through the trees, a cold beer in the swimming pool that lies half in and half out of the little lodge was in order. We had friends joining in their plane and soon we heard the hum of their engine and breathed another sigh of relief now that the rest of the food and the Champagne had arrived. 

Two days at Kalacha camp were spent watching the herdsmen bring their goats and camels to drink (and watch us). We also took walks around on the desert and went to visit a beautiful little church at the mission town with frescoes by an Ethiopian in the traditional Christian style of that country. 

We left Kalacha in floods of laughter when I told quite an ancient Gabra man passing by who wanted to look into the cockpit that I was the pilot: "No, Bwana is!" he insisted (Bwana meaning the MAN of course!) "No, it's me, really, me, not Bwana" I told him in Swahili. He seemed convinced and began laughing with his whole body, waving to me as we taxied back through the trees to the strip and took off for Lake Turkana. Known as Lake Rudolph in Colonial times and called the "Jade Sea", Turkana is home to lots of Leakey family research as well as lots of famous photo shoots by Peter Beard. The winds are legendary and the landing at Loiyangalani strip was into a 30 kt headwind that caused me to fly again just before touch down. Happily the strip is LOOONG. Word is this strip has been used for access to everything north of Kenya and there are supposedly plenty of spies here! From Turkana we flew down the Seguta Valley, considered one of Kenya's most stunning flights. The landscape varies from gorgeous lakes teeming with flamingo to lush rivers to four story high sand dunes to canyons and flows and everything else related to relatively recent volcanic activity. We flew all the way down the valley taking photos and changing our minds about driving the Seguta with the 100 degree temperatures up high in the ventilated cabin. 

We landed at Lake Baringo, home of hippos and crocs and the most peaceful still water in Kenya. Our friends collected us at the strip, drove us to their home on the shores where we had a swim ("We've got a quick meeting, go for a swim to refresh, just have a good look first to be sure there aren't any crocs.") We had two swims and LOTS of good looks around. After a relaxing lunch and snooze on the lawn to let the heat of the day pass, we climbed back into our faithful Bravo Papa Kilo and sailed home just before dusk. 

It was 6 hours of flying time. 594 nautical miles. Three new airstrips. I landed back at Greenpark with that rare feeling of having got the landing oh so right. After a big hug to BPK, we went home, toasted ourselves for a great flying safari and fell into bed.

TUSCANY IN MAY

What better way to enjoy the dolce vita than on a private villa holiday in Tuscany. Relaxing hours to learn some Italian, try some wine, learn to make gnocchi. Tranquil days strolling in the Italian way through towns off the beaten path, experiencing Italy as if you lived there. Perfect late-Spring weather for sitting outside in the lasting evening light chatting with friends. 

It's the Complete Italian Experience. 

Please visit www.italywithnella.com for more information. 

Tanti saluti,

Nella

In the Sunlight of the Mountain...

Mt. Kenya is over 17,000 ft. high. It has three peaks: Batian, Nelian and Lenana - in order of descending height. The biggest challenge of getting to Lenana is altitude. Batian and Nelian require technical climbing.  Mt. Kenya is a national park and a truly wild place - with roaming lion and elephant.  The micro-climate created by the mountain makes the town of Nanyuki, nestled at its base,  a wonderful place to live.  

This past weekend, I led 8 women on a yoga retreat in this area and, as you can see from the above photo, the mountain presided over us quite clearly. (And I mean this literally for it is very normal for the peaks to peek out of cloud in the morning and then disappear for the whole day.) For three days, we did yoga, meditation, ate amazing food, chatted, swam and got massages with the mountain shining before us. 

One wonders if this might be why the retreat was so fun and meaningful for us all. The mountain certainly played its role. So did Mukima, the gorgeous private house we were in. Mukima was built in the 1930s by an English brigadier who ran a big cattle ranch all around it. Leslie Duckworth has now restored the house to become the perfect blend of old elegance and perfect comfort: in other words, it has great energy!

The theme of the weekend was: "When the winds of change begin to blow, some people build walls, other people build windmills."

Our day went like this:

...Guided meditation at 7:30 followed by yoga on the veranda. Breakfast on the veranda, with home made jams, meusli and yogurt as well as virtually anything else one might fancy. The chunk of freee time after breakfast was spent by the pool and having massage and other treatments. We gathered under a beautiful Yellow Fever Tree to discuss some ideas around the theme and then returned to our shaded veranda for a delicious lunch: lots of different salads, home made pate' and freshly baked foccaccia.  As the heat of the day cooled, we took a walk around Mukima's lake,  home to some of Africa's best birds: Crowned Cranes, Spur-winged Geese, Sacred Ibis, Egrets, Yellow Billed Ducks and more. Afterwards, in a grove of trees with the dappled light of early evening, we did walking meditation followed by yoga class - and dance.... The last part of the day was spent on the upstairs deck facing The Mountain as the sun went down. We were all in great spirits for a great dinner and a cozy chat by the roaring fire.

It was Yoga on Safari and it was so much more. 

A Samburu Christmas...

This is my second Christmas at beautiful Sarara camp. (See the yoga photo of me above on the rim of the infinity pool - and don't miss the elephants below me at the watering hole!) My family tradition growing up couldn't be further from this new way of spending Christmas and so it has been surprising for me to see just how much I've come to love it. Instead of a big family gathering (which is hard since all of my family are in California), I now pass Christmas with my beloved and quite a few "strangers".  At Sarara Camp, in the dramatic Matthews Range of Northern Kenya, the soul is nurtured in any season: elephants roam freely and comfortably, ancient cycads as old as Christ grow in steep, orchid-filled ravines and Samburu tribesmen dig wells in the river bed and sing special songs from beneath the earth to call in their cattle, camels and goats to drink from tree trunk troughs. 

This year, I arrived in the trusty four-seater Cessna 182 I fly with James and prudently landed at the nearby Namanyak strip since the Sarara strip has a somewhat nasty reputation and is not recommended for a new pilot like myself.  From Namanyak, it is a 25-minute game drive through dry bush filled with Acacia trees and oh so many beautiful birds - for which I often yell "Stop!". We settled into our tent which has a private plunge pool made of natural rock that invited us in immediately. The temperature at Sarara is pleasantly warm both day and night. It is hot under the sun and the pool is welcomed but at night there is a nice coolness to the air that lends itself to an after-dinner tea or drink under the stars with at most a light sweater. 

From our plunge pool that first morning, we watched a big troop of baboon come in to drink. A female baboon had lost all of her hair and was completely naked in a very human sort of way. It was a first to see this and quite fascinating - especially because she didn't seem to be unhealthy at all and because the rest of the troop took special care of her, making room for her to drink and treating her with respect.  

It was Christmas eve that day so we decided to go for a long walk in the afternoon and end up somewhere nice to have a cold bottle of champagne while the sun set. Mark, our Samburu guide who we know from previous trips and who is truly a lovely and knowledgeable man, guided us through the bush, pointing out footprints and birds and the way an elephant had dragged its trunk along the sand in playfulness. We also had an "askari" or guard who carried a rifle in the unlikely event that we surprised something and had to fire a warning shot. (In all my many walks in the African bush I am insistent that an armed guard accompany for safety and yet have never even come close to needing him.) 

As the sun faded and the stars came out, the three of us entered into discussions that really covered all areas of the meaning of life. Mark told us about the Samburu belief that the dark sky is the skin of God and the stars are God's light peeking through to us. He explained that it wasn't always like this - that God didn't used to hide behind his skin but that one man thought he could build a ladder and climb up to God and in his hubris caused God to retreat. - An Adam and Eve type myth in Samburu form. 

Mark also explained that the planet Mars (whose flashing reds and greens are TRULY amazing to watch in this pitch black African sky) is a planet that Samburu are not aloud to look at when it is directly above them or else wars and strife will come their way. (I don't think they even knew that Mars was the god of war when they established this.) They can look when the planet is ascending or descending in the sky but not when it is directly overhead. Looking at the stars with my absolutely fantastic Swarovsky binoculars was a big treat for Mark who had never had such a close look before.

After our discussions we found ourselves sitting in the complete darkness and decided to drive home, arriving for dinner with the others at 9 p.m. It was a beautiful and soulful Christmas Eve.

The following morning, oh so early to beat the wind, the manager of Sarara and I went back out to the Namanyak strip to get my plane and try flying into Sarara. Piers is a pilot himself and so he sat next to me and gave me all the good advice he could about how to land on this tricky uphill strip with a tail wind and no chance of going round in case of error. I did it and when I shut down, Piers said, "Happy Christmas". It was a good way to start the day.

After a morning swim, James and I went to open our presents at our tent. Just as we began, two elephants walked up just in front of our little wall and began drinking from the water hole. We sat smiling in silence until they ventured onwards to the big watering hole where they could have a bath as well as another fresh drink (and probably scare off some insistent warthogs). 

Before Christmas lunch, we all gathered under a shady tree and had a Samburu ceremony. The camp guests (about 6 of us) and the staff (about 20) all prayed and sang and clapped together. Amongst the staff were members of the Samburu tribe and the Kikuyu tribe and songs were sung in each of their languages as well as in Swahili and English. 

English tradition took hold after this tearful and beautiful ceremony which one must really experience for oneself to grasp. We had Pimm's by the pool and then a full roast turkey lunch complete with trimmings, crackers and even some fun stringy spray that the four-year old American guest from New York City really loved. 

Naps, a bit of yoga, reading and chilling filled the day until we all gathered again for a walk in the cool hours of the afternoon. We came across a big bull elephant just across a dry river bed that was working very hard to eat a vine off of a tree - not easy! It seemed he might just fell the tree to get the vine in the end! The poor eyesight of elephants only calms you a little when you are standing on your own humble legs just feet away from the largest land animal. The wind was in our favour (i.e. blowing towards us and not towards him) so he didn't smell us but he did raise his trunk a few times to check us out. We walked on to find the rest of the herd, about 25 bulls all calmly drinking in the riverbed. Just beyond them we came across a roaring campfire with chairs all around and a full bar set up and we all had our surprise Christmas drinks just down river from the elephants having theirs. 

It was a glorious Christmas day.