This one time, 5 ladies decided to Hakuna their Tatas.

Kenya 2012
I hear the drums echoing tonight.......

Sigh, before I had travelled to Kenya, I had done my fair share of wanderlusting around the world. However it wasn’t until after my month stint in the glorious African country that I understood what people mean when they say ‘I left my heart in (insert countries name here).  Africa stole a chunk of my heart.

There is too much to write about my time there, and my trusty computer does not have enough juice to do it at the moment, so I will start off by explaining how 4 Aussies and a Canadian managed to end up topless watching a glorious African sunset.

Well there really is little to say, we were ending our month long expedition, had gone a little crazy from the heat, the 10pm early nights, seclusion, really cheap Smirnoff  and no doubt were mesmerized by the glorious sight that we had set our eyes on. One of the two boys with us at the latter stage of the trip was our go to, dependable photographer and after taking many photos of us clothed, suggested we whip our sweaty shirts and sports bras off and recreate a sort of Pink Floyd ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ homage in front of the Serengeti. This took little to no persuasion and within seconds, as the rest of our, how could I say this nicely ah ‘square’ group looked on in horror with shaking heads and dulled whispers, our tops were off. I think we even heard some trumpeting from appreciative elephants. This series of photos, which has been called everything from ‘Helllllloooo Africa’ to ‘Tits out for the Lions’ was the perfect goodbye to Kenya, and perfect souvenir shared with four righteous babes. It will forever be framed in my home, and I no doubt will be explaining to my future children why Mummy is in the nudy on the rock from the Lion King, Hakuna Matata.

Things to get you in the mood. 

(Format stolen from the Lonely Planet 'The Travel Book' with my own spin).

Read: ‘The White Maasai’ by Corinne Hofmann tells the story of a German woman who becomes enamoured by a strapping Maasai warrior while holidaying in Kenya with her boyfriend. She ends up ditching her boyf, travelling across the country in search and marrying him. It is also a movie and is based on the true story of the author who had a similar romance and a daughter with a warrior.

Listen: Obviously anyone who has been to Kenya would know the ‘Jambo Bwana’ ditty. It is ridiculous how catchy the song is and how long it sticks in your head.

Watch: I found it hard to watch Disney’s ‘The Lion King’ after returning; it got me too emotional and nostalgic (absolute sook). Another one to watch is the 2010 film ‘The First Grader’ directed by Justin Chadwick. It is the story of an 84 year old former Mau Mau freedom fighter who, once education becomes more accessible fights for his right to have the education he could never afford. It is such an uplifting film, which touched a nerve for me, as I was able to see first hand how much some Kenyans value education. More on that later.

Eat: We had lovely and hilarious Kenyan chefs cook for us, I couldn’t name a particular dish, which I loved more than the others, but I did love the odd onion ring. It was typical hearty carb heavy food to sustain us while we worked.

Drink: Hands down, the only thing I drank other than water and the odd cocktail was Tusker beer. I have many the souvenir shirt to prove it.

In a phrase: ‘La la salama’ which means goodnight in Kiswahili.