Out of Africa

O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
Psalm 104:24

We walked where they walked. Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, and the entire cast gathered on Crescent Island in Lake Naivasha years ago for the making of Out of Africa.

The lake lies in the Rift Valley, about an hour’s drive north of Kijabe, and the crescent-shaped island is part of an ancient crater rim that is now covered with vegetation and provides habitat for birds and other wildlife.

The animals were brought here at that time for the filming of the movie,

and then were left to make the island their home. Since there are no predators, we took a boat and walked the length of the island alongside giraffe, wildebeest, waterbuck, gazelle, and other African wildlife.

Kathy and I have been on safari before, but always in a vehicle. This was different, and rather special. It’s amazing to stand a few yards from a towering giraffe, approach a herd of gazelles until they scamper away, and walk across open terrain with zebra, wildebeest, buffalo, and giraffe.

We hired Elisha, who has a taxi business at Kijabe, and invited a few friends to join us – Stephany, Barbara (visiting us from Mongolia), Dawn (a visiting medical student), and Lee and his wife Mary (Lee’s a visiting pathologist). The boat leaves from the Lake Naivasha Country Club, an historic resort dating back to colonial days. During the 1930’s and 40’s the “flying boats” of the Imperial Airways carried passengers from London to Durban, South Africa, with stopovers in Malta and Lake Naivasha. We splurged a bit and had an elegant buffet lunch outside in the garden, beneath a canopy of acacia trees.

After lunch, we walked down to the waterfront and caught the boat to the island. Sadly, the boat launch is quite a ways further out than it used to be, due to declining water levels. The drought has taken its toll, and the Rift Valley lakes such as Lake Naivasha have dropped several feet in recent years, disturbing the natural habitat for hippos and flamingos.

Once on the island, we took our time and spread out, enjoying the wildlife and the warm sunshine. It was a good break from the cold wind and daily routine of Kijabe. We’re glad they left the animals behind when the filming was over!

- Doug