Back to the Earth
Oh man. Africa. First it was the people and then of course the elephants, the lions, the giraffes...but it was marveling at our EARTH that just broke me open. The colors of the sky, the magnitude of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and the endless colors of plants and animals.
While there, I had the privilege of staying at the Mbahe Farm Cottages and it was one of the highlights of my trip. I arrived after a very long and frustrating travel day. I flew a small airline called Precision Air from Zanzibar to Kilimanjaro. That entire leg of the trip was a disaster, and my driver said it is not "Precision Air," locals call it "Precision Error". After 5 hours in the beating sun in Dar es Saalem, I finally made it back to Kilimanjaro right at sunset. I was picked up and drove about 2.5 hours on a paved road, then turned onto a very bumpy, jagged, and steep Jeep trail for another 30 minutes. It is now pitch black. When we stopped, I was met by a porter with a head lamp on who carried my big bag and me with my little back pack and we hiked in the dark another 20 minutes up a path to the cottages. We arrived at a metal gate and it opened, and three lovely humans sat me down and proceeded to wash my hands with warm water and give me some tomato tree juice (didn't know what a tree tomato was - it is delicious). The next morning I woke up for the big reveal to see where I was. Remember that scene in "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" where after Rick Moranis accidentally shrinks his kids super tiny now they find themselves in the backyard trying to make their way to their house? It felt like that. The trees, the plants and the sky are vaguely familiar, but here everything was enormous. I felt very small.
I think it is good to be reminded of just how big the world is. Problems and little annoyances are minimized. The pure goodness of people has an opportunity to be seen. Being in NATURE reminds us to stay humble, it exposes us to the vastness and the beauty of the natural world, greater and older than ourselves. Whether surrounded by mountains, ocean, or forest, we realize we we are vulnerable in the vast universe.
Practicing and teaching yoga while traveling, on retreats, has become a passion. This Fall in Italy will be my 25th retreat I have been fortunate enough to facilitate and nature plays a huge role. There is nothing more exciting than seeing a group of people come together in a new place, to experience the energetic arc of a week, and to share the wonders of what nature has to offer. Maybe you would like to join?
XO
JK