Camping and the Great Outdoors Week on Taste Safari!

 My life would be insanely, dangerously, dull if I couldn’t escape to the great outdoors!

I’m alive and pulsing with life when I soak in the sunshine, fill my lungs with fresh, unpolluted air and connect with the wonders of nature. In Kenya, I am so utterly blessed with an Eden-like natural world, from snow peaked mountains that sweep up to kiss the whisper of clouds to deep, cold rivers winding their trout filled bellies through dense, indigenous forests. We have endless stretches of pristine beaches that lure you into swimming in one of the cleanest oceans in the world and vast crocodile infested lakes that unfold new mysteries every day. Our land is an ancient geographical paradise, with extinct volcanoes that still contain a plethora of life in their now silent craters. The exotic wildlife, that we all strive to protect, are an ancient civilisation that were here before our time.

My adventure with Taste Safari, is because of all of these wonders that Kenya has shown me my whole life. It is a country with a strong heartbeat, that pulses and breathes through it’s natural treasures. Love this country for what it has, for few can say they live in such an extraordinary ecological paradise.

So my first post of the week, brings you a childhood memory of family trips to Lake Naivasha – one that every Kenyan has visited at least once if not a million times in their life … enjoy the start to Roadtrip Recipes week!

Piquant ‘Lake Naivasha’ Pork Chops

This recipe creates a lovely aroma that stirs childhood memories of gloriously crispy pork chops heaped onto my mothers colourful ceramic dinnerware. We would indulge greedily in these, a must to be eaten with fingers of course, accompanied by Chunky Crispy Peppery Potatoes and a cucumber garlic raita.

I remember these as the foil wrapped treats to tuck into on our frequent family day trips from our home in Nairobi, to the country’s proud and glorious Lake Naivasha, nestling lazily amongst flower farms and strawberry fields. The most exciting part of the trip was stopping at the viewpoint overlooking the magnificent Rift Valley – a glorious example of the country’s rugged and diverse landscapes. The breathtaking scenery on the approach via road or rail from Nairobi will take you up gently through the highlands and bring you suddenly to the edge of the Rift Valley, which then drops away to a ribbon of green in the vast valley floor below.

You’ll just know when you’ve reached the famous viewpoint as you see the ramshackle kiosks hanging precariously on the edge of the worlds second largest natural rift valley, as if suddenly about to creak over and sail into the abyss below.

Probably the world’s best salesmen and women, you’re sure to end up leaving with either a natural sheepskin rug, an elaborately Masai beaded ornament or some trinket or the other found at the bottom of your bag some months later.

Naivasha, a corruption of the Maasai word ‘E-na-iposha,’ meaning heaving waters, was one of the first areas in Kenya to be settled by Europeans and one of the key hunting grounds of the hedonistic ‘Happy Valley’ set. Of course the Champagne is still drunk there, but by a more diverse society that has seen the area flourish with sprawling strawberry and flower farms.

The waters have a colourful history and from 1937-1950 were Nairobi’s principle airport. The Lake was the landing strip for the Catalina Flying Boats, on a regular service to and from London. These massive amphibious aircraft were luxuriously fitted and appointed, and considered the ultimate in elite air travel. On arrival in Naivasha, near the Country Club, passengers would alight and take buses to Nairobi, while transit passengers would attend a game of polo waiting for the plane to refuel.

The Lake still hosts a handful of country clubs where much of the original architecture remains, although most of my childhood trips were fun filled day long barbeques by the Lake side.

We had many many wonderful summer picnics by Lake Naivasha, one of Kenya’s  many famous wildlife rich lakes, where, as many other families, we would pull up right to the edge of the lake and set up a little makeshift day camp –  a myriad of cooler boxes, mismatched camping chairs, freshly baked French baguettes, old ice cream boxes full of crisp samosas and moorish cassava morsels for us to nibble on whilst the barbeques smoked away. We were a loud rabble of kids, second and third cousins all piled into a rattling four wheel drive and finally released on arrival to race down to the Lakeside, with parents, uncles and aunties shouting behind us to stay within sight. Friends were made quickly with other picknicking families and the day was over sooner than we could have wished, and we sulkily dragged ourselves back into the cars for the sleepy drive home.

Many families escape the hubbub of the noisy cities to the many lakes and picturesque picnic spots only a short hours drive from Nairobi. It still isn’t unusual, on a scorching hot day on one of the many scenic country roads, to see a large family parked up under the shade of a flowering Jacaranda tree tucking into a myriad of snacks en route to any one of the many picturesque picnic locations.

The outdoor lifestyle is second nature to all Kenyans and weekends in particular, exploring new hideouts, are a common weekend activity. Many families, over the years, have purchased plots of land, some in remote stunning areas surrounded only by the local farming population, left protected only by a rickety fence and frequented only by a local pastoral farmer and their grazing flock. These two to three acre plots are generally a relatively short hour to two hours drive away from the capital, perhaps kept in the hope for a future second home or the visionary property developer, but as they sit empty become the perfect getaway sanctuary to escape with family and friends to.

Again, what is just so unique to Kenya is the ability to be so close with real nature and the wild outdoors without the constriction of a publically run facility. Being able to swim in wild natural streams and clamber across untamed natural rock outcrops to reveal a majestic view is so extraordinary in the experience, that the joy of it is deeply etched as part of a wonderful, privelidged childhood. Of course, trying to preserve these wonderful opportunities to enjoy Kenya’s rugged beauty must be a priority if we ever want our children and theirs furthermore, to recreate those innocent, free tumbling picnic days.

And now for those gorgeous pork chops…..

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