Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare blog

I have been in Kenya since just before Christmas, combining family festivities on our small farm here with some botanical research and field trips. So I must begin this entry by saying a big Thank You to all those who kindly sent messages of concern after the turbulent elections here. I’m pleased to say that we haven’t been anywhere near the pockets of tribal unrest, which have been in far-flung areas of Western province and in some slum areas of Nairobi. The international media painted a picture of an entire nation in flames, which has been very far from my experience travelling around the country. I have only seen calm good humour from those around us – coupled with great sadness for those affected by the localised riots. Everyone here hopes and prays for a swift and peaceful electoral resolution, but in the meantime, fears the damage has been done to the country’s economy which relies so heavily on tourism. Each employed Kenyan feeds 10 other people and the Kenyan Association of Tour Operators estimates the industry’s woes will affect around a million people, plunging more families here into hardship. To put the awful headlines into perspective, there hasn’t been a single incident involving a foreigner or tourist since the crisis began, yet the holiday and travel cancellations has already lost the country $1 billion in the last 10 days. Kenyans are an incredibly industrious and entrepreneurial people but this will be a very difficult time for them and a slow road to economic recovery.

On a happier note, I have had wonderful trips to stunningly beautiful parts of this lovely country, travelling firstly north to Samburu, home of the eponymous Samburu tribe, some of the most remarkable people in all Africa. I stayed with friends from the UK at a new eco-lodge called Sasaab, perched high in the hills in the middle of what seems like nowhere. Sasaab is one of a new breed of eco-friendly co-operatives, where the Samburu lease the land to investors, who in turn run an eco-friendly holiday sanctuary. The revenue is shared and the Samburu use these essential funds to pay for their children’s education and medical care. You can see pictures of this extraordinary Kenyan hideaway at www.tamimiea.com and I highly recommend it (and the other eco-lodges featured) as a holiday of a lifetime with a real difference, that makes a difference.

One of my trips involved travelling by camel train and I visited a Samburu village, where I was greeted by women dressed in colourful beads who danced, sang and clapped as I arrived. They put beaded necklaces over my head as a welcome gesture and made me dance a strange neck-bobbing jig with them before showing me how they live in this extraordinarily harsh but beautiful landscape. My translator (a very fit Samburu warrior called Matthew) explained how the women do 95% of all the work (nothing new there then), including building the low huts out of twigs, sticks and goat skins. They tend and milk the goats, bring up the children, cook and clean as well as make beaded bracelets and necklaces for the women and warriors to wear, as well as to sell to travellers like me. As for the males, the young boys herd the goats between grazing; in their late teens and early twenties they become warriors (watching over their cattle, protecting their community) and in later years they are the village elders who sit under trees playing games and deciding important tribal matters. Not much grows in this arid landscape, although they do use the medicinal properties of the Leleshwa bush, which has antiseptic properties similar to tea tree. In some areas, this pale green leaf is being collected and distilled into a therapeutic essential oil, and I’m bringing some home for us to investigate further. They also use twigs from the toothbrush tree to clean their teeth and massage gums, as these have useful antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties to prevent gum disease. The vast Samburu landscape is coloured a deep brownish red from the earth, with dots of Leleshwa green and the wait-a-bit thorn bush (which gets its name from the annoying way it snags skin and clothing as you pass by, causing you to ‘wait a bit’ as you carefully unhook yourself from its prickles). Every now and then there is a vibrant splash of shocking pink flowers on a Desert Rose bush, which looks very beautiful but is actually deadly poisonous: It’s what the Samburu warriors use to make poison-tipped arrows. It causes instant paralysis, which I guess makes it a tribal version of Botox.