Happy Birthday to me

Most of us will remember the milestone Birthdays, I still can recall what I did for my 18th, 21st, 25th, 30th and 40th Birthdays in great detail. But of course the ones in between are harder to seperate. This year for me though, will be as memorable as any of those major milestones.
It was the year I found myself in a remote village on the foothills of Mt Kilimanjaro with 24 people from all corners of the globe. We have come together with a common love of nature and and acceptance of the simplicity of life here.

We are sleeping in tents with thin mattresses, there is very little connection with the outside world via the internet and our transport that we spend up to 10 hours a day driving in is not exactly comfortable. Yet, the human spirit is still so evident. We get excited to find a hot shower, toilet with toilet paper, hand wash is a pure gift and a cold beer is enough to make the grown men, and a few women, cry (refrigeration here is a cooler box, no ice).

So last night at our camp with all of the above, I was treated to a Masai song delivery of my cake. On the cake it was written, "Happy Birthday Raelene Dyer" in pink icing and the cake was made from stone ground flour, probably maize. They grow the corn, take it to another part of the village for grinding, light the fire, and somehow a cake to feed 24 people with pink icing pops out the end.

The traditional Happy Birthday song was sung by the group with the mandatory speech required at the end. We toasted family. This is my Intrepid family and they have been such a blessing. I also toasted my family (and that includes friends) back home. Before the cake was served there was one last song.

Happy Birthday Kenyan style (sung by our leader Patrick (Pato). It's goes like this ... [insert deep masculine African accent]....

Happy Birthday to you
I went to the zoo
I saw a black monkey
And I thought it was you.

Nailed it Pato, just nailed it.Read more