Daryn Sees 2008 Out With a Giraffe Kiss, and a Goat Dinner

[Daryn Kagan]

Happy New Year!!

If anyone had told me this time last year that I would spend New Year's in Nairobi, Kenya being kissed by a giraffe and eating a goat for dinner, I would've told them they were nuts. And yet.....

Mum Kate surprised the Hekima girls and I with a trip this afternoon to the Rothschild Giraffe Conservation Center. I had no idea such a place existed. You pull up, pay your admission, and in you go to get thiiiiis close to the giraffes. They have a 2-story building where you climb up the steps to see eye to eye with the giraffes. And when you arrive the guides hand you a scoop of what looks like duck food on steroids. The giraffes clearly know the drill because before you know it a couple of them are sticking their long necks over your way to say, "Hey, y'all." (or however they translates to Swahili.)

The little girls weren't too sure about this activity, but I scooped a couple of them up to get the experience anyway. You stick your hand out and the giraffe goes in for the sticky slurp with her big, gooey, rough tongue. One of the guides thought it would be a fine idea to put a piece of the food in our teeth and let the giraffe give the big wet kiss on the lips. Uh, I passed on that one, thinking it was enough to let Daisy swallow up my left hand. A real treat to see these magnificent creatures up close.

So, what of the goat?
Well, the day of surprises continued. I was doing some work on the computer when Mum Kate received a call from Mum Gladys, the Hekima program director. "Aren't you bringing Daryn up to see my land?" Gladys has bought a small piece of her heaven up in an area called the Ngong valley. It's up in the rolling green hills about 15-20 minutes from Hekima.

Since many more of the mums are returning from holiday, we were able to leave the girls and head up that way. It's a beautiful piece of land overlooking rolling green hills. Gladys is saving to one day put her dream 2-BR home on the property. All this apparently called for celebration. Mum Kate decided to treat Gladys, me and the two men working on the shed on the property to dinner, so off we went to the town of Ngong. Gladys swore she knew a place that prepared the most delicious Choma.

Now, I've been here long enough to know that Choma means grill, as in grilled meat. What I didn't realize until a bit later is what exactly they grill. So we show up at this place, go past these curtains down this dark hallway until Gladys picks this private booth, room thing made of plywood. The whole time she keeps saying, "Don't worry, you're safe. Don't worry, you're safe." Honestly, I wouldn't have worried if she hadn't kept assuring me how safe we were.

We 5 sit down. The waiter comes in and asks in Swahili what we'd like to order. Gladys asks, "Do you want goat?" Truth be told, there had been some mention of goat before this point, but I thought they were joking or that there would be a choice or a tasting menu. "Do they have something else, like beef?" I asked. The answer comes back in Swahili, "You want beef it takes 3 hours. Goat takes 45 minutes." God only knows where they would be going to get that beef. I was already pretty tired at this point, so, okay...Goat it is. I was trying not to think of all those cute goats I've seen scampering up the streets of Nairobi for the last two weeks.

45 minutes, Africa time,you know is going to mean an hour, plus. Plenty of time for the workers Robert and Peter to laugh at me, the American squirming at the idea of eating goat. You know the old line, "it tastes like chicken?" Well, the Kenyan version is "it tastes like sheep." I think he meant lamb. "Only it's sweeter," he assures me. I think of my mother's lamb chops that were always cooked extra extra extra well done, as Kenyan food is always cooked and think, "uh, maybe I can do this."

Some time later, the curtain parted, a man steps in holding a steaming platter with two slabs of meat on it. "This is Paul," Gladys says. "The man or the goat?" I want to know with a lump in my throat. Oh, she got a big roar of a laugh out of that one. (It was the man.)

Paul took out a big machete thing and started chopping away. First, came the ribs. Yes, ladies and gentleman I ate goat ribs for New Year's dinner. And I'm here to tell you, Peter was right on. It was really delicious. In fact, it does taste like a very mild lamb....only sweeter. And whatever wood they cook it over gives it a wonderful smokey taste. No sauce, no nothing. Just a little salt on the side of the platter, if you feel like sprinkling. My late father, Stuart, would've loved it. I think my brother, Mark, would've liked it, as well, as he can appreciate good grill. My mother would've gagged. I thought it a wonderful and delicious adventure. Everyone was pleased that I loved the goat. Although, I was warned that I can't expect goat to always be as good as it is at this little dive Choma place. So, I'm not to go ordering goat unsupervised. I'll try to restrain myself.

Just about 24 hours from now, I'll be getting on a plane and beginning my journey back to Atlanta. New Years Day promises to be a busy one. Turns out there's another woman who I profiled on DarynKagan.com who happens to be visiting Kenya. Annette Biggers is the wonderful wedding photographer from SoCal who has donated cameras and laptops to people in Africa. I received an email from her right before leaving and realized she and her family would be in Kenya at the same time. They want to stop by in the morning.

Then, all of Hekima Place is invited to an auntie's house for New Year's Day lunch. Not sure what that means, but I'll get back to you.

And as we were driving to the giraffes, 7-year-old Diana was very excited to tell me that every volunteer gets her own birthday party on the last night they are here, including their own cake and songs sung just for them. "Is that supposed to be a surprise for me?" I asked. "Yes," she confirmed. Oh well, there goes that surprise. Still, I think it is going to be wonderful, as has all of this trip.

As I wrap up my email blogging back home, let me just say a big "Thank YOU" to all of you for letting me share my journey. I realize I'm one of the lucky few who gets to take such a trip and sharing it makes it mean everything.

I wish everyone the happiest and healthiest of 2009, and keep in mind...you never know what you will be doing next new years! as my trip shows.

[Misty Gibbs]

What an amazing experience to kick off 2009! Thank you for sharing and inspiring us Daryn!

[Sophia Andrews]

Sorry, Daryn, but if I had to eat goat, I'm sure I'd gag as you say your mother would. For some reason, I cannot eat any goat, lamb, or sheep products...meat or dairy. The flavour is so odd and not tasty to me. The corn stuff you guys were eating looked good, and I'm sure I would have liked it. But, there is no way I could have done the goat.

I had a "goat" experience of my own on New Year's Eve. My husband, Scott, and I were at this annual formal event that we've been going to for four years now. One of the appetizers was what appeared to be rolled up pieces of roast beef with a creamy cheese spread in the middle. I expected it to be like Philadelphia cream cheese or something similar. But, no, it wasn't. As soon as I got it into my mouth, I started gagging and had to spit it out immediately into my napkin...it was none other than goat cheese! Thankfully, I had a big glass of water nearby. Unfortunately, the flavour kind of ruined my appetitite for the rest of the night. But, we still had fun dancing to the live Big Band music!

[Karl Martin]

Sophia,

A few years ago I tried goat's cheese because I read where goat's milk is easier for the human digestion system to absorb as compared to cow's milk. To be perfectly honest, I found the taste wasn't all that bad, however it wasn't easy getting it down because the cheese smelled like a goat ( not my favourite aroma in case you wondered) I remember goat's milk having a similar odour. I haven't tried either since then. Like the saying goes "You can take the milk out of the goat, but you can't take the goat out of the milk." lol (Actually I don't think that's a real saying, I just made it up)

[Sophia Andrews]

Yes, I'd heard goat dairy is better for us. My family bought goat's milk and goat's cheese for a while when I was a kid, as one of my brothers had an allergy to regular milk. I liked it then, but I just couldn't handle the taste when I tried it again as an adult. It's too bad, as I don't like not liking things, especially when they are good for you. I like your saying about not being able to take the goat out of the milk, and am going to start using it myself!