It happened just like this, a sigh, cry, hungry kiss*

The phrase ‘kick the bucket’ can be traced back to 1785. The author Francis Grose included it in his wonderfully-titled book, ‘A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue’. The phrase ‘kick the bucket’ is usually used to describe someone dying. The associated phrase, ‘bucket list’ is, however, much more recent. Although it can be traced back to the 1960’s, most people connect it to Justin Zackham, and his personal account of things he would like to do before he kicked the bucket. This account was the basis of the screenplay for the 2007 film ‘The Bucket List’ starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson.

A bit of a continuity leap, but stick with it. This week’s blog comes from the Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya. It was one of the big trips still left on Jane’s ‘bucket list’. She wanted to have an ‘Out of Africa’ experience. It is something she has harboured for many a year. The film and book are one of her favourites. Arriving in Nairobi, there was plenty of time for us to visit Karen Blixen’s house (now a museum), whose book the film is based upon. Just being in her surrounds was emotionally moving. She published her book in 1937 under the pseudonym Isak Dinesen. In those days, women were thought not to be able to write! Just how wrong has that proved to be.

The film came much later. It was released in 1985, and starred Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. 

Just as their romance started with a tentative kiss, so did Jane’s and mine. However, that’s where the similarities end. Karen’s life was a troubled one, and ended in a very sad way. Truth be told, it was not because of anything she did. Thankfully, we both feel we are in a very different place. Importantly, and for those who know her story, we flew into Kenya on an Emirates double decker Airbus and not a Gypsy Moth Biplane!

Emirates got us safely over the troubled Middle East and into Nairobi. The service was, as always, excellent. It was Jane’s first experience of having a drink in the bar lounge onboard the plane, something she thought was amazing, and it was. More amazingly for me however, was being able to feed giraffes in a game reserve just outside Nairobi city. It was a conservation centre, where the giraffes could roam free, but every morning they came to the centre compound to be hand fed. To get that close to what is still a wild animal, and to be able to feed them by hand, was simply magic!   

From Nairobi it was a short 45-minute flight to our base near the Mara river. I was the ‘co-pilot’, an experience I greatly enjoyed. Our part of the river seems to be a favourite place for hippos, who can be seen and heard from our sundeck. It has been a brilliant experience so far. The wildness is immense; something we have experienced from the daily safaris. We have seen all the animals we had hoped for, and more. 

For example, although I have kept pigs in the past, there was something quite special about seeing a mother warthog with her young, trotting across the countryside, as you pass her by in your safari truck. There have been some slightly scary encounters though. I have never been just a few feet away from cheetahs, lions, or elephants. We did become slightly blasé about the zebra and Thomson gazelles - there were simply hundreds of both. Our safari guide, Ezekiel was brilliant at finding the animals, often way ahead of other guests. 

Yesterday was World Mental Health Day. The theme for this year was ‘Lived Experience Heard’. I’m always on the look out for something that might improve the way in which mental health care might be provided, and this year’s theme was personified at our stay in the absolutely brilliant Ashnil Mara base camp. We were provided with a personal assistant Edwin, who looked after us all throughout our stay. And he really did look after us well. Over a glass of fine Kenyan red wine, he asked us to tell him some things about us, what we liked, what made us feel happy, and what did we think he might be able to help us with. He was an attentive listener, keen to hear from us how our lived experience could be improved. When he left and over a second glass of that fine red wine, I reflected and thought about the ‘named person’ in the Mental Health Personalised Care Framework. Edwin personified an approach to this role that we should all try and emulate. 

Now coming to Kenya was a Jane’s ‘bucket list trip’. However, it was not my first time here. Some 25 years ago I came to Nairobi to help nurses, who had been educated and trained to diploma level, move up to degree level. It was an experience that has never left me. The project was organised and delivered by the University of Dundee. Time has erased from my memory, as to where the funding came from, but I do know it was a multi-year fund. I was an External Examiner at the university at that time, and I was asked if I would be willing to go out and teach on the programme. I was much younger and more foolhardy then, so I said YES without really knowing what I was letting myself in for.

The 40 or so ‘students’ came from all over Kenya. During the two weeks of taught input, they stayed in what was fairly rudimentary accommodation in the hospital grounds. They were eager to learn and worked hard at their studies. The days were long, but enjoyable, humorous and intense. They could also be at times, very frustrating. There was no white board, digital or otherwise, and teaching aids consisted of slides thrown up using an ancient overhead projector, and that was when the electricity was running! I taught with another lecturer from the University of Dundee. Unfortunately, he got food poisoning in the first few days of our trip and spent a good number of days either in the toilet or in bed. We haven’t experienced anything like that, thankfully.

Kenya was a grand country then and still is now. At a very challenging time in my career, which as I hinted at in last week’s blog, might be drawing to a close, being able to share once more another one of Jane’s bucket list ambitions felt most welcome and appreciated. And thank you to Ezekiel, Edwin and our honeymooning companions Alex and Ricky for helping to make it special.

*Thank you Leonard Cohen