Distant Relatives, More Than an Eco Lodge
“A lucky star must have passed to set so many distant relatives on the same path…”
Distant Relatives has been written about quite often, a quick google search can tell you that. Articles pop up from all over the world and trip advisors omnipresent list of references to wherever any wanderer lays their head has only glowing things to say about Kenya’s number one eco lodge. The articles always espouse the great works that a small group of people have managed to create in their backpackers haven. Compost toilets, recycled tyres making up most of the landscape, the fact that less than 10% of the lodge is made of cement, the food forest created using permaculture and loads of other things.
What they quite often fail to capture is the sense of selflessness that you often get while staying here — how they manage to make you realise that you are part of something much bigger than the self.
It could be that the minute you walk in everyone feels like a friend. It doesn’t say on the website “Be buddies with whoever you meet here or bugger off” but it feels like a family reunion only there’s no drunk racist/tribalist/generally prejudiced uncle to ruin the fun. The vibe could also be attributed to the fact that it’s near impossible to distinguish guests from people working there. Everyone’s a part of the family, dropping a beer bottle induces a near panic, your mind going “what have I done to our home” and has you at the reception cum bar asking for a broom. Completely different from the stuffier bigger hotels where people just shrug and say “let the staff clean it up.”
The Musafir, moored at the beach a 3 minute walk from Distant Relatives also radiates this positive vibe of togetherness. It’s construction involving a group of volunteers from all over the world and the local community built bridges that I doubt will ever crumble. Everyday we swim over to the giant dhow and watch the sunset with the crew members while having conversations on a wide range of topics. Later we swim back and trek back to Distant Relatives to cook dinner, the food there is great but waiting to find out what one of the other guests, an Italian, has planned for each dinner is also it’s own mini adventure.
Distant Relatives is more than a backpackers or eco-lodge, it’s a feeling that the whole of humanity is connected a fact we quite often forget. It doesn’t just remind you of this, it makes you fully aware of who you are, how much you’re a part of this world and how it’s an essential part of you.
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