Kenya has touched my life and I wear her forever in my soul, so that’s why I named my novel: As I Go I am Wearing You.
The title is translated from the African proverb Ndinombethe and pronounced
“in-day-nom-bay-tay.” It means places and/or people who we have come in contact with, even if just for a moment, can leave such an impression on us that it affects our lives forever.
As I Go portrays a young American woman consumed with grief from a tragedy that has ripped apart her family, so she journeys to Kenya to work as a tour director. It is about personal growth and rising above family dysfunction, love for a captivating country, and the Kenyan people. It is a riveting love story filled with passion and conflict, and ultimately about wildlife conservation and the poaching epidemic of the 1980s.
August 1, 1982 changes Keelin’s life forever. She had traveled to Kenya to escape turmoil at home, and had fallen in love with its people and wildlife. Now devastated and alone, she finds herself trapped in the middle of the country’s coup attempt. Heartbroken, she watches shops trashed and looted, men murdered in cold blood. Questioning her decision to ever leave Arizona, she knows Kenya has captured her soul and she has to stay.
With each safari comes misadventures and poignant moments, but when Keelin’s safari group encounter an elephant family brutalized for their tusks, she realizes she cannot run away from conflict, and becomes embroiled in Kenya’s poaching epidemic.
Along the way Keelin discovers her inner strengths, but her life is shattered when a safari takes a disastrous turn. She has help recovering from the most unlikely person, and learns how to deal with the grief that she had pushed aside. As she heals, Kenya embraces her, and she knows what her life’s work will be.
Before she can pursue her purpose she returns home to Arizona to reconcile with her parents, but instead starts to uncover deceit that has all but smothered the ranch while she was gone.
My hope is that in the end, Kenya and conservation will have found a place in your heart.
Makena Safari Tales © 2020 All rights reserved.
