Word: acacia
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...spirited traveler, the safari itself is the key. Our adventure began after our twin-prop touched down at a remote bush landing strip at Kimanjo, deep in Laikipia. From there it was a Land Cruiser ride to our first camp, set beneath acacia and a vast sycamore fig. Here we met the troop in its full glory: 19 camels and 15 Samburu, Turkana and Masai tribesmen. The sense of joining an ancient caravan heading into the bush was heightened by the fact that there would be almost no contact with the outside world for several days...
Walking with our guides, and the intimacy this encouraged, meant our knowledge of local tribal customs and habits was also constantly being furthered: we learned from the Samburu about the local form of messaging, which uses a cissus plant and an acacia thorn. The cissus leaf is like a thick, green pad, and you write by making indentations with the acacia thorn, passing on or leaving the leaf somewhere for the recipient. We also learned how the fibrous branches of sokotei tree can be used as an effective toothbrush and toothpick, and heard about the medicinal properties of plants like...
...next day, I join Tinka and a group of other Masai on a drive out of the protected reserve into Masai communal grazing lands. The only sign that we've crossed over is a line of cow tracks. Zebra and topi antelope graze under acacia. Tinka points out branches stripped of bark. "They have been cleared by elephants," he says. A few more bends in the road and we've arrived at the Koiyaki Guide School, where Tinka is one of 26 students being trained for work in the reserve...
Before Plympton Street was Plympton Street, it was Chestnut Street, named simply for the genus of tree that lined its curb. This was something of a tradition in early Cambridge, which also boasted Acacia, Ash, Camellia, and Linden Streets. Prior to the steeples and bell towers that now define Harvard Square, there were soaring tree trunks...
...used refractometers to test the sugar content of grapes at Sterling before we picked them. At Acacia, we tasted every wine grape I've ever heard of. Then the head winemaker showed us their alternative pest-control system: a falconer. Besides learning that falcons scare starlings away from grapes by swooping down at 200 m.p.h., we learned that falconers are just about as geeky as you might have thought. At Beaulieu Vineyard, we used pipettes, beakers and a calculator to make our own blend of red wine, which was then bottled with storeworthy labels featuring our names. They were like...