What happens when you discover that your ancestor is a great explorer? For John Hastings Thomson, 68, the decision was to follow the footsteps of his great grand uncle Joseph Thompson, who was the first European to cross the Masai Land in Kenya back in the 19th century.
“He is better known in Kenya than in Scotland where he is from,” says John, a retired geography and outdoor education teacher, as he smiles when he talks about his ancestor. From reading travel books, he found out that the most common type of gazelle in East Africa is the Thomson’s gazelle, and in Kenya there is even a Thomson Falls, both named after Joseph Thomson. According to family records, Joseph Thomson was born to be an explorer.
He admired explorers like Livingstone, and wanted to go on the expedition lead by Stanley when he was only 11years old. (Of course his mother had to talk him out.) At 21, he was given an opportunity to join in the expedition from Dar es Salaam to Lake Nyasa. In 1883 Royal geographical society appointed him to lead a route from the coast of East Africa to northern shores of Lake Victoria, the area ruled by the Masai and left undiscovered by the British.
Establishing the right relationship, Joseph Thomson came out of the trip without causing a single death from his caravan or the Masai residence. In 1887, he published a book called Through Masai Land which contained rich observation of the land and Masai culture. Since the time of Joseph Thomson, the Thomson family developed a strong connection with the region. John’s grandfather was a district commissioner in the northern Kenya; his father had worked in South Sudan until John was born. Though John only was in the continent when he was a baby, he always dreamed of coming back. “I was 12 years old when the family celebrated the 100 year anniversary of Joseph Thomson, and since then, I have been wanting to come see where he has travelled with my own eyes.”
Though they’ve never met, John feels strong connection to his ancestor.They share the curiosity to see the world and the love for outdoors. John was not alone in his dreams. On the other side of the hemisphere, Ezekiel Ole Katato (49), a Masai elder had been longing to walk the same path for 40 years. Being one of the first children to be taken to school from his village, he learnt about Joseph Thomson in a primary school history class. “In the text book the names of so many European explores were listed, but I was inspired by Joseph Thomson because he crossed the Masai Land.”
At that time it was only a dream. The Masai boy was so attached to his heritage that he decided not to proceed to university. He instead went to college to study livestock management and came back to the village to take care of his cattle while working on different community development projects. In some years, he established his own non-profit organisation called “Across Masai Land Initiative” to work on locally led education and conservation initiatives.
In
2012
Ezekiel got a copy of the “Through Masai Land.” There he discovered the details of Joseph Thomson’s travel, and found out the caravan passed through the exact village where he currently lives. Ezekiel was inspired to plan and explore the route according to the locations appearing in the book. Around the same time, he started getting invitations to international conferences for his initiatives, and even got into an airplane for the first time in his life. In every opportunity he got, he presented his dream to host a walk to follow Joseph Thomson’s footsteps to promote the Masai Culture.
His new international friends showed interest, and some helped him find decedents of Thomson’s family. And here they are. 130 years after Joseph Thomson, one Masai and one Scottish embarked on a journey to follow his footsteps together. 30 Masai people and 30 Europeans from Holland accompanied the two in the “Walk Across Masai Land” to cover a distance of 120km in six days. On the morning of May 31, Florence Mutua, the Trade Minister of Kajiado County, flagged off the group from the Amboseli gate. She thanked the European group for coming despite the warnings announced by their governments about the security situation in Kenya. Trusting in Ezekiel, no participants canceled the trip.
For John, it wasn’t even a question. “ I am 68 years old, I couldn’t wait any longer.” With a big blue backpack, the oldest man in the group kept waking in the front of the group. The journey proceeded west under a strong sun that left little shadow. On the third day the group reached an open campsite. John stood there in surprise. There was a sign, which read: “ Showing the relation with the incredible 19c explore to cross Masai Territory and come out alive, Joseph Thomson.” After taking numerous pictures of it, John hugged Ezekiel in silence for a long time. Then I heard a quiet “thank you” exchanged from both sides. The members of the group got closer to each other day by day. Personal conversations sparked as they walked in small groups.
It didn’t resemble the normal safari tours, where the Kenyans served the Europeans; they cooked together, put up tents together, sang together and laughed. Cooking with the Masai’s they were inspired that each meal could be prepared with such care and love . After passing five villages, sleeping in four schools and in a campsite, the walk ended in Ezekiel’s village, Indulpa, where the community members came to sing and dance to welcome the tired explorers. In the community meeting that followed, the chief, the elders, the women, and youth shared the challenges of their life and love for their land.
The Europeans shared the inspiration they had received from the six days experience. Ezekiel hopes to continue such walk for the years to come, addressing issues on poverty, environmental conservation and preserving culture. He wants his community as well as the youth from the neighboring village
to be more involved in the planning process. “I want to empower my people, so that even when I am gone, somebody can be in my place to continue.” He hopes that for his next journey abroad, he will take one Masai boy and one Masai girl along. John pats his head and says, “a man with white hair like this, shouldn’t make promises of coming back.”
But he is eager to convince the other family members to come visit. He also plans to start a photo exchange program between a school he visited on this journey and a school in Penpont where Joseph Thomson is from. “Who knows how this would develop. One should always start small.” More than a century ago, a young explorer followed his dream to an unknown land and received a welcome by the Masai. His motto was "He who goes gently, goes safely; he who goes safely, goes far." His travels did go far beyond his time and now the relationship is resumed. The new chapter has just began.
