Travel 

Advertisement

An active holiday in Kenya

Stephanie Debere

If you want more proof of the diversity of holiday options in Africa, try this: dune running, boxercise and interval training with Kenya's Marion Jones. Stephanie Debere pushes a sweat and explores the Watamu coast on a Wild Fitness course.

"RUN!" came the cry, pushed out in between hard breaths. Through a tangle of tropical vegetation I snatched blurred glimpses of my companions' grimacing faces, before focusing again on the dusty track, booby-trapped with protruding roots. I sprinted as hard as possible, then burst into the clearing where the others were and sank to my knees, amid general groans of relief and pain.

Despite the urgency, I wasn't fleeing wild animals or angry people. Rather, the time it took one of us to sprint a short course dictated the time everyone else had to do their particular exercise before moving on to the next one. This was circuit training Kenyan-style, among the vanilla creepers and pepper plants of a spice and palm nursery: press-ups, lunges, burpees, weights, triceps dips, crab-like galloping - with a cunning element of friendly peer pressure thrown in, to make sure we sprinted rather than jogged. All part of a normal afternoon on a Wild Fitness course.

From Baraka House, a luxurious Arabic-style villa overlooking Watamu Beach (one of the world's top ten and part of a UN biosphere reserve), young Kenyan-born entrepreneur Tara Wood runs courses offering "functional fitness". Open to anyone from confirmed couch potatoes to aspiring athletes, the courses run for two or six weeks and aim to give a natural, animal-like health, based on the movements that have ensured our survival as a species: squat, lunge, push, pull, bend, twist, walk and run.

Gym machines, explained course leader Steve Bacot - an ex-army fitness instructor with an encyclopaedic knowledge and contagious enthusiasm - work muscle groups in isolation, with little correlation to real life activities or sport. The course aims to improve the balance and coordination needed for complex muscle sequences in daily living. It improves the central nervous system and "core stability" (the strength of the tube of muscle supporting our spines). "Deep muscles like this are often neglected in workouts that favour visible surface muscles," explained Steve. "You should work out for functionality, not for your six-pack."

Daunting stuff. However the best way to describe the course is as a lot more fun than it sounds. There was laughter throughout and staff never forget that this is a holiday, not boot camp. "We analyse the requirements of your lifestyle. Training should be a combination of what you need, enjoy and can sustain," says Tara.

Each morning we woke at six and reached for electronic heart-rate monitors before even sitting up in bed, to record our pulses - a simple measure of fitness (generally, the lower, the better). After meeting downstairs, we tackled our "wobble boards" (circular discs of wood a foot in diameter, with a tennis ball-sized wooden knob on one side; the ball touches the ground, you try to balance on the disc). This woke up our central nervous systems, improving our coordination and preparing us for the session ahead.

My favourite morning workout was boxercise on Baraka's flat roof, overlooking an expanse of palms and breaking waves under the rising sun. But no time for gazing: after warming up, we bound our fists, donned boxing gloves and started punching the pads held by our instructors. My younger brother might dispute this, but I've never thrown hard punches before, and as well as being an effective workout, it was enormous fun.

Knowledge is (physical) power, and after abundant breakfasts of fruits, cereals and breads, we sprawled on fat cushions beneath a thatched rooftop shelter, digesting surprisingly compelling talks that took a scientific approach to training, nutrition and well-being.

In the midday heat we headed for the dojo, a thatched open-sided pagoda by the beach, washed over by the sounds of breaking waves and monkeys and birds in the trees. Tara's mother, Checkie, a masseuse and relaxation expert, led us in meditation and creativity exercises designed to promote what she appealingly calls "juicy living". The unimpeded flow of creative impulses and energy is an essential component of health, she explained, and any scepticism we may have had withered under her assured calm. Later she carefully worked our largely novice group up to demanding yoga sessions, outstretching us in every direction as we grappled with the Plough, Dog and Cobra poses.

For more information about travel in Africa, visit Travel Africa Magazine

Delicious     Digg     reddit     Facebook     StumbleUpon

  Get the latest iVillage news on your desktop    Sign up for more iVillage RSS feeds

© iVillage Limited 2000-2008. All rights reserved. | © iVillage inc. 1995-2008. All rights reserved.
iVillage Ltd is a UK company registered in England & Wales (3837269) at 80-110 New Oxford Street, London WC1 1HB