Jose had opened the gate with that signature cheer of his.“Marafiki wako wamekuja!”Your friends are here!But as I turned into the restaurant and saw only one familiar face, my heart shifted.Not both Joy and Mike. Just Joy.It wasn’t her first time at Tulia—far from it.But it felt like it.She moved differently. Spoke slower. Avoided shared...Read More

We knew who he was the moment we saw him.Of course we did.He didn’t need to introduce himself.He wore silence like a second skin.He came without an entourage.No camera crew. No fanfare.Just a duffel bag, a scarf, and that look artists get when the world has applauded…but the soul hasn’t caught up.He didn’t ask for...Read More

I came to Tulia to take a break from being a mother.Not forever—just for a weekend.Just long enough to hear my own thoughts again.I booked the stay with barely concealed guilt.Told myself it was for both of us.Told Maya—my nine-year-old—that it was a little holiday.But deep down, I wanted out.Out of the routines.Out of the...Read More

Ken didn’t plan to become a miner.Fresh out of campus, armed with an accounting degree and city dreams,he took a job most people would’ve turned down:finance lead at a startup mining company deep in the wilderness of Voi.Mining isn’t glamorous.It doesn’t happen in towers or towns.You go where there is nothing.You carry your world with...Read More

She came alone,but the reservation was made for two.Elena, 57, schoolteacher, widow.Her husband—Joseph—had booked the stay six months ago.For their 30th anniversary.The garden retreat. Villa Teresia. He’d even requested a private dinner under the stars.Two months before they were meant to arrive, he died.A heart attack.Instant.Unremarkable, the doctors said.But grief is never unremarkable when it...Read More

She had lived in seven countries.Worn badges. Flown flags. Spoken three languages fluently, two more adequately.She could broker peace over coffee, interpret body language in negotiation rooms, and navigate checkpoints like breathwork.Her name was Hannah, 43, daughter of a Kenyan mother and French father, raised in Senegal, married in Geneva, stationed most recently in Jordan,...Read More