Fisi Fitness -- we workout.

So many of my friends and family from home ask what we do in our spare time out here in the Mara. Of course, we read lots of books and watch the occasional movie after evening obs. Sometimes we treat ourselves to a coffee break at the lodge during the day and surround ourselves with tourists to feign being "close to reality” for an hour or so. However, the main way we spend free time during the day is by engaging in some good ol’ fisi fitness.

Jess and I are the local health and fitness experts out here. Now, that’s not to say that our lifestyles are exactly the most healthy, but we read up and discuss a healthy lifestyle enough that I’m certain it must be rubbing off (mental 6-packs for sure).

Jess: Near dead from exhaustion.

Now, that’s not to say we don’t try our best. Our lifestyles out here are pretty sedentary — makes sense when you can’t go for a walk or hike for fear of running into an elephant/buffalo/hippo/lion/you name it — and we are literally professional sitters. We sit for obs, we sit to eat, we sit to type up our notes---we sit. We also eat VERY well courtesy of the best chefs in the world: Philimon, Moses, and Stephen. Thus, we sit, we eat, we do hyena related activities while sitting--you get it. 0 complaints from all except my muscle mass, but hey, a tiny price to pay to live in this environment.

So, fisi fitness. Our saving grace. That one hour chunk of the day where we kick it into gear enough to exhaust us completely. Not so hard, especially because we workout around 1 pm — the hottest portion of the day.


Jess and I fashioned a .33 mile "loop" (really it’s just 0.165 one way and then 0.165 back on the other side of the path). Provided it has not rained, we run somewhere between 1-4 miles each day.

Apparently we aren't the only ones running on our track!

We came up with a schedule. We hit a leg day, arm day, ab day, and butt day. After running a couple miles, we might do circuits we made up or follow along a fitness video from YouTube. Once a week we do Yoga to stretch it all out...and our favorite, dance cardio. Now, dance cardio was Jess’s idea, not mine, and is easily one of the most embarrassing things I’ve ever done (we hide while we do this). I refuse to put a video on the web to spare myself from public humiliation — but let’s just say my moves are certainly not on fleek.


Working out and moving like this keeps us sane out here and I’m so grateful for the best workout buddy, Jess. It’s not so bad running this little loop with the most beautiful view of the Mara in the backdrop or doing circuits while the birds sing above your heads! Living out here has certainly showed me that if I can workout in 90 degree heat on a tiny running loop, I’ll never have an excuse to not exercise ever again (you hear that Erin?).

Running views!