Gems, Giraffes, and Gazelles: A Gemologist’s Trip to Africa

As someone who’s spent her life around jewelry and gemstones, I recently had the opportunity of a lifetime—a trip that combined my passion with life-changing travel. It was a 10-day adventure with Gem Legacy, a non-profit that’s committed to supporting East African artisanal gem mining communities. The goal of their adventures is to bring ”curious world travelers and gem lovers” to these communities—and boy, did they ever!

What is an “artisanal miner”?

The miners we focused on aren’t part of a large consortium; rather they’re small groups of men who pool what they find. It’s a gamble, but a strike can help them educate their children, buy food, and possibly purchase a home. These men are away from home for long periods of time and live in small huts sharing food. There’s no heavy equipment—they dig holes to see if there’s possibly a gem pocket below.

The adventure

Our small group was led by Rachel Dery, who was with us the entire time through Tanzania and Kenya. We went to one of the mines for an up-close-and-personal look. Gem Legacy brought gifts of mining toolkits and we brought food as a thank you for their time. As you can see in the photo, these mines, which are all created by hand, are small and intense. (My claustrophobia prevented me from going deep into the underground tunnels.) We were actually on-site when one group found a pocket of tourmaline!

Living Gem Legacy’s initiatives

As you’ll see on their website, Gem Legacy has a mission of helping communities—and our trip took us to several of their projects. In Kenya, we visited a children’s home, housing little ones whose parents can’t take care of them, or who are orphans. The government of Kenya gives them housing, but there’s very little extra; the teens take care of the younger children. Gem Legacy sponsors the home and we brought toys, games, and socks to great delight—these children have so little that the smallest gift fills them with joy.

In Tanzania, we visited the Kitarini School, which is on Massai land. Education has not traditionally been valued, so to encourage children to come, Gem Legacy sponsors breakfasts and hot lunches for them. Their success is amazing…before the food program, only 9% of students passed their final exams—after the food program, that number skyrocketed to 93%. There are now about 900 students (up from 500 when the program began). We were asked to bring a small craft project to do with the children—I brought what we used to call “fortune tellers,” small squares of paper that reveal different answers when you fold them. In Tanzania, they’re called “chatterboxes.” Spending a day with these wonderful, joyful students was a highlight of the trip.

Lions, and rhinos, and elephants…oh my!

No trip to this area would be complete without coming close to amazing jungle animals. Our accommodations were beautiful and comfortable, and during the day, we’d come face to face with curious giraffes, elephants, and lions sunning in the hot daylight. Once our jeep stopped in the road…when I looked up, I saw a rare black rhino sauntering past. Trust me, you don’t want to annoy a rhino.

What a trip! If you want to have an amazing experience, help a local mining community, and have experiences that you’ll never forget, check out Gem Legacy and its adventures. You too can say “Jambo” (hello) to Tanzania and Kenya.

To support Gem Legacy and to find out about going on an adventure yourself, go to gemlegacy.org.

Wishing you the safari of your dreams,

Aimee