They say that it is increasingly difficult to fall in love in today's world.

Not so much between human beings, who are naturally driven by desire, loneliness, and other needs, as well as knowing how to listen to the beating of their hearts and, at times, the less warm influence of reason.

It is more difficult to let yourself be carried away by the inspiration of a place, an unfamiliar situation, a piece of music, or someone's words.

Even when faced with a breathtaking view, a silence surrounded by a fantastic setting, a work of art that carries with it centuries of history and society and, at the same time, the genius and talent of man, there is always the banality of the present that contrasts with the absolute, of a cell phone that replaces the eyes, of a keyboard instead of words, and of an emoticon instead of a knowing nod.

These are the times of the self and the selfie, of bombings against the innocent and of information bombardment that has the same effect as brain desertification, of rampant inattention and the loss of the great gift of knowing how to listen and having the patience to learn.

C'est la vie (un peu de mérd, they would add outside the Sorbonne...).

But is it still possible to fall in love with a breath of new life?

Is there still room for the authentic emotions that a place like Kenya can give?

The list of those ‘struck by Africa’ and by this country in particular is endless and obviously does not only include Italians.

The so-called ‘mal d'Africa’ is not something tangible and is not just about classic infatuation.

On the contrary, it is a combination of all possible forms of love: it includes the rhythm of life that is in sync with the heartbeat, the air of the equator that becomes more natural to breathe than that of the Western world, the sky so close that it rests on the gaze and not vice versa.

It is difficult to explain, and we have already done so several times, especially in one of the articles that best represents this site.

READ THE POEM MAL D'AFRICA HERE

Today, I realize that I have millions of photographs from the last decade, especially ones without me in them, partly because my wife has a camera as a natural extension of her arm.

But I have practically none of the times I fell madly in love with Kenya. Of my first safari in East Tsavo, at the Galdessa camp on the bend of the Galana River, of diving in the coral reef of Watamu, of sailing in a dhow in the Lamu archipelago, of the infinite wonder of the Maasai Mara, of a Malindi that smelled of flowers and smiles. I'm sorry I don't have those images to look back on, but every day I bless my ability to still feel emotional when I watch the film of my African life, closing my eyes and letting myself be carried away by memories. Selfies are nothing!

To all the tourists and travelers who have arrived in Kenya this season or are about to arrive, we hope you fall in love again or at least experience one or more of the strong, vivid, and life-changing emotions that the places and atmosphere of Kenya still have in store, to the benefit of the local economy and the future.