I think self-love is super important. It is something worth repeating. Today I am here to wax ecstatic about massages, their importance during these stressful COVID times, and an unforgettable hammam experience right here in Nairobi.

Anyone who knows me, knows that Morocco is on my travel vision board, right above Spain.

So when one of my friends told me that there is a spa that offers an authentic hammam experience in the city, it was all systems go.

And since I never do anything alone, I dragged one of my good friends so she could try out one of the signature packages from the Saffron Spa.

Saffron Spa is located off Muthangari Drive, opposite what used to be J’s Westlands right before you get to The Manor, my all-time favorite pork joint.

Talking about pork, please do not eat right before a massage or a hammam experience.

Eat at least one and a half hours before. Water is however highly recommended especially since the hammam takes place in a steam room.

“In Morocco, the hammam experience is a mud bath experience where people steam and exfoliate together using soil from the Atlas Mountains.

The soil is organic, hypoallergenic, and jam-packed with magnesium, calcium, and potassium.

When mixed with floral water and applied to the skin, ghassoul absorbs excess grease and eliminates impurities,” Azmina the spa manager tells me.

“We keep the sanctity of the hammam ritual and keep it as authentic to the Moroccan experience as we can.”

As I walk up to the hammam room, I spot a blue pool outside with a small fountain. Its architectural design evokes images of a Moroccan riad.

My masseuse gives me water as I prepare to get into the steam room.

“You will steam for ten minutes, feel free to call out for me if the steam gets overwhelming.

I will then put Moroccan black soap made from Olive pulp all over you. You will steam for another 10 minutes after which I will scrub you with a kessa, a loofah, then wash you off.

After that I will put on you a Moroccan clay mask called ghassoul that can also go even on your hair if you so wish.

You will stay in the steam for another 10 minutes after which you shower. I will apply argan oil in massage movements on your body, or you can pay for a full massage after your experience,” Mary my masseuse informs me.

I disrobe and put on my paper panties and step into the steam room. The steam makes it easier for you to exfoliate.

Mary washes me with the black soap then we start scrubbing with the loofah. I have never exfoliated my back.

As Mary exfoliates, there is so much dirt that I doubt if I showered earlier in the morning or ever in my life for that matter.

Dead skin just sloughs off especially since it has already been loosened by the steam.

She rinses me off as she tells me that if I want I can come with someone I am comfortable with and share the experience with them.

I did not know this beforehand. Meanwhile, my friend is busy getting an invigorating coffee scrub and massage as Mary and I work on getting me flawless soft baby skin like the Moroccans. I feel clean like a baby. She then puts the clay mask all over my body.

I distinctly smell eucalyptus in the mud which I find calming. After another round of steam, she walks me to the shower where I wash off the mud.

She guides me out of the steam room, hands me my robe and offers me lemon water, grapes and mint tea.

I eat everything after which we move to the massage tables where she applies argan oil on my body.

I knock off, completely relaxed and only partially wake up when she tells me to turn over.

She leaves me to relax, until my friend starts calling my phone incessantly. We go for a soup date as I exclaim over her perky skin.

I tell her to touch my skin. It is so unbelievably soft. I tell everyone to touch my skin including our waiter.

I harp on endlessly about my hammam experience that she offers to bring me to my next hammam experience.

Friendship solidified over massage packages and mud baths. I think I might not have to go to Morocco after all.

I will just plan for another day of self-love at Saffron Day Spa, feel free to join in.

That the massage rooms are sanitized both before and after use while the masseuses stay masked up and gloved up is calming as one knows that their health is being taken care of.