Where does all the time go?

Today is our last day in Tanzania, it's September 14th, and we have been in Kenya and Tanzania for seven full days, stayed in four different locations, traveled by Land Cruiser over more rutted, wash boarded and dusty, dirt roads than I thought could exist, seen thousands of animals, took three thousand pictures between the two of us, awakened most mornings at five, and,have been constantly on the go. Next we spend all day tomorrow flying to Johannesburg, getting in at midnight, and leaving at ten the next morning to fly to Kasane, Namibia to get on the river cruise ship. To say that we feel like the proverbial hamster running on a wheel, would not be an understatement. To say that we are blessed to be able to do this is absolutely true. We are having a blast.

One downside of all this activity is the inability to process all that one is seeing and doing. Editing the pictures alone in mind numbing. We've done two days of twelve hour game drives and that really takes it out of you as does the driving in the Land Cruisers. We've had totally perfect weather so far and an added plus is the group of people we are traveling with.

There are only seventeen people on the tour. When we were getting ready to leave Nairobi and began introducing ourselves, we learned that ten were Canadians from Edmonton and Calgary who all live in Tucson, in the same neighborhood, in the winter. Three others were also Canadians from Edmonton, but not connected with the group. That left four Americans which the Canadians found very funny since none of them had ever been on a trip were Canadians out numbered Americans.

Now group trips can be tricky, especially in small groups, but these people are the warmest and most inclusive people we have ever traveled with. It quickly became one big happy group. The two other Americans are from Whitby Island in Washington State and are a delight. When the lens on Kathy's camera broke, they gave her one of their cameras to use. We have also become close to the three Canadians not part of the group. They brought their twenty six year old daughter along and she brings a refreshing and funny perspective to this group of similarly aged people. The mom and dad are also great folks. The kind you'd like to have have as next door neighbors.

I mentioned the Maasai in an earlier post. We spent an afternoon in a Maasai Village and what an experience it was. These people live far away from any town and spend most of their days tending to their cows and finding water. We were greeted outside the village with traditional song and dance by the warriors and the women.

Scarlet robes are the traditional dress and the men always carry a spear or a stick. You can see them walking across the bush, alongside the road or in villages. The women also wear colorful beaded necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Both sexes have their ears elongated to wear the beads and elaborate braiding of the hair is a custom.

While they wear colorful robes and jewelry, their life is very difficult and they live much like their ancestors. Their villages are built in a circle with the houses and corrals inside a ring wall made out of mud and cow dung covered with thorny tree limbs. This is their first line of defense. The women build the wall and they also build the tiny houses which are also made of mud and dung with thatched roofs and a dung mixture to keep out the rain.

The houses are only two rooms with one for cooking and one for sleeping. There is no electricity nor running water. The inside was dark, claustrophobic and hot. Polygamy is their way of life and each wife has a separate house to raise her children in. The men take no part in raising the children. The chief of this village had four wives.

The burden for most things falls on the women. In these isolated villages all the men do is protect the village and guard the cattle. Boys as young as five or six will herd the cows as they graze. If you are a favorite son of the Chief, he will give you some cows, let you elongate your ears and protrude you teeth. If you are not a favorite son, you will be sent away to school. The girls don't go to school and marriages are arranged.

 

 

Cattle are the most important thing to the Maasai. They believe that their god gave them all the cattle in the world to take care of and that is what they do. They have the reputation as the fiercest fighters in Africa and have been known to kill lions attacking their herds with just their sticks and spears. Our guides swear that when lions see the scarlet robe of the Maasai they run away. Their diet is basically a mixture of cow's blood, milk and a flour mixture.

The Maasai boy becomes a warrior when he is fifteen or sixteen. Taken away from the village to a hut for three months were he is taught by the elders in the Maasai way, then circumsized, made to kill a goat, painted in a white dust, given a new name and allowed to return to the village. Yikes!

I could go on and on about this fascinating people, but this is getting long and it's almost time for a cocktail. I'll close with some pictures of Maasai children in their Sunday best while in Sunday School.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And an old Maasai Warrior.

 

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