9/6 Amboseli National Park offers elephants, hippos, buffalos and antelopes. We will visit watering holes. Antelopes should be found in the flat grasslands. Visit the Maasai Village prior to the AM game drive. There will be a PM game drive. There was no AM drive today.
We took the morning off and didn’t leave until 9:30. I was grateful as I was very tired. Our first stop was the Masai Village. We were greeted by the chief. He told us he has an assistant chief and a council of elders. When he speaks of a village, it is his village. When he speaks of a community, it is multiple villages.
The Masai depend on animals. They use the milk, meat and blood. The population is increasing. The Masai are nomadic. They move the animals for survival. Women stay behind so the children can attend school. A man may have multiple wives and he must supply a house for each wife. The wife must build the house. The materials used include mud, cow dung, acacia wood and grass on the top. There is no sharing of wives, a fine of one cow is levied if a man cheats. A cow is generally considered to be worth $1000. Marriages are arranged.
The chief’s family has been here for sixteen years. His father was chief before him and then he became the chief. The chief has fourteen children. Cows are branded so they can be sorted out. School is taught by men of the village. There is a government school nearby, but the community prefers to manage their own school.
Dried elephant dung and the dung of three other animals are used to build a fire. Sticks are rubbed together and when smoke is seen, they add sawdust. They blow on the sawdust and then add dry grass. Women bring wood to the fire as they will benefit and take home an ember to start the cooking fire.
The Masai men and women greeted us. The welcome dance included a lot of jumping up and down. When times are hard, the women began making and selling jewelry. We went through a gauntlet of blankets covered with the crafts they created.
If you’re wondering why this guy is wearing that head dress, he was the last one to be circumcised.
My vehicle mates - left Bob, Deborah, Lynn and right Bruce, me, Ianne.
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