From the Observation Deck

Our first lodgings in Kenya were located in Amboseli National Park which is known for its large elephant herds. We saw plenty of them, some were mucking about in a swamp which was new for me—didn’t know they did that, and others were crossing the great plains eating as they go. Elephants eat about 18 hours a day (or more). They don’t digest all of the food they eat—which is why their poop is very grassy, just in case you wanted to get a good look at it—so they have to eat a lot. Amboseli and the surrounding parks run into a challenge of not having enough foliage and trees to feed the number of elephants roaming about. That’s just one of the challenges they face with the elephants.

Our arrival at the hotel was delayed because we caught site of some wonderful animals on our game drive through the park. We saw a couple of wildebeest chirping at a hyena that just wanted to cool off in the pond. But they wanted him gone so they harassed the hyena into leaving their area. Pretty funny. We were also treated to a few lions who were ambling across the road. One posed very nicely for me as the sun was setting on our game drive.

Poaching and African Dinner Theatre

That evening we had a wonderful lecture from one of the park’s rangers. He informed us about the poaching problem in Africa—how criminals were killing elephants and taking their tusks. In China, ivory is a big seller, so these people smuggle the tusks out of the country but unfortunately leave devastation behind. The African ecological system depends upon the elephants. Some 30 thousand are killed each year in Africa—mostly so that some people in the Far East can use it as an aphrodisiac (so they think) or for jewelry. One thing we can do as individuals is to spread the word that this is an unacceptable practice and to stop the demand for ivory—don’t buy anything made from it.

Now while we were engrossed in the lecture and enjoying the evening breeze, all of the sudden some monkeys (there were a bunch of them hanging about) started to screech loudly and run up the trees near us. The next thing we see is a flash of something run across the field directly in front of us—just yards away from where we were sitting. As we all got up to look across the lawn to the watering hole just beyond, we could see a lion who then skulked away (too much noise from those humans). Sitting there stunned and a bit hurt was a zebra who after checking to see if Mr. Lion had actually left, got up and ran off to be hunted another day (or maybe later that night). Wow. Not every day are you having a happy hour cocktail and listening to a Kenyan ranger when a lion attack happens in front of you. Very cool.

The monkeys then came down and started harassing everyone again per usual. They were black faced monkeys with blue testicles and they would go into your room and steal things if you left the doors open long enough. We were told they get old after three minutes but one of my traveling companions and I agreed that it was taking us longer to get over them; they were in fact fun to watch.

The Masai

In the morning our group went to visit a local Masai village. Our tour director said if you took the stick away from a Masai he’d probably fall over. After seeing hundreds of them throughout our trip, and each and every one carrying a walking/herding stick, I believed him. On our way we saw their herds of donkeys roaming around the swamp nearby. Once out of the jeep and in front of the Boma (the fence they create around their huts), looking at Mount Kilimanjaro in the background, I stopped to pet a cute dog . One of the Masai, John, came over and introduced himself and his dog, Simba, and told us he was the chief. I was duly impressed. The Masai came out and danced and sang a song for us—all decked out in their beautiful wraps and jewelry, and then gathered us for a prayer. Daniel was our guide through the village (they all have western biblical names that are given to them when they start school).

Daniel explained their customs and way of life telling us that their huts are made of cow dung with twig-like roofs. Their doors are short and narrow (they made sure to point that out to me) and it was very dark inside. I found it comical that there was a small little padlock on the door of the hut—the same hut that had twigs in the window and cow poop for walls. Anyway, it was very small and consisted of two “beds” –one for dad and the boys and one for mom and the girls. They had a “kitchen” in the middle which was basically a few rocks where they lit fires. They light their fires with elephant dung—because all that grass in it makes for a good source of fire.

Each of the families had a hut (one hut per wife—the men are allowed more than one wife but must treat them equally, therefore no sharing of huts) with a little back yard. I spotted some girls giggling in the back of one hut and they shared their tiny little puppies with us. I was holding the puppy they named “Toby.”

We got a demonstration of how they bleed their cows by hitting it in the neck with a blunt arrow without killing it. They mix the blood and milk and that is part of their diet. We also were shown some of the herbs and medicines they use; of course they had their own version of Viagra seeing as how the men can take more than one wife.

When the men are ready to marry, his parents get to decide who the lucky lady will be. And since everyone in the Boma is related, they go to another village to find her. The second wife is chosen by the first wife. Some poetic justice in that I suppose. It costs a man about 10-15 cows for a wife. In the Masai world, the more cows you have the richer you are. In the past, the Masai used to steal cattle from other people. Their shoes are rectangular so that when they were stealing cattle, the pursuers wouldn’t know what direction the footsteps were going. Clever little cattle rustlers!

There is a lot more to tell about this group of people. They are the one tribe in the Tanzania and Kenya regions that is still clinging to their traditions and heritage, but that is changing and some speculate that if you return to Africa in 20 years, you may not see a Masai village like this. But who knows, in the future they may still pull out two of their front teeth to identify themselves as Masai (an awful tradition in my opinion). We ended our stay with the Masai by walking through their “market.” They had all their trinkets laid out on blankets and we picked up what we were interested in (or handed by desperate husbands). At the end, my guide James and I went through negotiations. I put a lot of the stuff back, feeling bad after seeing the little babies and knowing they needed the money, but thinking I had enough stuff I didn’t need at all.

The Masai and Amboseli Park were a wonderful treat. Even the baboons who have taken over an abandoned hotel were fun to watch. Some were fighting, some staring at the workmen having lunch in the distance, and some were just hanging out eating and playing. Tauck Tours does a great job of giving their guests a well-rounded experience of the cultures they visit.

Masai woman collecting water at the well outside the Boma (and too close to the swamp).

The market at the Masai village

Inside the Masai hut, our host sits on his bed.

The Masai warriors outside the Boma.

Our Masai guide James, who probably has a professional job in town and comes back to the village after work.

Simba the dog. Dogs are used by the Masai as guards to warn of carnivores.

These monkeys were all over the hotel grounds.

Elephants returning to their evening resting place.

These two male elephants are fighting for supremacy.

These baboons watch a fight unfold while the workman in the background have lunch. The workmen probably stay in bunk houses in the old hotel grounds.

This hyena is alone and being told to “git” by the wildebeest.

This elephant is sitting in the muck of the swamp.

This guy got really close and passed right in front of us–no care about the humans!

lions roaming Amboseli Park with Mount Kilimanjaro in the background