It took us about four hours to get to our new camp and along the way we learned about the Masai Mara tribe. If I haven't mentioned it before - I will now. There are 42 tribes in Africa. Within each of those tribes there are sub tribes so it gets very confusing. The tribes all speak different languages but the mother tongue is Swahilli. The Masai Mara is one of the smaller tribes but they are most famous because they have worked hard to keep their heritage in place. These people are nomadic herders but the government is now requiring that they stay in one place so the children can be educated. All Masai do not wear the traditional garb. There are typical townspeople here who are Masai and have become Westernized. But there are also rural villages about an hour out of town that are what you would expect to see in National Geographic with the hoops in the ears, the red blankets wrapping them and the multiple necklaces. They also all mostly have sticks in their hands to move the cows or goats.
As David drove us out into the middle of this place he talked about the culture. Part of this is the initiation ceremony that I have discussed before. Boys are gathered around the age of 13 to be circumcised. They can not flinch or they will be banned from their family. What I learned today is that this group of boys/men are then basically considered brothers. When they come back from the bush their goal is to find a wife. If one of these males gets married, the wife is basically the common property of that brotherhood. So, should the husband need to leave the area to gather a cow or something, any of those other men are able to go sleep with his wife. They are to leave their spear at the door as a sign that there is a man in the house. If the husband returns and sees a spear, he goes elsewhere until the appropriate time to return. I guess the children don't really know who their fathers are and somehow it still works.
There are a lot of other stories to go with this trip but I will save them for another time. We ended up at the camp and I was pleasantly surprised. We had lunch, rested a bit and went out for evening safari. As we drove into the park we saw a herd of impalas and another herd of wildebeest. The impalas looked like minature deer with prettier black and white markings on their backs. The wildebeest look just like buffalo except with that long face and some crazy horns and grey instead of brown. Ok- maybe they don't really look like buffalo but that's how big they are. After being in the park for about half an hour, it started to pour. All I could think was that we were going to have a washout and maybe tomorrow would be better. Oh well. But we kept driving. And off in the distance we saw these little black dots. I pointed them out and asked what they were. The kid in front of me said "bushes". Shit. I totally laughed it off. And we kept driving and driving and the rain let up and before you knew it we were pretty close to these "bushes" which happened to be a herd of water buffalo - probably over 200 of them. They were right in front of us and have been desensitized to land rovers. We scooted around for everyone to get pictures and continued driving a bit and then "HEY it's a lion" came out of someone's mouth. Before you knew it we were watching two male lions cross our paths. Their manes were huge and they were the regal creatures you think they would be. They strutted and moved with dignity amongst the cars that were radioing each other to alert of a big cat siting. As we watched them meander through the plain, David announced that the lions were hunting the water buffalo. He explained that there needed to be two males in order to take down one buffalo due to size differences and the fact that the herd of buffalo can attack a lion. So the cats seperated one buffalo from the pack and before you knew it we were watching a kill happen. We learned that the lions will first attack the testicles of their prey to immobilize them. Once their victim is down, they will then tear at the intestines. And this is exactly what we saw. The circle of life. We watched the feast for a bit and then a female lion was allowed to join. They will eat for two days on this buffalo. Then it will feed the vultures and the hyenas. We might be able to see some of this tomorrow.
And now I am in my army tent that is covered in a thatched room with a full tiled shower and bathroom attached. My belly is full from a fabulous meal and I have enjoyed some hot water. The crickets are chirping and there are some other strange noises that might be animals or birds. But it is downright amazing that I have had this day. I am so blessed.
Peace out.
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