Warriors in the Masai
Trip Start
Apr 24, 1998
1
117
147
Trip End
Dec 10, 2001
Where I stayed
Free Camping, Masai lands
Masai Mara, Kenya
Thursday, October 18, 2001
We "free" camped over the last 2 nights. This means that we are out in the wild, with no stopgap between you and a lion's mouth or a trampling herd of elephants!
After another scrummy camp dinner, we sat around and met some of the local warriors. They spoke of their homeland and culture and then they got us up to dance. The boys learnt to do the jumping dance, which shows stamina and strength, and us girls learnt to do the ladies dance.
The Masai's wandered off into the night, heading to their post around the camp, they were our guards for the night. As we were getting ready for bed, Rachel and I had wandered down to the toilet block (a small cement building) and bumped into a warrior, literally, it scared the shit out of me, as I honestly did not see him in the darkness of night, until he smiled...oh so white teeth! Next thing, we heard this rumble, just behind the toilet block, and then a blast like a very loud trumpet. We jumped out of our skins and hid inside the toilets. There were bull elephants outside and they were starting to fight over territory. We ran back to camp, with the aid of our warrior and they lit fires surrounding the camp to deter the elephants running through (elephants are scared of fire). The last thing I wanted was to wake up under an elephants foot (or bum!) It was hard to fall asleep that night. A mixture of fear and excitement and the adrenaline pumping through my veins. This was fantastic! and I would not have it any other way.
We woke before dawn, and climbed into our trucks. Arriving at the gates of the Masai Mara, we headed off as the sun was rising. Today was a great day to see some wildlife. We first came across a family of elephants, Masai giraffe (they are shorter and darker spots and more meat than normal giraffes), Eland prancing around, zebras roaming along (and yes they do walk in a straight line like a zebra crossing...lol...I think that is where the term came from!
We also saw a newly born Topibeast, which was still wobbly on its feet. We spotted paw prints which lead us to a cheetah. She was out for a morning hunt. They are magestic and very agile! Spotted Hyena are the ugliest, dirtiest creatures and they sat around a watering hole laughing (at us?)....By lunchtime the heat had driven the game into the shade and we headed back to camp for lunch before visiting a local tribe. We were welcomed with song and dance and the chief of the village took us on a grand tour of his village (which is nothing but huts made of cow poo, surrounded by a fence made out of spike trees!) The animals also live in this compound and the sheep sleep in the hut with the families. It was very interesting and the children wanted to play with us. The women just sort of hung back.
Back to the masai mara for an afternoon of hunting lions. After 2 hours, and many more other animals, we were out of luck for lion, but did get to see the most amazing sunset over the mara. This is the life.
