Masaai Village

The weekend is almost over, but we had an incredible day yesterday, Saturday, with a Masaai family. The alarm went off early, at 5am. Considering that we went clubbing on Friday in a small bar in Kikuyu, leaving the bed required some goodwill and effort ;) But it was totally worth it! We went to a meeting point with the matatu. Meeting time was at 7, but the guide arrived at 8... Time here is a pretty flexible thing. After another hour in another bus, we were picked up by 4 Masais and their motorcycles. And yes, we went on for another 50min on the motor through the prairies. What an adventure! Finally, we arrived at the houses. There were 2 Canadians living with them at the moment, dressed like real Masai warriors. That was a funny face!

First, the son of the family explained that their goats and cows are far away at the moment where there is more food. He pointed to a mountain at the horizon and the cattle was even behind that. Masais can walk very long distances! We were then invited for a cup of tea (with milk and loooooots and lots of sugar...). We were also allowed to go into a typical cow dung house they built themselves. It has a kitchen, and three sleeping rooms in it, but you don't see a lot because it has no windows. One of the Canadians told us that he had rolled over a fist-sized spider that night in his sleep and found it dead on his bed this morning. Notice to myself: good decision that I decided against the Masaai project ;)

Next the mother of the family painted our faces with the typical warrior painting (it looked like a butterfly). Then we went on to the goat slaughtering. Yes, they were so happy that we were there that they really slaughtered a goat for us! We climbed another mountain, and the view there was incredible! As I made friends with the goat I could not see how they killed him. Instead I had a chat with a 30 year old Masai, named Josphat. He was never allowed to go to school, but his kids now do. Former volunteers founded a night school for the adults who have never been to school. Josphat learned how to write, count and calculate. His English was so good considering he had just learned it for 2 years! Whereas he has just 1 wife, his father had 3. Still, they all respect each other and value family life a lot. There would never be jealousy among the wifes. Traditions are loosening up a little though with this new generation of Masai. Nowadays they can choose their wifes themselves, but Josphat still had to marry the girl his father chose. He was 20 and she was 14 when they married, and the father paid 5 cows and approximately 500 euros to the girl's family.

Meanwhile, the goat was slaughtered, and gutted out, piece by piece. They eat everything - everything - that a goat is made of. They made some fire and grilled the liver and kidney. They cooked the rest. It was so nice of them, but I just could not eat the meat. luckily they also had some rice and potatoes. To show us more of their culture, they invited us for a traditional burning of the skin. One other volunteer had it made on her breast. Through friction, they heated a wooden stick (as if they would make fire) and then push the hot end of the sick on the skin. Not a thing for me, but interesting to watch. Finally they did some dances for us, jumped and sang. They also asked us for traditional dances in the Western world, so we performed a Walzer. They liked it so much that they wanted to try that as well. Two Masaai warriors dancing the Walzer is one of the most funny things I've ever seen! ;) And like that, the day was almost over. I bought a nice belt and a bracelet from them. Cannot wait to show it to you!

On the way back on the motorcycle we had to hurry because black clouds were arising (it is rain time now and it mostly rains at night). Luckily, we made it on time to the bus and had a looong journey home. This was my first night ride with a matatu, and the traffic seems to be worst when it's dark. But we made it!

Now, Sunday, we are on the way to a 3 day Safari in the Masaai Mara. Excited to see all the animals! Yesterday I saw the first herd of Giraffes when we were on the motorcycle. Amazing to see those animals in their natural habitat! For now, I'm excited to see what else will cross our way on the safari .... ! I will keep you updated :)