Masai Mara

Acacia in the Sunset

Me and Elephants

Well, I suppose I can allow myself to leave Kenya now, as I saw both a lion and a giraffe thisweekend…in addition to SO many other animals. What a fantastic safari.

Nine girls – 5 pharmacy girls, me, Priti, Abby, and Laurein – left bright and early on Friday morning. It was a long drive to Masai Mara, about 7 hours in total. Luckily I was able to sleep for most of the drive, despite the constant bouncing of the van. When I woke up, we were in Maasai Land, and it was beautiful. It was completely different than any part of Africa I’ve yet seen. It looked exactly like the picture I (and many people, probably) have in my head of what Africa looks like. Bright sun, clear blue sky, and the brown-green of the savannah grassland stretching out to the distant mountains as far as the eye can see.

I should explain more about Masai Mara. The Masai Mara National Reserve is about 1500 square kilometers of grassland that is essentially the northern extension of the Serengeti Plains of Tanzania. It is located in the south of Kenya, on the Kenya-Tanzania border. Its name comes from the famous Maasai tribe (more about the Maasai later) that resides in the area and the Mara River that flows through southern Kenya. Basically, Masai Mara is to Kenya as the Serengeti is to Tanzania – it is the most famous safari destination in the country.

The drive through Maasi Land was beautiful. The Maasai are one of the few tribes in Kenya who live largely in traditional ways, shunning modernization and city life, so I really felt like I was in Africa. We saw numerous Maasai along the way, traditionally dressed in their bright red shukas and elaborate jewelry, both men and women. The Maasi are a nomadic, cattle herding tribe, and we saw many, many people out in the fields with large herd of cattle, in their traditional Maasai dress. It was just fantastic.

Just outside the entrance to the park, our driver Erick let us browse at a ‘cultural’ gift shop for a few minutes. This place was like the Eldoret Cultural Shop (our favorite store here) on steroids. It was a very large tin building packed (I mean packed) with anything and everything, including masks, soapstone carvings, spears, Maasai shukas, and of course: tourists. The prices for everything were inflated at least 200 percent, if not more. Having lived in Kenya for some time, we just laughed at the outrageous prices they were asking. But, as the majority of their customers fly into Nairobi then come straight south for Safari, they really have no idea how much things should cost. I think they were making pretty good money there. We ended up stopping there again today on our way home, and a few of us bought some things after we haggled them way down to a more reasonable price. I bought a really pretty batik canvas painting of the plains with giraffes and elephants around an acacia tree.

After the shop and after entering the gate to the actual reserve, the road quality dwindled from bad to worse to an adventure in its own right. Our hotel was a 45 minute drive from the gate – 45 minutes on bad roads. But, this was offset by the gobs and gobs of wildlife we saw on the way in, mostly zebras, various types of antelopes, and wildebeest. The other good thing about the long drive was that it meant our hotel was smack dab in the middle of the park.

We finally arrived at our hotel the Fig Tree, which was quite lovely. We had just enough time to check into our cabins – also very nice with real bathrooms and hot showers – and eat a quick lunch before going on our first game drive. Being as this was our first drive, everything was new and exciting, and being as we are 9 girls, pretty much everything we saw was squeal-worthy. After a lot of zebras, antelope, and wildebeest, and even a few warthogs, we came across some lions. I must say, it was pretty exciting. There were 6 or 7 other safari vans gathered around, taking pictures, but the lions – a male and a female – just lay calmly in the grass. Clearly they are very acclimated to humans. Now, this blog is G-rated, but let me just say that it is apparently the lions’ mating season, which we got to witness...several times. Erick told us that lions will mate 300 times a week. Hmm… no wonder we saw so many lions this weekend. After spending at least an hour looking at our first lions, we drove onward. We came across 3 elephants feeding, and they were beautiful. Thirty minutes and at least 2 dozen pictures later, we found some more lions – 2 young males and a female. These lions were just sleeping, so our pictures were not that exciting, though I got a really cute picture of one of the males rolled onto his back with his legs in the air – reminded me so much of Fred. The term “Big Cat” is not a misnomer; they purr, play, and generally act just like my two Big Cats at home.

By this time it was getting dark, so we headed back to the camp. Just outside the entrance, we came across a very young male lion hanging out in the bushes. He was not as used to us as the others, he acted very skittish, but I got a nice picture of him peeking out from behind a bush. After a delicious dinner and a hot shower, it was time to call it a night.Saturday was an early morning; we left at 6:15 for our first game drive. We left a little earlier than most of the other vehicles, which was nice, in that we got to sort of lead the pack and see animals before dozens of roaring engines scared them off. Almost as soon as we pulled out, we saw 2 lions – a male and a female again – prowling across the plain. The male was absolutely HUGE, weighing at least 150 pounds I’d guess, with a big full beautiful mane. They really didn’t give two hoots about us, and we were able to get so close it was unbelievable. Erick said it looked like they were hunting their breakfast – and indeed there was a very large herd of various grazers nearby (all of them looking alert and nervous). But, very soon there was a bevy of safari vehicles following the lions, so I think our chances of seeing a kill were minimal. We moved on, and soon came to a mamma giraffe and her baby. I was so excited! They were just beautiful. They moved so gracefully. Clearly they were very skittish, and we couldn’t get terribly close, but I got some fantastic pictures of them anyway. Pretty soon all of the late-start safari-ers roared up behind us, and the giraffes ran off.

The other highlight of the morning was finding a large pride of female lions lazing about on some rocks, and one of them had 2 little lion cubs! They were so cute. Much squealing was heard from our vehicle. Again, they reminded me so much of little kittens they way they played and jumped about. They didn’t give their mother a moment’s peace. In fact, she kept getting up and moving a little farther off, and they’d bound along right behind her and jump on her as soon as she plopped down – biting her ears, batting at her tail, etc. It was just too cute for words. After the lion pride we found another herd of elephants – 5 or so. Even though we were seasoned elephant viewers, having seen them for the 2nd time after all, they were still just stunning. We really saw so much wildlife in the morning, in addition to the mentioned we saw quite a few hyenas (most of them collared for some sort of research/conservation project), numerous zebras and antelopes, warthogs, jackals, meerkats (running along side the van – those things can move!), baboons, a tortoise, and dozens of beautiful birds. The morning drive provided some great pictures with the sun rising over the mountains, and many hot air balloons. Apparently sunrise hot air balloon safaris are quite popular, quite spectacular, and quite romantic. And also quite expensive. We all decided it’s definitely something we will do someday, when we find a rich gentleman to foot the bill. I’ve got the gentleman; now all he needs to do is win the lottery. Or publish his first novel.

After about 3 hours of driving, we headed back to camp for a fabulous breakfast, after which 5 of us decided to do the Maasai village walk. I’d heard mixed reviews of the village walk; some people had said it was a wonderful experience, while others said it was just one long sales pitch for various Maasai goods. I decided to go, not expecting a true cultural experience but hoping I would enjoy it anyway. The fee to enter the village was 1500 kSH, which bought us a personal Maasai guide, a tour of a Maasai hut, traditional dances by both men and women, and the right to take as many pictures as we wanted. Apparently it’s very culturally insensitive to photograph the Maasai (which is a shame because they are so beautiful). Unless you’ve paid for the privilege, I suppose.

At any rate, Jeremiah, the son of the village chief and our guide, started off by telling us a little bit about the Maasai people, that they are primarily nomadic cattle herders, etc. Their villages are really quite small – 10-12 small mud huts built in a circle with an open common area in the middle. The houses are surrounded by a fence of sorts made from sticks and bush. In the morning the cattle are driven out to graze, and at night they are driven back into the circle, and the fence completed. This is to protect the cattle from predators, though Jeremiah said it’s not uncommon for lions to jump over the fence and eat cattle. When this happens, the men of the village must find the lion and kill it, otherwise it will learn how easily it can get food at night. With cattle being the Maasai’s primary means of existence, that would be a disaster. It is illegal to kill lions in Kenya, but the Maasai are allowed because they are recognized as a self-governing tribe by the government – as long as they remain in the government-appointed lands. Jeremiah also told us that in order to be eligible for marriage, a young Maasai man must first single-handedly kill a male lion. While that is certainly a traditional Maasai practice, I had heard that it was largely obsolete now, so who knows. I guess it makes a nice story for the muzungus. Jeremiah is actually getting married next month, he said, to a Maasai woman he met in school. He said that since they are both educated, they are allowed to make the decision to marry themselves, and sort of ask their families’ permission, though it is not strictly needed.

We learned so many things about traditional Maasai culture, and it was very interesting. Traditionally, Maasai women shave their heads, while the men grow their hair long. However, if a woman is educated, she is allowed to grow her hair long. We saw one woman with long hair (or “big hair” as Jeremiah called it), she was the local school teacher. Also, at the age of 18 Maasai will typically start to put spacers in their earlobes to create the long dangling skin that is often decorated with colorful beads or earrings. But again, if the person (man or woman) has had an education, they can forego that practice. Jeremiah also told us about the Maasai shukas: bright colorful cloths worn by men, always in shades of red. The Maasai adopted the color red many years ago as a way of identifying each other in battles with other tribes. As a nomadic tribe, a village will pack up and leave every 5 years or so and start a new village elsewhere. The main impetus behind their continued nomadic lifestyle is the search for the best cattle grazing land.

When we entered the village the women performed traditional songs and dances for us for about a half an hour. I got some great pictures as well as a short video. After that Jeremiah took us into one of the huts, made completely of sticks and sealed over every inch with cow dung. We sat inside for awhile, saw where the Maasai slept, ate, and cooked in the home. It was pretty cool. We also saw the “calf pen” that every home has. Calves are kept in the pen, which is inside the actual house, at night, both to protect them from predators and to prevent them from nursing at night, so the cows can be milked in the morning.

After exiting the house, the Maasai men performed their traditional songs and dances. One of them involved a competition to see who could jump the highest. The winner gets the right to court (or maybe marry?) whatever woman they are fighting over. They really could jump quite high. Whichever young man has killed a lion gets to wear a tall hat made out of the lion’s mane. One man was wearing one, and the group danced around, taking turns putting the hat on each of us. I got a picture of myself in the lion mane hat, and I must say I look quite ridiculous.

Then the fun began as we were ushered into a smaller fenced-in circle adjoining the village, which was the “Maasai market.” We circled around tables and tables full of beaded jewelry, soapstone plates and carvings, gourds…pretty much everything. I ended up buying a Maasai shuka. I probably paid a little too much for it, but I think it was worth it. Overall the experience was rather touristy, but it was still enjoyable. It was at least nice to learn about the traditional Maasai culture, even if that’s not exactly how some of them live anymore. I mostly enjoyed seeing the traditional Maasai dress, on both the men and the women. It was so beautiful. The Maasai, especially the men, are extremely tall and thin. Their physique combined with the bright reds of their shukas and their piles of jewelry on every appendage was quite striking. They just look so…African.

Lonely Planet Kenya actually has some interesting information on the Maasai:

From “History:”
…Although control of the coast was largely sewn up, the interior, especially the Rift Valley and the Aberdare Highlands, was largely impregnable to outsiders due to the fearsome Maasai and other warlike tribes. A few explorers braved the Maasai heartland – including Gustav Fischer, a German whose party was virtually annihilated at Hell’s Gate in 1882 – but most attempts to enter the Rift Valley were doomed to failure.

The united front of the Maasai began to crack in the late 19th century, following a brutal civil war between the Ilmaasai and the Iloikop groups and the simultaneous arrival of rinderpest (a cattle disease), cholera, smallpox, and famine. Because of this, the British government was able to negotiate a treaty with Olonana (known today as Lenana), the laibon (chief or spiritual leader) of the Maasai, allowing them to march the Mombasa-Uganda railway line right through the heart of Maasai grazing lands. On one level, the Maasai were just accepting the inevitable – their end-of-the-world myth spoke of an ‘iron snake’ that would one day crawl across their land. Ironically, this once-crucial line now has just two passenger services, a far cry from its conception as the pride of East Africa.

With the completion of the railway, the headquarters of the colonial administration was moved from Mombasa to the cooler small settlement of Nairobi, and white settlers began to occupy the fertile highlands north of Nairobi. Their interests clashed with those of the Maasai, prompting the colonial authorities to pressure Olonana into restricting the Maasai to two reserves, one on either side of the new railway. However, the white settlers soon wanted the northern reserve as well and in 1910 and 1911, the Maasai who lived there were forced to treck south, despite Olonana’s objections.

From “Tribes of Kenya:”
For many, the Maasai are the definitive symbol of ‘tribal’ Kenya. With a reputation (often exaggerated) as fierce warriors, and a proud demeanor, the tribe has largely managed to stay outside the mainstream of development in Kenya and maintains large cattle herds along the Tanzanian border.

The Maasai first migrated to central Kenya from current-day Sudan, but in the late 19th century were decimated by famine and disease, and their cattle herds plagued by rinderpest. The British gazetted the Masai Mara National Reserve in the early 1960s, displacing the Maasai, and they slowly continued to annex more and more Maasai land. Re-settlement programs have met with limited success as the Massai scorn agriculture and land ownership.

Maasai women are famous for wearing vast plate-like bead necklaces, while men typically wear a red-checked shuka (Maasai blanket) and carry a distinctive ball-ended club. Blood and milk are the mainstay of the Maasai diet, supplemented by a drink called mursik, made from milk fermented with cow’s urine and ashes, which has been shown to lower cholesterol.

At around the age of 14, males become el-moran (warriors) and build a small livestock camp (manyatta) after their circumcision ceremony, where they will live alone for up to eight years, before returning to the village to marry. Morans traditionally dye their hair red with ochre and fat. Female genital mutilation is common among the Maasai, despite the best efforts of various human rights groups.

Tourism provides an income to some, either through being guides and camp guards (askaris), selling everyday items (gourds, necklaces, clubs, and spears), dancing or simply posing for photographs. However, the benefits are not widespread. In recent years, many Maasai have moved to the cities or coastal resorts, becoming doormen for restaurants and hotels.

“The Hard Sell:”
A common complaint among travelers, particularly in The Mara, is that the Maasai can be incredibly hard-nosed in business, and ‘cultural’ visits to villages often become high-pressured sales ventures the moment you arrive.

While it would be unfair to generalize, it’s certainly true that some Maasai, especially in high-density tourist areas, will treat you purely as a cash cow. Favorite techniques include dropping wares in your lap and refusing to take them back; coming into campsites to offer dances at non-negotiable rates; and charging for absolutely everything, from camping to crossing their land. While this behavior isn’t limited to Maasai, their aggressive and utterly unapologetic attitude upsets more travelers than day-to-day hassle elsewhere.

If you feel you’re being taken for a ride, Maasai or otherwise, stand up for yourself. Or, ask yourself this: If your people had been consistently dispossessed for over a century and were now subjected to constant streams of gawping foreigners with seemingly bottomless pockets, wouldn’t you do the same?

I think this is all very interesting. The weekend for me turned out to be as much about the animals and the safari as it was about the Maasai culture: their land, their traditions, and their history. I was surprised how much their story (and really the story of most of the tribes of Kenya) resembles that of the Native Americans back home. It seems we white people are capable of some pretty terrible things. Not that it helps to dwell on the past, but the question becomes, if we can’t undo what has already been done, how can you attempt to right the wrongs? I don’t know the answer, but surely there must be one. Surely there has to be a way for the Maasai to teach me about their culture, their real culture, in a respectful and authentic way. And surely there has to be a way for them to preserve what is native and important to them without selling their cultural identity to the highest bidder? I don’t know if going on the village walk was a help or a hurt. I learned about the traditions of a group of people wholly different than myself, and I definitely gained a new respect and knowledge of where they came from. But at the same time, was my presence there only perpetuating the problem of cultural tourism by confirming to them that their cultural identity could be sold for a price? I don’t know.

And then there’s the whole other issue I was re-confronted with this weekend (the first time being Baringo/Bagoria) of staying in absolute fantastic luxury while surrounded by some of the most destitute people in the world. I know I wasn’t the only one troubled by this, as we had several discussions about it in our group. Is it right? Is it wrong? Is it both? We never came to a consensus. Maybe we shouldn’t worry about it and just hope that the money we’re throwing around is doing some good for the people who need it the most. I just don’t know.

Maybe the answer to all of these troubling questions is not a matter of money or technology, or ‘westernizing’ people who wouldn’t necessarily benefit from it… maybe the answer just lies in an understanding. An understanding between people of different colors, races, cultures, and backgrounds. A learning that this is where you come from and this is where I come from; and neither one is better or worse, we’re just…different. An exchange of ideas. I highlight that because of this: from the very first meeting I went to about the IU-Kenya program, clear back in the first months of first year – we were told that was the emphasis of the program. The primary goal being an exchange: Of knowledge. Of ideas. Of experience. Of Understanding. I don’t think that I fully grasped that concept until now, 3 years after that first meeting, 7 weeks into my stay in Kenya. It’s still a powerful concept to try to wrap my mind around.

But I digress…(verbosely, it would seem)…

After the Maasai village walk, which I did enjoy very much, we drove back to the Fig Tree for lunch and chillin’ at the pool time. After a few hours of that, it was time for our afternoon game drive. We ventured into the less wildlife-populous places, having seen most of the big game, and now looking for the much more elusive cheetahs, leopards, and rhinos. We didn’t see any of the those, but a nice addition to our list of wildlife was some hippos. We actually saw them in 2 different places along the river. The first place was nice, nothing terrifically special, having seen hippos twice before. (I sound like such an animal snob). The second place we saw them, there were quite a few more. There was one especially large male who was being an absolute bully, and we got to see some pretty cool hippo fighting action. (As Abby dryly said: I would say those are some hungry, hungry hippos). On our evening drive we also saw some more elephants (see picture above). There were 7 in this herd (people here always tell us that elephants travel in 7s…though I’ve never heard that before), including 2 small little baby elephants who were just too cute. We parked the van and they plodded slowly by us, just yards in front of the vehicle. The neat thing about this herd was that they walked in a perfectly straight line across the plain, which I thought was just a circus trick (though they didn’t hang on trunks-to-tails, which probably is just a circus trick). I got some great pictures of the line of 7 elephants. We also saw several ostriches, as well as the elusive Eland – the largest antelope. The picture will make a nice compliment to the one I took of the dik-dik – the smallest antelope – at Lake Bagoria.

The ride back to the hotel showed us one of the most outstandingly beautiful sunsets I’ve seen in my life (of which many pictures were taken). Leisurely dinner and a hot shower were again the order of the night, as wake up call for this morning was even earlier.

We left at 5:50 this morning for our last game drive. I’m glad we left so early, as we enjoyed an equally fantastic sunrise over the plains, the backdrop for which was distant mountains and soaring hot air balloons. It felt pretty much like paradise. Abby said the animals were taking their day of rest this morning, which I had to agree with, as we didn’t see too many. We saw a few lions lying around, just a few antelope, but not too much else. The great, GREAT find of the morning by Erick was a herd (pack?) of giraffes feeding on some trees in the distance. There were about 6 or 7. We couldn’t see them that well, as they were pretty far off the safari path. Well, Erick just turned our safari van off the path and drove us across the grass right up to the grove of trees. The conservationist in me cringes, knowing that there are safari paths and protected grassland for a good reason; but the giraffe lover in me says it was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen and I got some fantastic pictures.

After the giraffes’ breakfast, we continued to look for rhinos, leopards, and cheetahs without success. The rhinos I didn’t really think we would see. There are only about 25 in the entire 1500 square kilometers of the park, and Erick said in all of last year doing game drives he only ever saw 2. Contrary to popular belief, it is rhinos, and not elephants, that are by far the most endangered species in Kenya. They were hunted to very near extinction in the 1960s and 70s. The cheetahs and leopards were not to be seen either, though I thought we might get lucky, but it was not meant to be. The other thing we had hoped to see was the tail end of the Great Migration – the migration of literally millions of wildebeest and zebras from the Serengeti to Masai Mara in search of more fertile grasslands. This typically happens in August every year, and then the animals head back to Tanzania around November. We did see the end result of the migration – thousands of wildebeest and zebras grazing in large herds all over the plains – though it was a little too late to get that infamous ‘fording the river’ picture that is on every nature show ever made. That, and the place where they cross the Mara River is about 70 kilometers away from where we were. I do think that would be a spectacular sight to see someday, but perhaps better appreciated from an aerial view.

We did end our last drive on a fun note, right at the end we saw a family of warthogs eating by the road, including 4 little baby warthogs, who were so cute in their own ugly little way. While mom and dad went about the important business of eating, the babies decided they were going to play head-butt and pick on the runt. It was quite adorable. Even that, at the end of the weekend, elicited girly squealing from the van.

Despite the relative lack of game sighting, I thought this morning’s drive might have been the best. One of the IU people here before us said that 2 days at Masai Mara was enough, because by the end you just get so sick of seeing the same animals over and over again, and it’s not nearly as exciting. While I agree that bouncing around in a safari van for hours at a time does get old, I don’t know how anyone could ever tire of looking at the African savannah – animals or no animals. It was quite brisk this morning, so most of the girls huddled in the van while we were driving around. It was cold, but I couldn’t help but stand and look out the top as we drove through the plains, seeing a full panoramic view of Masai Mara, seeing the sun rise, the mountains, the balloons, zebras grazing in the distance…seeing Africa just as I always dreamed it would look like. It was so beautiful.

I got some absolutely fantastic pictures this weekend, both of the landscape and the wildlife. As I was telling Mom when I talked to her, I think this is something that everyone should do if they can at some point in their lives. Seeing these animals in a zoo is absolutely nothing like seeing them in their natural habitat. In fact, I think after this weekend seeing these animals in a zoo might make me a little sad. Again, it’s really one of those things that cannot be captured on film – though I did try, I took over 500 pictures in the last 3 days alone! Amy (pharmacy student) said it best: “If one (picture) is good, then 10 must be better!”

After a quick breakfast and some last-minute camp photos, we packed up and headed back to Eldoret. Of course, the ride back was not nearly as exciting, as we had no safari to look forward to, plus we’d just spent the entire weekend in a car. The trip back took about 8 hours – 8 rather uncomfortable and hot hours, though there were some highlights. While driving through the Nandi hills we passed through a very long stretch of tea farms that were quite picturesque. The tea leaves are a very bright green, which makes a beautiful contrast between the more muted earth tones of the surrounding farms and hills. We had more fun in attempting to take pictures out the window of a bouncing van than actually getting the pictures.

About 3 hours from Eldoret, it started to rain. (I should say that last Thursday was an exciting day for us, as it was the 3rd straight day without any rain, at which point the rainy season was declared officially over. Huzzah! Just in time for me to leave! As it turns out, it did rain quite a bit in Eldoret today, so there goes that celebration.) After about 10 minutes of driving in the downpour…guess what song came on the radio… “Africa” by Toto. We totally cranked up the volume and enjoyed one of the greatest 80s songs ever written, especially singing “I bless the rains down in Africa” over the rain pounding down on the roof. Of all the fantastic memories of this trip to Africa, that one will stay right near the top.

Finally, though, we were back in Eldoret, just in time for dinner at IU house and some down time and TV at Sonak’s house. The real highlight after such an amazing weekend is that I don’t have to work tomorrow, as it is the start of my week off. The real lowlight is that I am definitely getting sick. Three of the girls started this weekend with a viral/flu type thing that’s been sweeping IU house (pretty much everyone has been sick) so I guess it was inevitable that I would get it after being in such close quarters with them for 3 days. Oh well, I suppose it’s better to be sick and be able to lie in my bed all day if I have to than to have to go to work. I do have a lot of things I want to get done this week though, and being sick is surely not on my list.

The other real bummer about tomorrow – much worse than being sick – is that Laurein leaves for her month of rural health care in Kapenguria tomorrow. As someone I met the first day I was here and have seen almost every day since for 2 months (not to mention all the trips we’ve done together), I consider her a very good friend and I will miss her a lot. Just the first in a long series of goodbyes I will have to make this week, most of which will be very hard. I am trying to offset the sorrow of goodbye with the joy of hello I will get to have when I see Mike, my four-legged kids, and the rest of my family and friends again.

Not that I want to end this post on a negative note. I had an absolutely fantastic weekend – surely the best trip I’ve taken in Kenya; maybe even the best trip I’ve ever taken period (If only Mike had been there). I did love Kakamega quite a bit, but I think that Masai Mara was better, because that belly-flipping feeling of ‘Oh my goodness, I’m actually in Africa’ didn’t leave for the whole weekend. Absolutely something that I want the people I love to see someday, and I hope that I’ll be able to be there when they do.