Goat blood and lions!

Where to begin? Some in the group said that the past couple weeks changed their lives. Some said it was the best week of their lives. Now I must endeavor to describe the group experience.

The safari: Led by our beloved Godwin and Riche we poked our heads out of two Toyota Land Rovers and drove through The Terengerri National Park and Ngoroagora Crater. Thousand year old Boabob Trees shaded endless wildlife. Giant elephants walked lightly under their multi ton weight, flapped their ears, and passed closely by the car in single file. A pride of lions snuggled the afternoon away, the male with a full royal mane, and baby cubs tumbling and playing with their parents. Giraffes, giant, and adorably awkward would trot nearby incredibly gracefully for all their lankiness. Zebras, wildebeast, cheetas, hyenas, impala, hippos, and more!

The Boma: Small mud huts surrounded by a fence of bristles, (To keep out the lions of course) was our home for nine days. The Massai are goat, sheep and cow herders, every Massai man carries with him a long stick for this purpose and every Massai wears plaid cloths and elaborate jewelry. Because their livestock is their lives, they have reduced their diet to blood, milk and meat. Even water is an unnecessary luxury.

Of course they allowed us to taste their food and almost all of us took a nice sip of warm chunky goat blood after watching them slaughter and skin the animal. Personally at the second slaughtering I was privileged enough to help skin the animal and so my job was to hold the testes. To juxtapose this experience right after this I was asked into their home to hold their three day old baby. Yes,a baby was born while we were there in the very boma we were in, and the mother and baby will be forced to stay inside for three months while the husband sleeps outside.

For all the travelers like ourselves coming through, the Massai still live incredibly traditionally. Last year their school was built and occasionally they buy seeds for vegetables at the market, but they seem to prefer their ways. The days are spent in freedom, they eat when they want, work when they want, and relax when they want. They marry as many women as they want and it is impossible to tell whose child belongs to whom because of the unconditional love shared in the community.

The simplicity of their lifestyle, it's proven endurance of hundreds of years, and the visible happiness in the people could not be missed by anyone. I think we will all go home thankful for our luxuries and jealous of the beautiful MAssai people.

Thanks for reading about our adventures!

Lizzie