oct., 18-19 - maasai mara

Oct. 18-19, 2012 - Maasai Mara

Included in our tour fee was the 80USD entrance fee into the Maasai Mara in Kenya.  The pass was good for 24hours.  The Maasai Mara is the same expanse of land as the Serengeti its just on the Kenya side rather than the Tanzania side.   This is the original land of the Maasai tribe.  The park full to the brim with wild beautiful animals.  Our first game drive was at 2pm on the 18th.  We entered the park and immediately saw a small herd of elephants.  Through the drive we also saw 4 lions, two male and two female...we got to see them making babies.  haha.  We also spotted ostriches, more zebras, antelopes of all kinds, giraffes,wildebeests, warthogs, and more. The next morning we got up super early and left by 6:20.  The Maasai tribesman gaurding the camp had gotten word the cheetahs were hunting near the entrance so we pretty much dropped everything an hopped in the truck and headed towards the gate.  We missed the hunting cheetahs but we did get to see a lionness eating an antelope, two cheetahs resting under a tree, more lions, and hyenas.  We are missing just one animal of the big 5. We have yet to see a leopard.

After the game drive we stopped at a Maasai tribe village for a tour and demostration of some of there culture. We were greeted with a welcome dance from the young men of the tribe.  They dress in red and patterned cloth with lots of beaded jewelry.  Its looks a lot like a short bright colored toga. I have plenty of pics, you will just have to wait until I have a better internet connection. The women they did a welcome dance and song.  They then showed us how they light fires with just two sticks and a cow turd.  We also got a little tour of a village house.  Its a tiny two room house.  One room is for the baby cows to protect them from the predators.  The other room has the parents bed on one side a fire pit for cooking in the middle and a smaller bed on the other side for the small childern.  No doors.  We all had to duck to get through the door way.  All the village houses are inside a fence made of branches. At night the entire herd of cattle stay inside this fence.  The village is also just one family.  They practice polygamy so a man can have many wives and when a son takes a wife they also build a house with in the fence.  They do not marry with in the family but with another family village.  In the past before a man could marry he has to kill a lion to show is strength, bravery, and manhood.  Today however the government has made it illegal to kill the wildlife so the man must give 10 cows to the woman's family.  The Maasai also live off of a diet f purely beef, cow blood, and milk.  The cows are not killed for the blood rather they just take blood from a cow once a month and just rotate cows.  The tour was enlightening to say the least.

We are now back in Nairobi for two days.  On Monday we will add 7 people to our group and will head to Tanzania.  We lost one girl, Ulrika, today.  



What I have learned:
There are 42 different tribes in Kenya.