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MASAI VILLAGE VISIT PICTURE LINK
On our second day at the Masai Mara, we were taken to a village that had opened themselves up to tourists.
It cost us $10 each, and the proceeds are used to build a school that he pointed out to us in the far distance.
Our tour guide was Ben, and he was the son of the chief. He spoke pretty good English, and he was
extremely nice. As we entered the village, the thing that struck me first was how bad it smelled. What
happens is they bring all the cattle into the village at night to protect them from predators, so the
middle of the village was full of cow dung. Yuck!
We were greeted by six women of the tribe who sung a traditional folk song to welcome us. We were
then invited to dance with them and sing. We were warned to watch where we stepped as we danced, and
sure enough I stepped into the biggest pile of cow dung! It took a couple of days to pick it all out of my
boot!
We were then shown how to start a fire with just twigs and no matches. It didn't take them long at all,
and those people on Survivor could learn a tip or two from the Masai!
Ben continued to answer any questions we had about the Masai. Sometimes I would ask him questions that
I already knew the answers to so I could
compare the answers to what the Masai warrior had told us the day before (the one who had given the
lecture).
The answers were mostly the same, but occasionally I found discrepancies.
Ben took us into his father's hut which was extremely dark. We couldn't stand up fully inside, and
our eyes burnt from the smoke from the fire. There were six "rooms:" mom's bed, dad's bed,
kids' bed, calf room, sheep room, and a central area where the fire was located.
The only openings in the hut were that of the doorway and a small opening in the wall which allows the smoke from the
fire to escape. The fire is used for cooking and to keep
the family warm during the rainy season. Dried cow dung is used as fuel for the fire.
We concluded our visit with the village women showing us their crafts that they had for sell. I ended up
buying four bracelets and a peace stick, all of which I negotiated down to a fair price.
You can check out these items on the ITEMS BOUGHT link up above to the right.
Jeff asked where
they get the beads to make their crafts, and they said they trade for them. I'm really glad we
got to do this!
Jackson then took use to the Oloololo Gate of the Masai Mara National Park to shop for Masai souvenirs.
It's here that they have a small shop which accepts Visa, and they really drove a hard bargain.
With all the tourists that were coming
in and out of here, we probably spent 45 minutes trying to bring the prices down. We bought three items:
kissing mask, two giraffe masks, and two Masai wooden statues. You can check out these items on the
ITEMS BOUGHT link up above to the right.
More information about Masai villages can be found on the MASAI PEOPLE link. Make sure to check out the picture link of this visit above. It's really the only pictures
I have of any Africans as you're not allowed to take pictures of them unless you have permission (which
we had).
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Copyright © 2002, Dawn M. Dalton.
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