Nothing makes a desert so beautiful, as the Maasai people. On Friday morning (September 17th) all 9 of us set out to visit Simanjiro, a region of Maasailand. Throughout the entire 6-hour drive, noticeable changes were taking place. The temperature was increasing, and the amount of green plants was decreasing. I’m living in an area which has a fairly high elevation, so it’s slightly cooler and there are lots of plants around. This was not the case when we made it to Olerumo. Thorns, thistles, burrs, and any other pokey vegetation you can name, were abundant, but otherwise.. Nothin’. So we set up our tents amongst the dung & stick huts, (They looked rather out of place) and proceeded to sit down and drink chai. As I was informed by Jeremy, being offered chai there, is like being offered a glass of water in a Canadian person’s home. Most of what we did that evening was.. Sit. When it got dark (Which happens at 6:30, EVERY night here) supper was started, and we ate rice and beans that were cooked over the fire. Yummy! Okay, now I bet you’re just dyyyyyiiiiing to know where the nice little outhouse was. Heh. Yeah right. Now, I’ve peed in the bushes before, people: hello, I’m from QCI. It happens more than it should. But, that’s when there’s actual forest coverage. Trees to hide behind, y’know? In the desert... Not so much. You walk and walk and hope you’ll find a thorn tree big enough to kinda sorta hide behind, all the while staying out of sight of anybody who happens to be herding their cows in the area. Anyways, enough of that!
On Saturday we packed four Maasai into the back of the Safari, so a vehicle which is supposed to hold 7 is now holding 13.. And headed down to Orbili! We visited the new school site and went to a boma where some friends of the group lived. We were of course offered more chai, and sat for a while. This was kind of just how the day went, until we ended up back at Olerumo. More sitting commenced there too, of course, but of a different fashion. The children all got together as a choir, and sang for us, which was really great. I got some video of it, but of course I left my camera there. Which is not good. So, unless something amazing happens, I’m camera-less for the rest of my time here. Oooooops J
During the whole of our Maasailand experience, something occurred that changes this entire account into something better than it sounds. Everywhere we went, people watched. And waved. And came to greet us. Children would come up and want to just hold my hand or touch my hair. In every boma we visited, there were the most generous people. All of them wanted to just say hi, and come watch us as we sat there. Language barriers don’t matter in situations like that. I felt like a celebrity! Or possibly a freakshow... Either way, it was a completely unique experience, and one well worth pursuing, if you’re ever in Africa!
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