What do you get when you put 2
Americans, 2 Canadians and a Masai in a land cruiser? 18 chapatis, a case of
Tusker beer and an incredible trip to Chyulu hills.
Aran and I hit the jackpot when we met
Becky and Jenna at Wildebeest camp in Nairobi. Days before Jenna was set to
head back to the states, after working for a year in Kenya, she arranged for us
to climb in Chyulu with her friend Sapaya, whom she has come to know very well.
So we met at the Ranger cafe in Kimana,
a small town just north of the Tanzania border. For 6 dollars we each got a
coke, a bowl of delicious soup, and a huge plate of rice, green beans, carrots,
cabbage and onion, plus Aran got a half chicken and I had black beans...mmm.
On the street we spent a whopping 3
bucks to get about 20 tomatoes, a bag of onions, 4 huge avocados, 5 oranges and
10 cobs of corn.
Sapaya took us on a game drive through
the group ranch at the base of the hills. We didn't see a lot of animals, but
we ran into a gang of trouble-making baboons and a few Masai herds. Mostly we
spent our time taking in the beautiful sunset and the hills and landscapes
surrounding us. Kilimanjaro even made an appearance, so we soaked up every last
ray of sunshine before making our way up to the lodge. After getting settled
in, we stuffed ourselves with corn perfectly roasted by Jenna on the campfire.
The next morning we sat on the gazebo
drinking chai, eating oranges, pineapple and chapatis with jam for breakfast.
Good thing we ate so much because we had a steep climb! It was so
beautiful and it got better the higher we went. We were accompanied by 2 Masai
warriors to protect us from wild animals...they pointed out some fresh lions paw
prints on the way up! Part of the path was a nice flat section through the
forest where we explored huge trees with crazy roots. At the top we crossed
over into the Tsavo west national park.
Following a lot of picture-taking we had
lunch and shared a beer with the Masai..."save an elephant, kill a
Tusker!"
Our descent was quick and really dusty
so back at the lodge we all had a wash to scrub off the thick layer of dirt
packed on our sweaty skin! We practiced some Swahili phrases while preparing
food to accompany our goat. That's right! A goat!! Aran and I watched as the
Masai warriors slaughtered a goat from their herd. It was kind of sad because
the little guy was bleating and scared but it was quick. And someone pointed out that if you eat meat, you should be able to watch it be killed. One of the Masai drank
all of the goat's blood on the spot. Then they quickly skinned and dismembered
it, sharing the raw kidney, intestines and heart among themselves. The head was saved
for the elders in the clan and the rest was put on stakes around the fire. It
was impressive how quickly and efficiently the Masai prepared the meat. Sapaya
explained that this was a skill all Masai men were expected to know how to
perform.
When the meat was cooked, one of the
Masai warriors cut pieces of the meat off the stakes and passed it to each of
us...going around the circle until all the meat was gone. It's a good thing
there were about 15 Masai with us because there was a LOT of meat and, delicious
as it was, we filled up fast.
The 3 days up in the hills were the most
cultural and fun we've had so far and we consider ourselves lucky to have had
this experience...
I wrote this post a few days ago...since then we've spent a couple days in Loitokitok, crossed the border on foot into Tanzania, hung out in Moshi for a couple days, and today was a 10 hour bus ride into Dar es Salaam. Tomorrow we're heading to Zanzibar for some beach time!
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