Mzungu Mimics Maasai

Once again I seem to be lagging in my updates to the blog.  However, I had good reason this last week while I was making a return visit to the Masai Mara.  With the advent of the USB modem, internet connections have been fairly reliable and strong anywhere that you can get a cell phone signal.  I say fairly because I discovered that I strong signal does not always equate to a good internet connection.  However, I digress on the main topic.

I decided that I would take a few days in traveling back to Nairobi from Bungoma in Western Kenya.  So, on Tuesday morning I packed up my belongings and started east.  I drove south through Kisumu and then turned southeast to Kericho and then east to Narok.  Narok is the stepping off point for anyone going into the Mara by road.

Wednesday morning I got up and made the drive to the Sekenani Gate of the Mara where I met my friend Jonathan.  The whole point of the trip was not to see wildlife but to spend some time with Jonathan and getting a better understanding of life as a Maasai.  Jonathan is the guide that I met while doing my safari about a month ago.  This trip was definitely a step down in budget.  I stayed at a rustic camp owned and operated by the Maasai.  It at least had running hot water and some electricity so I wasn't completely roughing it.

The whole of Kenya is in a terrible drought.  However, the Maasai are pastoralists and are truly suffering from the lack of rain.  There entire wealth is measured in head of cattle and goats.  With the lack of water and grazing area, they are facing the loss of a significant head of livestock.  There is competition between the livestock and wildlife as they compete for the same dwindling water in the rivers and watering holes.  In fact, Jonathan's uncle lost 2 cows to elephants the day that I arrived.

Because I had the rental car, we agreed that we would spend Thursday driving the Mara to check on some areas that were said to still have some graze and water.  It was an all day task.  I was amazed at how much drier the Mara seemed to be just one month after my last visit.  The grasses all seemed to be cropped right to the ground by the grazing wildlife and livestock.  The river beds were either dry or pools of murky and stagnant water.  I saw numerous dead cattle in various states of decay.

The picture for this entry was taken at the temporary homestead for a friend of Jonathan's named Francis.  A temporary shelter sat on the crest of a hill with dust blowing all about it.  The structure was made of small branches woven to make a house.  Rather than the normal waddle of mud and manure, they had simply put some fabric across the side that received most of the wind.  There were 4 women present and 15 children.  One was Francis' wife, one was a mother to his father, and the other two were sister in laws.

The children were absolutely filthy.  Jonathan explained that with the lack of water they really hadn't been able to bath for about a month.  They typically are getting their liquid in the form of milk from the families' herds of goats.  They all looked small and thin, although not malnourished.  I know that they are nearing that point as food is scarce in this area.  They had a goat's head cooking on the fire.  I can't imagine that there is much meat on a goat's head, but it must provide some nourishment.

The children were completely enthralled with seeing an 'mzungu' up close.  I greeted each of them the typical Maasai way.  An adult lightly places his/her hand on the head of the child.  They've all seen Caucasians in safari jeeps, but had never been able to touch one.  They were enthralled with my skin and swarmed me so that they could rub the skin on my arms.  Some of the older ones noticed that I had quite a bit of arm hair and would lightly pull on it to see what it was like.  Kenyans, as a whole, do not have much hair (if any) on their arms. They stroked my arms the entire time I was with them, laughing and giggling amongst themselves.

I have to admit that I had thoughts of germs passing through my mind during this time.  As I placed my hand on some of the heads, I could not help but see the common characteristics of ringworm on some of them.  As they rubbed my arm, I looked at the dirt that seemed to have become almost a second skin on their hands and under their fingernails.  I thought about my immune system and wondered if I was putting it at any additional stress.  And yet, I also thought, who cares?  Children the world over are simply children.  They're curious, gentle and explorative.  They simple found me to be of intrigue or amusement and I was happy to be with them.

After a bit of a visit, we decided to proceed to the village "just down the hill."  Francis wanted to buy me lunch.  It was going to be nyama choma or grilled meat.  His wife came along so that she could get some vegetables and corn meal to take back to the family.  The just down the hill was probably another 20-30 minute drive at slow pace necessitated by the landscape.  The good thing was that it was also towards the Mara River and Mara Triangle where water and pasture were thought to be better.

The little village was made up of small stores (dukas), a couple of butcheries, and numerous bars.  Alcohol is such a problem in some areas and this seemed to be no different.  We bought some goat meat and had sodas while we waited for the food to be cooked.  The meal consisted of goat, potatoes, onions, and a side of ugali (the corn meal staple).  It was absolutely delicious and I ended up gorging myself.  The wife was able to buy some maize and wilted vegetables to take home.  We dropped her off as we made the 12-18 mile return trip.

Jonathan spoke to his family and they agreed that they would need to move the livestock.  Together, the family probably has close to 600 head of cattle.  The men will move the livestock to the SLIGHTLY greener area where water will be available.  They'll also continue to pray for the rains to arrive.  The meteorologists are promising El Nino rains but they've eluded this area so far.

Jonathan showed me a stretch of the river that is normally free flowing.  I looked down from a high point on the bank and saw 60+ hippos literally on top of each other trying to stay wet and cool.  The smell was incredible.  The water is not moving and so their waste floated across the top of the water.  If you think of a stagnant pond with manure instead of algae growth, then you have a good idea of the sight.  It was disgusting.

As Americans, we take water for granted.  We want our perfectly green lawns and so sometimes cheat on watering days imposed by municipalities.  We actually buy bottled water slickly marketed by companies when we have perfectly clean water running in our taps.  We throw half a load of laundry into the washing machine because we can't bear to where one of the many clean shirts in our closet, but instead want the one that is in the hamper.

The morning I left we dropped off a niece of Jonathan's at the school that is within the town of Talek.  Talek is one of the gates going into the official Masai Mara Reserve.  It is a small collection of buildings housing markets for the local population.  That are of the Talek River is also a little higher although not really a running stream.  The children near the town are fortunate in that they are able to get water from one of the two wells in the 2 mile radius of the town or from that portion of the river.  Each child had a container with water for drinking.  These containers were mainly leftover vegetable oil containers and were a half gallon or gallon.  Even through the opaque whiteness of the container, I could see that the water was not clear.  Most of the water was a tan color.  I couldn't help but think of what this would do to my system.  In fact, in another area of the country, there is a cholera outbreak because the water people are getting is stagnant and contaminated.

The lesson I am taking away from this is that conservation of our resources is absolutely vital.  There are many reasons for the situation here in Kenya and I need to write an entry on it.  However, I know that upon return to the States I will think twice before taking a long shower.

Lakes Baringo and Bogoria

After a week in Nairobi, I was more than ready to head out of the city.  Nairobi is a city of over 3 million people.  It's incredibly congested with serious traffic and air pollution problems.  It's a modern city with 24 hour grocery stores, cinemas, etc.  It's also a city of wealth and a city of poverty.  Many expatriates make their homes in some of the leafy suburbs.  However, it is also home to many slum areas.

Kibera is the most (in)famous of all of the slums.  It is the second largest slum to Soweto in South Africa.  It is home to an estimated population of up to 1.2 million people.  It is less than 1% of the total area of Nairobi yet accounts for over 25% of it's population.  To put it into perspective, consider that an average of 4 or 5 people live in an area that is 10 feet by 10 feet.

If I paint a bad picture of Nairobi, it's because it is not really one of my favorite places.  It is simply too congested, too polluted, and to noisy for my tastes.  Also, I don't like discrepancy in living situations is for the people in Nairobi.  As an mzungu, there would be only certain areas where I could 'safely' live.  These are in the wealthier areas where services are abundant and comparable to a modern city in the US.  I can go to YaYa Shopping Center and have my latte, shop in an upscale department store, get my haircut, and shop at a butcher that carries 'exotic' meat such as duck or filet mignon.  I don't dispute the fact that some people will be wealthier than others, but I sometimes look around me while in Nairobi and consider whether or not my fellow 'mzungus' comprehend the magnitude of wealth discrepancy.

Anyway, back to Lakes Baringo and Bogoria.  Rather than driving straight back to Bungoma, I decided that I would spend my birthday doing a little side expedition.  I had been wanting to go to Lake Nakuru National Park to see the flamingos, but knew that the low water levels have effected the numbers resting there.  Lake Bogoria is only about an hour and a half north of Nakuru and has an equal number of resident flamingos.  It also comes with an entrance fee of about $10 versus the $60 at Lake Nakuru.  Lake Baringo, which lies just north of Bogoria, has a large number of hippos and over 450 species of birds.

The lakes sit down on the floor of the Rift Valley.  Because of the geographical setting, it tends to be much hotter and more humid than other areas of Kenya.  Also, Lake Baringo is unique in that it is a fresh water lake whereas most of the lakes in the Rift Valley are salt water.  I chose to stay at a camp and cottage site called Robert's Camp.  It proved to be a great choice for relaxation.  I was in a cottage that sat about 150 yards from the lake's edge.  It was a two story cottage with a second floor porch that would prove useful for hippo viewing.

The area around the lakes are inhabited by three separate tribes.  The majority are probably the Njemps sub-group of the Maasai.  They are also known as the Ilchamus, but are commonly referred to as Njemps because the early British settlers had trouble pronouncing Ilchamus.  There are also some Turkana and Pokots.  These tribes are all pastoralists and so there tends to be a fair amount of livestock rustling among them.  The Njemps differ from other Maasai in the sense that they also will fish for food.

Lake Baringo was beautiful and the hippos and birds plentiful.  However, because of the severe drought, the hippos are having difficulties getting enough grasses for nourishment.  The owners of the camp have been feeding hay to the hippos through a program with the World Wildlife Fund.  In fact, the week before I had arrived, a small baby hippo was found dead of malnourishment.  The first night there, the owners were drizzling molasses (from a 5 gallon container) over the straw in order to provide additional nourishment.

The benefit of the hippo feeding was that it guaranteed that the hippos would come up on land late in the afternoon and provide wonderful photo opportunities.  The downside of this was that the hippos would come up on land in the late afternoon and then stay in the area for the night.  Hippos are large and mean animals.  They are not to be toyed with.  The first night there, two hippos came right up next to the downstairs patio of my cottage.  I was able to watch them from the comfort of being 10 feet directly above them.  Their scent is quite strong.  The nighttime askaris (watchmen) had to shine flashlights on them from a distance which slowly forced them to move away from the cottage.

On the second day, I drove down to Lake Bogoria.  Aside from the flamingos, there are a number of geysers.  The birds, up close, do not look all that pink.  However, from a distance, the pink highlights in their feathers really shows off.  I also realized that only when they are in flight do you see the really bright pink that is on their wings.  There were literally thousands upon thousands of them in the water.

The geysers were not high shooting ones the way Old Faithful is.  However, they were constantly spewing water rather than doing it in bursts as I think of a geyser.  Other geysers were simply pools of water that looked like a giant pot on the stove.  The heat coming off of them was quite intense.

The area really helped me to see more of the beauty of nature that I think we too often take for granted.  It also showed the effects of mismanagement of natural resources combined with the normal weather cycle and global warming.  Kenya is undergoing such a sever drought that has been exasperated by deforestation of watersheds for cooking.  This saga is being repeated across the world, most notably in the Amazon.  The problem is that the critical point has really hit home in Kenya.  The cattle I did see in the area were absolutely emaciated.  One old man was down to two cattle remaining and they looked as if they were on their last legs.  In a culture where livestock represents ALL of your wealth, this is quite sad.

It is the beginning of October and the short rains should be falling.  The meteorologists have predicted that El Nino will help this year, but it hasn't begun in the Rift Valley.  I'm back in Bungoma where the rains have started up.  I just pray that the same happens soon in the rest of the country.