The Maasai

The Maasai are fearless. They live in harmony on this land alongside the animals. As Ben told us, the Maasai are not afraid of lions, it is the lions which are afraid of them! We visited a Maasai village in Amboselli. You could see this as a tourist trap, we did paid US$30 per adult and $15 per child, but still it was a fascinating experience to have a glimpse into the lives of these nomadic people. For Ryan, this was even more meaningful as he had read about the life of the Maasai warrior from a book (Facing the Lion, a very good read) Tania had given him a few years ago. When we got there, we were greeted by the Chief’s son who gave us a brief explanation about his village and his people. 20 families live in here, with the most important people being the Chief, the Medicine Man and the Mid-Wife. The Maasai still practice polygamy, each man can have up to five wives, five families. The women are responsible for building the houses and tending to household duties. The men’s main responsibility is their cattle. To the Maasai, their cattle are the most valuable asset they have. Each cow is worth around US$300, so the more cows one owns, the richer and more respected he is. Every morning, they set out and walk for miles with their cattle to find the best feeding grounds, and water source. At dawn, they bring the cows and sheep home and keep them within the protected grounds, keeping them safe from from the wild animals. Still, no where is truly safe here in the wild. Occasionally elephants, lions, cheetahs and other wild animals do break through the barrier and come to hunt their cattle. And that is why, a Maasai warrior always carries his spears and knives, even when he sleeps. 

The Maasai are fiercely proud of their traditions. They have consistently resisted the government’s efforts to “modernise” their lifestyle. While they have adopted some changes, they have mostly still clung on to their traditional way of life. Speaking to the Chief’s son, we were told that about 60% of the children in the village now attend school including the girls. However, upon completion of their education, most of them will continue to live in the village and carry on their duties as has been passed down for generations. As we walked around the village, looking at the men, women and children, you can’t help but feel a sense of contentment in them. 

Ryan and his new warrior friends. 

Welcome dance by the men and women of the village.

My short legs just couldn’t match these beautiful lady’s high jumps! 

“Family photo” (Shad and Ryan with their rungu in hand, a wooden baton traditionally used by Maasai warriors in warfare and hunting).

Inside one of the huts, the walls are made from cow dung, grass and acacia. Each house is shared by a mother and her children. The father rotates among the houses of all his wives. 

Kids found it fascinating watching these guys start a fire.

Success!

The Medicine man’s son (soon to take over from his father who is 80+ old) describing the uses of the different roots and herbs. The Maasai people are only ever taken to hospital if they break a bone or die. For every other illness, they are treated at home by the Medicine man.

Cutie pies

This little boy guarding the gate to stop the sheep from wandering out as he waited for the rest of the village’s sheep to be brought home after their day out grazing. 

Boy and warrior saying goodbye. 

New Life

Never in our wildest dreams did we think we would see this, a newborn baby elephant’s first steps. When we got there, we’d missed the birth, Mum was already on her feet but we could still see her placenta hanging out. We looked down and there he was, bubs lying on the ground. He wasn’t small by our measure of babies but he looked absolutely tiny next to his mother. Mum was using her trunk and her legs to nudge the little guy, trying to get him up on his feet. Here he was, this little newborn no more than an hour old having to get up and walk. We stayed and watched them for close to an hour and soon he was up, his little jelly legs barely able to hold up his body. Once he was up there was no stopping him. Being there when he took his first steps was just incredible. He kept falling over but each time he would pick himself up and keep trying. Mum was always there to help him. Priorities are different her in the wild. We kept expecting mum to nurse him but her main focus was getting him to walk so that they could move with the herd, away from the site of the birth where the smell of blood would attract predators. And when she removed her placenta, she used her legs to dig up dirt and bury it. During the birth, the rest of the herd had moved away to graze nearby but once baby was up on his feet, one by one they came over to greet him, a little pat with their trunks, a muzzle with their heads. It was fascinating watching them, they’re not so dissimilar to a human family. 

We stayed there until they moved away, and even then the kids didn’t want to leave. But after lunch we found them again, on the other side of the park. This little guy must have walked over 20 kilometres on his first day, and there were still many more hours to come before nightfall. As we continued watching them, Ben kept telling us how lucky we are to witness this. He’s been guiding here for five years and this is the first time he’s seen the birth of a baby elephant. Over the radio, other guides were all talking, some of them have been guiding for over 30, 40 years and they’ve never seen this before. Well, I’m sure today will definitely be a day that none of us will forget. We couldn’t quite agree on what to name the little guy, baby Ryan or baby Shad! 

Wobbly legs. Getting up for the first time. 

Several tries later... finally bubs is up on all fours in tent position 🙂. No rest for poor mum. Her placenta was still hanging out, later we saw her stepping on it with one foot and pulling it out. 

Still very unsteady, needing mum’s helping trunk.

Finally on his own four feet!

Mum and her tiny mini-me 💛

Survival in the wild. It was much more important for the little guy to get up and start walking. We didn’t see mum nursing him until several hours later. 

Using mum’s leg to prop himself up.

Toppling over yet again...



Crash! 

And up again.

This one is one tough cookie.

Big sis coming over to say hi.

Surrounded by his protective family.

The family is together again. Time to move on.

Baby yoga! Mum stretching his little legs.


Mama umbrella, the perfect shade from the scorching African sun.

After many attempts, bubs finally finds mum’s boobies for a well deserved feed.

Amboseli

We were back at Amboseli this morning, which translates to “salty dust” in Maasai. Amboseli is home to around 1,600 elephants, the most number of African elephants in a National Park anywhere in Africa. It is also home to lions, leopards, cheetahs, zebras, hyenas, giraffes, buffalos, impalas, gazelles and many more animals, plus its 600 different species of birds. Leaving our camp, we were all full of anticipation but we kept telling the kids that this isn’t a zoo, it’s the wilderness and we are going into the animals’ home. So we just have to keep our fingers crossed and our eyes peeled.

Just outside the boundaries of the park, a Maasai warrior taking his herd out to graze, leaving his village after sunrise and returning just before dusk.

Our first elephant of the day. The elephants here look very different from the Sri Lankan elephants that we are used to. These ones are much bigger, with squarer bodies and larger ears (their ears are the shape of Africa, as Mia keeps saying!). And almost all have beautiful tusks.

Pumba! This is how warthogs feed, two front legs kneeling as they graze to help balance them and prevent them from falling over as they have giant heads. And when they run, their little tails go upright acting as antennas. It was so fascinating to watch them. 

A grazing wildebeest. These guys are best friends with the zebras. Any time you see wildebeests there will always be zebras nearby.

Our first encounter with hippos. From far away they looked like giant boulders. It was only until we drove closer that we could see they were hippos.

They look harmless but hippos kill the most humans out of all the animals in the wild. 

Mum and her cubs resting in the shade after a kill. They must have only just killed their prey, they were still panting very heavily when we saw them.

The lions’ half eaten meal not far from them. 

Our Safari Mobile. Comfortable and spacious on the inside but modified on the outside to withstand the tough terrains. 


A panoramic view from the top of Observation Hill

One of the very few spots we could get out of the vehicle. Awesome views while having lunch at the top of the mountain. It’s hard to see from the photo but the little dots all over are actually zebras, wildebeests, hippos, warthogs.

A spotted hyaena, nature’s famed scavenger.

At one of the few lakes in the park, all kinds of different species of birds were congregated there. This pair of African fish eagles stood there for a long time, scouting the area looking for their next feed.

A family of white faced whistling ducks 

Beautiful creatures. I can’t remember what these are called. 

The ugliest of all birds, the Marabou stork. This scavenger feeds on anything.