Maasai Land

Simon, one of the MSID staff, was kind enough to take us to his campsite in Ngong Hills on the border of Maasai Land this weekend. It was a great first glimpse of really rural Kenya. We had dinner and watched the sunset over the Ngong Hills—the beauty took my breath away. It was a genuine rural Kenyan experience… for example we found out that our steripens are great at sterilizing the water in Nairobi but fell somewhat short out at the campsite… they can’t quite do their job when there are tadpoles swimming in the bottom of our nalgenes ;) I also got to take my first piki-piki ride—and it was through the Rift Valley! These are motorcycle/mopeds that are common in rural Kenya. Unfortunately there is definitely work for Protec (my favorite Vietnamese helmet company) to do here, as nobody wears helmets. Don’t worry Dad—I kept up a chorus of “polepole!” (“slower, slower!”) whenever my driver would get too crazy. (Oops, on second thought, that probably only worries you more…)

Ngong is on the Southern border of Maasai land, and the campsite is on the edge of the land where Simon grew up and his family still lives today. On the walk to his home he was telling me about his family. I was shocked to hear he’s one of 17 siblings, but it all made a little more sense when he explained that the Maasai are traditionally polygamists and his family has one dad and three moms. The youngest mom is actually younger than Simon.

It was so interesting to hear about traditional Maasai life, and they were so welcoming to allow 24 mzungu’s into their home and beautiful shady yard for almost 3 hours. Simon’s moms were doing traditional Maasai beadwork as we talked, and we had the chance to buy some of their things as we left. One of the most interesting things we learned was that traditionally Maasai men became warriors at age 16, and would kill a lion before marriage to show that they had fully matured. Today lions are relatively scarce and it’s illegal to kill them, so the Maasai have adapted their tradition so that today, finishing school is the ‘lion killing’. I really appreciated how they had to adapt their culture with modernization but didn’t abandon this important part, they just modified it.

We walked back to camp through the land that Simon used to graze sheep and goats on as a young boy. The hike back from his home was the first time that I stopped dead in my tracks in wonderment. This is it... This is Kenya, this is what I’ve been waiting for, this is where I’m supposed to be. I had similar feelings walking through Kibera but the chaos of the slum made it something that I really had to process afterwards. This was such a peaceful experience that I was really able to soak it all in as it was happening and feel the moment grab hold of me. So great.

Our stomping grounds for the weekend

Rift Valley sunsets can't be beat

The path Simon walked every day as a child herding goats and sheep

Simon's moms doing beadwork