Masai Express

Ole Dorop, me and a wife with baby

We head to our Safari camp near Ngorongoro Crater. The Italians built the road headed out of Arusha and it's somewhat rough and pockmarked, so there's no way to write and ride. We stop at the Cultural heritage center, which is really a Super Gift Shop with drummers and a ritual dancer welcoming us. We continue on the Italian road, then turn onto a highway being built by the Japanese. Spectacularly smooth. Here we see heavy machinery and even a machine painting the yellow and white lines. When were driving from Kili to Arusha yesterday, men were in the road painting the white line. They used two strands of string to mark the line and held the string in place with rocks placed every nine inches or so. A man, bent over, was sweeping a paint brush onto the asphalt between the strings. The Japanese have done a phenomenal job building the road all the way to the crater gate. Well, they still have about two miles to go with a deadline of Dec. 31.

We travel through Masai country and see them herding their donkeys (teasingly called the "Masai Express") and cattle and little goats. Young men who have been circumcised this year (they only circumcise every seven years) are dressed in black robes with their faces painted white and they stand in groups by the road. The Masai dig large holes to capture water. Since it rained last week, the holes are full and we see young and old Masai men swimming naked, diving playfully and drinking from the water holes.

The crater is gorgeous, and we stop for photos before continuing around a small mountain to reach our private camp. On the way to camp, though, we stop by Ole Dorop's boma (home compound) for a tour. Ole Dorop, chief of the local Masai tribe, has four wives, though he claims only two. He opens his boma to us and explains how they live, sheltering their larger animals in an enclosure at night to protect them from lions. The sun begins to set so the smaller boys run to collect the little goats and heard them into their smaller protective corral for the evening.

Ken and Licia brought a polaroid camera so they take photos of all the children and give the photos to the children. There is a great flurry of activity and polaroid shaking, waiting for the pics to develop. Ole Dorop takes us into one of his homes. They keep the houses very dark to keep the flies out, so it is a little disconcerting to be led into the darkness. But once inside, our eyes adjust and we find ourselves around their cooking fire. Their houses are built with cow dung walls and thatched roofs, though Ole Dorop has sold some cattle recently to build a brick house in his compound. A new brick school sits across the path from Ole Dorop's boma.

Four Masai men are around the fire at our camp when we arrive; one is a warrior. Only the warriors wear their hair long, in tiny braids, with lovely ornamental jewel woven in. All other Masai men and women shave their heads or wear it very, very short. The warriors also carry spears. Warriors are trained specifically to defend their bomas against predators, like lions. Historically, the rite of passage for a young Masai man was to hunt and kill a lion. I stop by the fire and attempt to talk to the men, who are very open and friendly. We share Kiswahili words and they then tell me how to say each word in Ma, their language. We use gestures and pointing as much a words to communicate, which causes us to laugh throughout our "conversation." But if we stand in one place too long, fire ants climb up and bite our butts, so I move into the mess tent on the large floor mat. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we'll safari in the crater.