Solomon, the Brave

I signed up for a 3-day "free" Masai Mara Reserve trip before a 14-day Nairobi-Uganda-Nairobi overland trip and to my disappointment, I was alone again. Instead of spending 1 day to drive back Nairobi to meet the troop of the overland trip and then another day to drive back to Masai Mara Reserve with them again, I decided to stay and wait at the campsite instead. I was left in the good hands of Mutasia, the camp manager and Solomon, the Maasai warrior who works at the camp.

My tent

In the evenings, I spent my time in the kitchen (so much so some other campers thought I work in the camp):

During the day, Solomon kept me busy. One morning, we walked from the camp to visit Solomon's village. The Maasai people of East Africa live in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. They walk freely across the 2 countries (no passport required) and Solomon said if he were to leave in the morning to visit his family in Tanzania, he would walk across Masai Mara Reserve and Serengeti and could reach there before 4pm. If there is a drought in Tanzania, the Maasai in Tanzania will herd their livestock in Kenya and vice versa, if there is a drought in Kenya.

The Maasai are semi-nomadic people who live under a communal land management system. Solomon and his family of 200 live outside the Masai Mara Reserve. Along the way, we saw tiny tots and little girls on their way to the river to do the laundry, stopping along the way to greet Solomon (it was a Saturday, so there was no school). They then stopped to wait for the older girls who were supposed to look after them and also to ensure that they do their chores properly. 

Little boys followed the older ones to herd the livestock:

Spears in hand to protect themselves from the predators

The Maasai live in kraals arranged in a circular fashion. The fence around the kraal is made of acacia thorns, which prevent lions from attacking the cattle. 

Acacia fence

It is a man's responsibility to fence the kraal while women construct the houses. I visited Solomon's uncle's house and also one under construction (by, I think, a very clever young woman): 

House under construction

This is how a house is built. First, position the main pillars to support the roof:

Then add the thick branches to form the 4 walls and slowly add the thinner branches in between:

Lastly, add the leaves as fillers and then cover with dung. And do not forget about the roof.

The insides:

White walls

The owner took the trouble to use white mud for the interior walls (she is really house proud) and has prepared dinner in the morning.

Kitchen

Bed

Every now and then, the house has to be repaired and the whole village will move every 10 years.

The patches of repairs - slap some new dung

I also got to meet Solo's 11-month old daughter (who will be named by the elders of the village when she reaches 3 or 4 years old in a naming ceremony):

Proud daddy

Solomon taught me some Maasai words (just enough to keep him and the other Maasai warriors amused). We also discussed about many things, like what his surname, Nakola, means (it means 'Brave'). I told him the Maasai from Kenya are richer because they have more livestock than the Maasai I have seen in Tanzania (to which Solo explained that Maasai perform communal duties and people will be assigned to herd the livestock for the whole village. The livestock I have seen would not have belonged to 1 person but to the whole village and that the ones I saw in Tanzania may have been from smaller villages.) We talked about how the Maasai work as a community and has remained traditional. I asked him if he is a strict and serious papa, what would happen if his daughter wants to go to university and enter the parliament one day. 

Solomon also brought me to the hills to do a bit of trekking and showed me the plants the Maasai use traditionally for food, medicine and daily uses (such as tissue, mosquito repellent).

The Maasai tissue is really really soft and smells great. Grab a bunch of leaves and tuck under the armpits and use as natural deodorant. Use as tissue after going to toilet in the bush. Easy.

The Maasai tissue

Mountain antelopes spotted

I tried the acacia bark which is traditionally used for stomachaches (slightly bitter and leaves a taste in the month for the longest time) and the Maasai berries (milky and sweet or sourish, depending on the ripeness - the darker the skin of the berries, the riper they are). The Maasai will drink 2-3 litres of milk in the morning before heading out with the livestock. They do not pack lunch boxes (same treatment for children who herd) and instead rely on berries in the wild to quench their thirst and fill the stomach:

 
 

Pink-blue gecko

Looking at Tanzania from Kenya:

Looking at Tanzania from Kenya