Maasai Village

Nearby the Mara National Park there are many Maasai villages. Axel and I wanted the kids to have a close encounter with the natives so we asked a few of Maasai people if we could see their village. The persuasive tool was money (and a lot of it) but the experience was definitely worth it.

All the men carry the lion beating sticks. They gave Xay one and, of course, wanted some cash if he wanted to keep it. I would have paid money to make sure he didn't have a sister, uh, I mean, lion beater.
Xavier collected obsidian rocks while walking to the village. To him, the pretty ones meant he was rich. That is why he quickly ran over to the kids and shared his wealth. It was a noble gesture, but I am sure they were thinking, 'Seriously? rocks?' I ended up buying plenty of their goods (and paying way more than I should have) to make up for it.

Dona was more than comfortable hanging out with the children. I don't know what to make of Dona and her ability to adapt. I think it is the fact that her name is easily spoken internationally. No matter what country or language one speaks, everyone can seem to say 'Dona'. As a result, Dona's name can be heard continually wherever we visit. Either that, or they are calling her a doughnut. She is jelly filled and sweet after all.
We were invited to look inside their cow dung and dirt homes. Not all of us fit, so we had to take turns. There was little light inside and we didn't realize that one of the walls was newly plastered. Let's just say, Dona and I brought a smelly souvenir home.

My mom and Axel stayed inside talking to the village leader's son. Axel said, "So you guys don't actually live in these houses anymore, where is your real house?" to which he replied, "You are sitting on my mother's bed". Then, Axel asked about the religious beliefs of the Maasai. Apparently the Maasai believe that they came from Sudan many hundreds of years ago and that the first Maasai man started their cultural norms for men and women. Basically, men get the young boys to go watch the goats and cows and the women do everything else--and I mean everything. When a Maasai man marries a new woman, she has to build her own cow dung home. At that point, I think I would be looking for a different culture to join.

The god of the Maasai is called En Kai and he is a spirit that lives in the sky. They have a shaman or holy man for all the Maasai and he lives in the Mara part of Tanzania. Any Maasai man or woman who needs to understand the will of En Kai must make the journey to go meet this man. They do not believe in a devil.
The women shared with us a traditional welcome song. The Maasai people are polygamists and you can tell the women hold a lot of power in the village. I would hate to be a Maasai man. Sure he doesn't have to do anything, but collectively, these bald-headed women are quite intimidating.

The first wife is a gift from the boys father, meaning the father choses the girl and buys her (it costs a standard 5 cows per wife, regardless of beauty, age or weight). After the man is married once, he is free buy his next wife, which we were told is usually the one he loves or was a previous girlfriend. The women do all the selling at the villages and on the road. In the olden days they were topless. And thankfully, they don't anymore.
Dona felt right at home. They all had the same amount of hair.

The men sported some seriously funky hair. Most of them had long, braided locks. They danced around in a circle and jumped up and down with very colorful clothes. Dona and Axel seemed to get into the cha cha line and did well with it.

The main dancer has to wear the lion skin hat. It was pretty smelly and passing that thing around from head to head may be why everyone is bald.
Axel as a Maasai chieftan with his shades on.
This jumping up and down is a way to have a girl notice you. It makes sense, especially when the grass gets very high during the rainy season.

After years of practice one has to admire how high these guys really can jump while smiling. They aren't even wearing Nikes.

Axel mixes into the group so well. You would think he was just one of them.
Heavah and Xay chatting it up with the kids. You can see from this picture why they always get asked if they are twins.

Axel had lost about 15 pounds before going on this trip. He was feeling pretty good about getting skinny until he met the Maasai men.