Masaai in the Rift

April 2^nd-3^rd: Friday night and Saturday

Friday afternoon we arrived in Masaai land just before dark where we met Jim’s Masaai friend Simon. He is a short wiry fellow who looks only 30 but is over 50. He is a part-time preacher, community leader, and health worker who has been to America and speaks excellent English.

We arrived during a weekend of celebration not only because it is Easter but also because two boys will be circumcised the next day as a right of passage into manhood. That night Simon took us to visit some other Masaai in another boma. The houses or bomas here are rectangular and full of smoke since the Masaai cook inside their homes. They sleep on beds made from the dried hides of cows and stretched taunt across the frame. We spent several hours inside as people came in and out and talked and Jenny made a friend with a small Masaai girl and people greeted us. Eventually we went back; walking through the brush to Simon’s erai where he showed us the small mud building where we would sleep, thankfully smoke free. The rain played against the tin roof as I dozed off.

Simon woke us at 5 to go to the circumcision. We hiked back to the erai from the night before in the cold and the dark through a gentle drizzle. The boma was pleasantly warm and cozy as we waited for the ceremony to begin. After some time we went outside to wait with the men. The boys arrived just after light naked and supported by their elders. The Masaai aren’t aloud to show pain during the operation and the two boys where in an almost trance as they where laid on their special cow skin. After the nurse had finished the operation an elder poured cow milk on each thigh and then they where whisked inside to recover. We returned as well although we soon had to leave again from the smoke.

Much later that morning Simon and his second oldest son and the three of us left to go to Mt. Longonot Park. On the way Simon took us through some back ways where we saw several Thompson Gazelles and a Giraffe. Mt. Longonot is a large composite volcano. We hiked to the rim and looked down at the grass covered crater several hundred feet down. We watched the rains roll in from the west across the escarpment and into the rift valley.

We ate lunch at a small hotel just outside or Maai Mahiu and then returned to Simon’s where we packed and after attending some preaching and things for Easter and the circumcisions we left for Nairobi. We drove up the eastern escarpment nearly 2000 feet over the valley.