Visting the Maasai
Saturday the whole EWH crew went up to the slopes of Mt. Meru to visit the Maasai village up there. The visuals were amazing. I would take time to describe it but I can't. I have pictures but it doesn't do it justice at all. The mountain is so green and so lush as well as so expansive. You'll just have to look at my pictures on webshots.
The Maasai villages were eye opening. From western standards they are very poor. All of the children wear ripped clothing. Whole families live in one room huts, yet this is how they want to live. This is their tradition. To them, they have 3 cows, chickens and goats. They're rich.
I just couldn't imagine being a child in that area. It would have been amazing. It's a jungle. It is all open and expansive. I would have been the happiest kid alive. There were plenty of places to make forts, heck the jungle itself is like a fort against the clearings.
The children almost grew violent when we started giving them stuff. Ben started by giving them pens and he almost got mauled. The kids are ruthless. They push and shove trying to get anything that you are offering to them.
When we visited the children's village, we saw them playing a game. It had a top that one spun and kept spinning by slapping it with a fibrous plant tied to a stick. I tried it but was terrible at it.
Finally we finished the day by hiking to a water fall. The waterfall wasn't terribly big, but still was beautiful. We went around underneath the waterfall and got a little wet, but the pictures were worth it.
On the ride home we almost crashed several times going down the mountain road due to the slick mud. Luckily our drivers were very experienced with their land cruisers.
The day was amazing and very tiring. I ended up going to sleep at 8 pm that night.