It's Eat or Be Eaten...

After we arrived in Nairobi we managed to get into contact with a Masai warrior and arranged to see the wild animals of the African plains. It was to be a unique experience as no other Masai man has a similar tour operation and we were his first Mzungus (whities). The plan was to stay with him and his family in his compound which includes his brother's family and all his cattle, sheep, goats and dogs. We would eat with them, drink tea with them, chat and play with the children and go on a morning and afternoon game drive. He lives on the Masai Mara Conservancy which is larger than the Masai Mara National Park but has all the animals and none of the expensive lodges and Mzungus. He works for the conservancy so while the game drives would be in a private land cruiser the meals, teas and night time experience would be purely Masai.

So after a couple of long, dusty, and crowded Matatu rides (local transport) to the town of Aitong, we bought some supplies and headed off to set our tent next to his mud hut. He had a round compound that was fenced with branches and bushes with 3 inch thorns; inside that circle were all the huts and another fenced circle for the cattle and sheep. The week prior to our arrival, his neighbor and dear friend was trampled to death by three elephants, a leopard jumped both fences and stole a baby sheep at night, and one of his cattle was taken by a male lion while grazing just outside his compound. So, basically, we are in the thick of it.

Each morning, we would rise at 5:30, drink some Kenyan coffee and be on our way in the private land cruiser, fitted with a roof that opens so that we can stand and watch the animals. After spending a little bit of time getting aquanted with the zebras, giraffes, wildebeasts, Thompson's gazelles, topis, impalas, and good god all the other boring animals, Kelly spotted a cheetah basking in the morning sun. With no other jeeps around we were able to view this animal without him getting too disturbed. Later the first morning we watched a few families of elephants slowly making their way across the plains, trying to eat enough grass to compensate their gigantic mass and appetites. In the afternoon, after Kelly spent some time watching ostriches and the secretary bird, we spotted a large group of impalas and Thompson's gazelles with all their eyes fixed in one direction. With all of them looking to the west, near some bushes, not eating, we knew there was a predator lurking. As we slowly creeped over, we saw 3 male lion brothers wrestling and playing with one another. Growling, and pawing, stretching and yawning on the lazy spring late afternoon. Eventually they would break up and sit on a boulder or a mound of dirt and lay like the kings they are, over looking the plains and gazing without a worry in life. You think i am being poetic? Just wait for the pictures! But can't here, the internet is too slow.

Oh yeah, and then we saw the cheetah prowling and another male lion.

Anyway, we also made it out to a sanctuary to see some white rhinos. Gorgeous 2 ton beasts that look like a minivan made of fat. The land cruiser stopped and the ranger from the sanctuary stopped next to us and told us to get out. Wait? Get out of the car? Yep, we jumped out and ended up walking with the rhinos. But don't worry moms, we never got closer than 4 feet. So we walked for about an hour just in awe. They are getting reintroduced and are thriving. There was a baby rhino, 4 females (one was pregnant) and the male.

After the game drives we would go to the village, or 3-family compound, for lunch and tea or dinner. Lunch was comprised of fruit and veggie sandwiches and dinner, well. . . that was another story. There might have been a little bit of miscommunication, misunderstanding or a clash of cultures, but what was supposed to be a "bring your own food and my wife will cook for you for a buck," turned into "bring enough food to feed my family, wife and 5 kids, my brother, his wife and 4 kids and my cattle herder and goat herder and buy meat and you cook for us." Yeah that's right. We thought that we had to supply our own food, but though what might have been us being exploited for our wallets, we ended up feeding the compound. Not a big deal, because the cash value was trivial and it is hard to eat a meal with meat and veggies when the kids are eating flour and water. So we went along with it.

The confusion came after the first night, when we realized our rice and meat would be split amongst the elders. Well, when Michiel wants a meal, he wants to eat. So if that was going to happen again, I wanted to make sure that I got a belly full. But on the second night, it turned out that he wanted us to cook. So after the hard day, sitting in a car looking at animals, and staining our fingers on the camera buttons, we came back to the compound that had a campfire and hot coals of charcoal in a small stove and started cooking dinner. First night, the menu at Chez Mac and Kell was cabbage and carrots with carmelized onions and seasoned tomatoes accompanied with seasoned lentils and rice. This menu item will feed a family of 15 plus 2 whities and will be cooked on a single stove of charcoal by campfire light. As we prepared the items you could hear the male lions whoofing and hyenas laughing in the background.

The house special for the third night at Chez Mac and Kell was carmelized onions, seasoned tomates and about 3 pounds of goat that was browned to perfection. This will lay on a large plate of spaghetti. Of course, after they ran us around town trying to find spaghetti, it turns out Masai don't really like spaghetti, they just know that Mzungus eat it. Needless to say, while the work and extra $7 of food was unexpected, the kids were licking their plates and the elders were making sure they got seconds before I did. We got a good story and they got a meal (or three). And our favorite thing.... after buying all the food, and preparing all the food, and then cooking all the food, the brother of our Masai guide says to us "You are welcome!" HA! We love traveling.

By the way, we didn't stay longer in Madagascar, choosing to start our adventures in East Africa instead.

Rafted the Nile today. Sick!