A Week in the Shadow of Mt. Kilimanjaro

The view of Kili from the patio where we ate breakfast every morning. 

We’ve just returned from a weeklong field component in Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya on the Tanzanian border. This component consisted of a week long stay at Kibo Safari Camp, where we spent our days meeting local Maasai men and women, interviewing local farmers, and going for game drives in the park.

Amboseli is a relatively small park located in the shadow of the impressive Mt. Kilimanjaro that is world renowned for its population of elephants. The land around Amboseli is divided into several group ranches owned by the Maasai communities who live there. These ranches were set up by the government to appease the Massai when they established the park and banned the massai from bringing their cattle to graze on the fertile grasslands in the park.

While for the most part the Massai community has managed to survive quite well on these group ranches, an alarming percentage of these group ranches are starting to sub-divide their properties and lease them to hotels and farmers. This practice, which proves to both degrade the land and block natural animal migration routes in and out of the park, has proven highly detrimental to the wildlife and ecosystem health of the areas it has affected.

When we weren’t visiting farms or group ranches around the park we spent most of our time lounging poolside, reading, or doing crosswords (I’ve become quite the crossworder during my time here, Boppy would be proud) on one of the many super comfortable chairs around the resort. The food and accommodations were wonderful, as we ate like kings and slept in the most glamorous ‘tents’ I think I will ever stay in. Completely furnished, hot water, and flushing toilets; these rooms and beds were nicer than our beachside hotel rooms in Mombasa. The other guests at the hotel who turned over pretty quickly were mostly Europeans, including a group of 40 middle-aged Polish people, whose young polish tour guide we spent a while talking to at the bar.

My favorite shot of the day. I snapped a bunch of photos of this guy but picked this one to demonstrate the true beauty of an African Elephant rump.

I snapped this photo of two striped hyena we spotted out the window of the rover

Although blurry, I couldn't help but not include this great shot of an elephant family walking in line behind the matriarch. The Land Rover nearby is part of a research team, which is why they were allowed to drive off the road and so close to the tembos.

Some More Professional Safari Photos Courtesy of Abby Martin

    

Cowpie Smearing and Cattle Rearing

Jack stands by the waterhole where we took the cattle as Bob, our friendly interpreter, goes for a drink at the tap.

While most of the week was spent in the glamour of the Kibo Safari Lodge, please don’t get to thinking that the whole trip was spent in five-star style. As part of the Amboseli component, we had the opportunity to spend a night at a traditional Massai Boma, located on the outskirts of town in one of the group ranches. For Jack and I, who were paired up for the Massai overnight, the experience couldn’t have been more fun.

As men, in the Maasai culture, we are expected to do two main things around the boma. These include: a. Tending to the cattle, goats, and sheep by taking them to graze, making sure they are in good health, and protecting them from predators. b. Maintaining the thorn tree fences around the boma that keep unfriendly predators from attacking the livestock. With the help of our friendly interpreter, Bob (not sure really if this is his real name or simply a mzungufied version), we spent most of the day taking the cattle to water at the local watering hole, some 8km away from the boma. Upon our return, we spent a while playing soccer and volleyball with Kilimanjaro as our backdrop before dinner.

Jack, Bob, and our eldest host brother play some volleyball before dinner. 

I set up to blast a shot at Bob, who is protecting our makeshift net (the entrance to the cattle enclosure). 

Although our duties as Maasai men for the day were not too strenuous or unpleasant, many of our fellow female classmates had a very different experience. Massai women are strong. They are charged with many duties on the boma, which they must be strong for. Waking up early to milk the cows and goats before the flies are out, walking great distances to carry heavy water jugs on their heads, building and maintaining the houses within the bomas, tending to the children, cooking, and keeping house are just some of the duties they perform on a daily basis.

According to Sadie and Kate, who lived only a couple hundred meters from our boma in their own, the highlight of the experience for them was definitely the time they spent repairing the boma roof with their host mothers. This lovely process, which for them was performed early in morning shortly following breakfast, involved collecting cow dung from the cow enclosure and kneading it between their fingers while they added ash to make the mixture used to smear atop the thatch roofs and hard-packed walls of the structures. According to Kate, who had slightly less fun than Sadie with this activity, the best part for her was when her host mother asked her to pick up a fresh cow present she claims was still steaming. In response to this humble request, Kate simply explained that it was, in fact, too hot for her to pick up with her hands at the time. Clearly, the guys and girls on our trip had different experiences. All the same, though, at the end of the day when we were picked up by our drivers we were all smiling.

Kate smiling, immediately following her spirited response to my asking about her experience, "It was rad. I am completely covered in cow dung. Please open the door." 

Dinner, which was served rather late, around nine o’clock after all the milking, inspecting, and water gathering had taken place, was delicious. We ate a lovely dish slightly resembling Mom’s (Auntie Mary Beth’s?) Potatoes Au Gratin  which was made of some sautéed onions and tomatoes, potatoes, and some rice. Although according to our Massai homestay mother, Mercy, assured us there was no cheese in the recipe, Jack and I were quite convinced otherwise. Perhaps it was milk she added that gave it that taste. Either way, the food was delicious.

The following day before we were picked up was relatively slow, and involved Jack and I taking the cows to water again before we returned to do some beading with the mothers. The coolest part of this excursion to the water hole was that we encountered a heard of wild zebras along the route, which we of course decided to try to get as close as possible to. After getting just close enough not to completely spook them, only a couple hundred feet separated us from the small group of curious wild guys. I snapped a couple pictures before we decided to charge them, after which they turned and galloped away, leaving us in a cloud of dust to return to our grazing cattle.

A blurry photo I snapped of our zebra friends just before Jack and I spooked them away.

Our home stay Mother sits and takes chai as another older Massai woman works on beading an earring. Behind them, the second youngest brother finishes his cup of chai, making sure to get the last sugary drop. 

A young neighbor girl beads something for herself.