Loita Hills

After eating breakfast and packing up our tents (which didn't take anywhere near as long as the first time we did it), we got back in the truck and headed for Loita Hills. We made a quick stop in Narok to buy groceries, then stopped again along the road at a picnic spot for lunch. There were some tables and benches under a tree, but it was filled with starlings so we had to watch where we sat so we (and our food) didn't get pooped on! We also drove past a colourful market where we waited to meet our guide for the next two days. The road into Loita hills was pretty rough, but we were the only ones at the campground ... just us, the village over the hill, and our two Masai guards who would be staying at the fire and keeping the animals away all night! After setting up camp and relaxing for a while, we were given a quick tour of the village. We were brought into the cattle corral where we were welcomed by the women who had all the women join them in dancing around in a large circle - it's supposed to bring luck to the village, but what it definitely brought was hiking boots full of cow manure!After watching the sunset over the hills and the herd of cows coming in for the night, our guide brought us into one of the houses - they are small mud, dung, and thatch buildings, with only one or two small windows to let light in and smoke out, and keep animals out. Our guide also told us a bit about Masai culture, joking with us about how he wants six wives (one for Monday, one for Tuesday, one for Wednesday, etc., and a rest on Sunday). Each wife has their own house, and it costs about 10 cows to marry a girl. Their traditional food is meat, blood, and milk. I'm not sure how the conversation happened, but pretty soon after he told us that he was looking for his fourth wife, he offered a hundred cows for me! Hmm ... let me think about that for a bit. No.

We had supper in the hut at the campground, complete with cake for desert since it was one lady's birthday. We then sat around the fire with our Masai guide, learning the history of the Masai: They believe that the Spirit God put the Masai, cows, goats, and sheep on the earth at the same time, and therefore, all cows, goats, and sheep on the earth belong to them! We went to bed fairly early and only heard baboons during the night - no lions, elephants or hyenas.