Masai Mara

On Monday night we headed out into the Masai Mara. I don’t think I ever could have prepared myself appropriately for the trip. Surprisingly there were “roads” most of the way but these roads would not hold up to American standards. Many times we drove off the side of the road because it was smoother than the potholes on the road. Along the way we saw some gazelles, wildebeests, and giraffes. The two giraffes were just a few feet from the car…it was amazing! We arrived to our camp in almost pitch dark. It was at this point that I realized that I was out in the middle of nowhere with no way home. To tell you the truth I was scared out of my mind. It was overwhelming to realize that I would be sharing my campsite with wild animals. I felt a little better after meeting the warriors that were going to be watching the tent at night. But, I don’t think I got that much sleep the first night!

I have come to realize that life on Mara moves at its own pace….very, very slowly. I am used to the fast paced American life- schedules, appointments, and deadlines. This is the un-American life. We eat, sit around, drink some tea, eat again, take a walk, sit, and eat again. Did you notice the trend of eating? I think I eat more here than I do at home. My first morning in the Mara I was survived French Toast and we even had Maple syrup (brought from the states of course). I am bummed my camera is not hooking up to the computer correctly. I took a picture to post so my mom doesn’t get worried that I will starve here. Really, no worries Mom, Mama Cynthia is feeding me plates and plates of food.

Sometimes I wonder how they can get anything done with how slowly they seem to accomplish things. The things they need to get done, though, are much different from our tasks. The Mara have so much pride in their way of life. If we try to Americanize them it would ruin everything. Mama Cynthia, for example, spends most of her day cooking our meals but it is not a burden for her. She finds joy and happiness in being able to cook for us. As Americans, we should take some lessons from the Mara on finding pleasure in the simple way of life.

So, as you would suspect, our business here moves very slowly. We are planning with the head chief, Peter, on building a campground that will be run by the villages. Usually a meeting like this would take a few hours, but here it will take us 4 days. Jamey and I are the first ones to stay in this proposed campground. They have built a Latrine in preparation for the tented part of the camp. We walked some of Peter’s land to make plans for the guest houses. I told Jamey that I would return to the Mara once the camp was built so that I can see the end result. Who knows when that will be considering how slowly things go here.

Tomorrow we are going on a game drive to see some animals. I am looking forward to becoming a tourist for a few hours and snapping some photos of some animals.