Day 17  Masai Mara, Kenya  22 July 2018

Hot air balloon day,  🙂

We were picked up at 5am and taken to the Balloon launch area 40 minutes away. It was very cold. Because the National Park didn’t, open until 6:30am we had an armed Park Ranger accompany us.

When we arrived at the launch area, we had to go through a security check, metal detector and bag search! I guessed it was to appease the the security concerns of some. Next you have to sign a waiver and eventually get a safety briefing from your “Pilot”. I am unsure as to how you can call the balloon guy a pilot when steering a balloon is very dependent on where the wind blows.

There were 4 balloons going up today from this site. It was really i interesting watching them get inflated. First they use 2 large fans to fill the balloon with cold air,  they use a propane burner (a cluster of 4 burners) to fill it with hot air to get lift. There were 12 of us in our basket for the ride.

We took off at 6:35am and drifted with the gentle breeze in a SW to W direction. Apart from the gas burner, it was so quiet and still. It was great to get a very different perspective on the Mara and its animals. We saw elephants, impala, topi, ibis, buffalo, hippo, eland, water buck and  giraffe, all the usual suspects.

We flew as high as around 150 ft and as low as 10-15 ft, the balloon can safely go to 1500ft.

Our landing wasn’t as gentle and peaceful as the ride.  We skimmed the ground for a while hit a few largish bumps and dragged to a halt. I am glad we were on the upper side of the basket, we got a relatively soft landing compared to those on the bottom.

It was then a short ride to breakfast.  The breakfast was delicous,  everything from breakfast donuts, to pancakes, bacon, sausages, fresh sliced fruit and french toast.

After breakfast, Robert our driver for this morning took us out for a game drive. It wasn’t  going well for a while, the animals we were looking for seemed to be playing a game of hide and seek, and seek we did with little luck. We had tried the Mara river a few times but found no crossing action until finally Robert found an area where Zebra were trying to cross. They were very skittish but the zebra who had crossed earlier were calling them. Their skittishness may have had something to do with it or maybe the 4 or 5 large crocodiles waiting for them in the river. After quite some time 1 zebra hit the water and was followed by a few more. Unfortunately as happens in Africa the leader was the first to fall. 1 or 2 of the crocdiles made very short work of it, a 2nd zebra may have also been taken by the crocs, we werent 100% sure. The others in the water scrambled back to the shore they just left. The zebra seemed to mourn the loss of there comrade, and seemed to move away a bit from the river and regroup, this was our cue to move on.

Next Robert took us to the last place a few lions had been seen. There were 2 male lions there, around 10-12 years old. One was sitting and the other lying down. Just as we started to move away, the older lion stood and walked away, closing within 5m of us. Great photos.

A good mornings game drive in the end.

We then returned to camp for lunch, delicous as usual.

In the afternoon we visited a Masai village. We were met by the son of the chief, Benson and a few of the elders. We were taken to a seat under a shady tree, and Benson gave us a quick lesson in the origins of the Masai (they migrated from the middle east in the 1300’s, the Masai arrived in Kenya in 1700’s.) and way of life.
There are 14 different clans and 42 tribes of the Masai people. The language of the Masai is Maa, and 75% of Masai speak it. Cows are very important in Masai culture. They drink the milk, eat the meat and drink the blood of their cows. They some times mix the blood with the milk, but they never drink the milk and eat the meat at the same time. Tradition dictates that they must wait around 4-6 hours, because you dont mix the living with the dead.
Women control everything inside the house and men everything outside the house. The Masai practice polygamy. When a man first gets married his wife is chosen by his parents, she costs his parents 10 cows as a dowry. If a man wishes to marry another woman she is chosen by his wife, if he wants a 3rd wife, she is chosen by the first 2, and so on. Benson said he only had one wife as one was enough to handle. 🙂  Every wife of a man must build her own home, if she is a 2nd or more wife the others help. The man must spend an equal number of time with each wife to keep them happy.
Males have a well ordered progression through 3/4 stages of life 0 to 15 they are children are looked after by their mother, 15 to 25 they are warriors and learn the way of the Masai male. From 25 onwards they become junior elders of the village, the older you are the more respect/power you have in the village. At 15 the boys are circumcised during a public celebration. During the procedure, with no pain killers, they can not show any pain or flinch at all, to do so would dishonour the village and be a bad omen. The boys are given 4 months to recover, doing no work and are looked after by the tribe.
During their time as warriors the boys live together in a ceremonial house and do their training, during this time they don’t cut their hair and smear their skin with white clay. After 10 years they graduate, have their hair shaved by their mothers and are given another name (all the boys are given the same name) as recognition of their graduation to being an elder. The name given is unique to that graduating class.
Men look after the families livestock, cows, goats and sheep, and provide security. Women do everything else, including milking up to 200 cows a day.

The village moves location every 10 years or so as their buildings don’t last too long and to refresh the land where the village stood. A new village is built and the old one is burnt to the ground, nothing old is reused in building the new village. Every village has an entrance for each family that lives their, so it is easy to see how many people may live there.

After our talk we were given a welcoming dance by the warriors, and I was v ery quickly taken in to join the group. It was a bit of fun doing the Masai jumping dance and a couple of other sharp moves. 🙂

We were then taken for a tour of the village and through a home. Really interesting.
The village has a school,  a midwife to help with deliveries and a traditional medicine doctor.
Before we left we were given the opportunity to purchase some handicrafts from the local women.

After we left the village we did another 90 min game drive. Just as we were leaving that we came apon a pride of lions, there were around 8 or 10 lions, all lying in long grass not too far from the road. We spent some time watching them and taking way too many photos!

Then back to camp for dinner and a good lie down.