Maasai Land

So the other day Becca gets talking to this RVA guard, Samuel.  It turns out he's Maasai, and he's quite willing to take us to visit his village.  Which is cool.

So yesterday morning, 8am Africa time (aka about 8.30) this taxi turns up and we are whisked off to Maasai land.  We drive to a village just at the foot of Mount Suswa and then walk an hour or so up the mountain to a set of caves.  All the Maasai are very proud of these caves, justifiably, and we are assured that they are definitely worth visiting.  Inside it's pitch dark, the only light comes from handheld torches, we are being guided by Samuel and another Maasai man called Daniel who seem to know exactly where to stand are where not to.  Something you need to know about these caves, the floor isn't flat, just reaching the other side involves a lot of rock climbing.  Now, when you're a 6 foot Maasai man in trousers, this doesn't pose too much of a problem.  When you're me, in a skirt.  Well, you can imagine.

In one of the caves we can hear bats all around us, but it's pitch dark so we can't see them at all.  I mention that I wish I could see them, and a torch is pointed up at the ceiling.  Immediately above my head are about 50 bats, all squeaking indignantly at us.  So cool!!!

What you can't tell from this picture,
is that other than the flash of the camera,
we are sitting in complete darkness

By the time we climb back out of the caves and walk the hour back to the village it's lunchtime.  Samuel invites us to come to his house and assures us that there will be plenty of food.  There is.  We are fed vast quantities of very good food by Samuel's wife and his new sister-in-law, Joyce.  Joyce looks about 16, although Samuel assures us she's 18 or so.  She has just recently married Samuel's brother, who's in his 40s and been welcomed into their family.  According to Maasai tradition a girl as young as 9 or 10 can be 'booked' to marry a man who could easily already be in his 30s.  And so, as I had been warned would happen, before we leave, Samuel asks if he can 'book' me for one of his friends.  I believe his exact words were something like 'You go finish school (I told him I was going to uni next year), come back to Kenya, I find you a nice Maasai.'  I didn't stop laughing for about 5 minutes.  Even Samuel laughed, although his amusement seemed to come more from the idea of a Maasai marrying a Mzungu (white person).

Samuel's wife is sitting down in full Maasai clothing.
Joyce is standing next to her in the white shirt.