Following a good nights sleep, we woke up at around 5:30am. Our wake up call with coffee and cookies arrived at 6:00am on the dot. This camp is much different than at Elsa's. Our bed, washroom and shower was in a tent under a grass thatched roof and finished wood (raised) floor. out front, there were two chairs a table and lounger with two pillows. It was a great set up to have coffee outside with Kilimanjaro in the distance.
We showered and met up with Eric at exactly 6:30am to kick off our morning game drive with a planned bush breakfast.
We left the camp and within 3km's Eric said "there there are!".......Lion's! Resting in plain view within approx. 500 feet from us. It was amazing! Mom and 4 offspring. They were older and just about the same size as mom. Yesterday evening we were told by another group of folks that they had seen young baby's with their mother, today Eric assumed that the Dad was probably looking after the young'ins which is why he was not with the pride. I snapped quite a few pics that look pretty good. I'll Post them later.
We continued on. It was a great morning and Kili was somewhat clouded over. Eric took us to the top of a small hill, pulled out the table and 3 chairs. What a great bush breakfast overlooking the Savanna of Amobseli!.
We finished up our morning by visiting a Masai village not too far from camp. The Masai people are cow herders / farmers who wear very colourful beads. They believe that the wild animals belong the wild and the cows were given to them. The Masai are nomadic and move frequently. Their villages are built starting with a surrounding of acacia bushes (very thorny). This keeps out the wildlife and night predators. Inside the village, there are holding pens for the cows made of branches and then their huts/houses. These huts are built by the women (as the men tend to the herds). The huts are made of branches, straw and cow dung for waterproofing and insulation.
This particular village we visited has 4 families comprised of 110 Masai. Yes, each man has an average of 12 wives.
The men are Masai Warriors who protect their cattle and the village. To distinguish the Masai Warrior from other (non Masai), they have scars on their cheeks, their bottom centre two teeth have been removed, their heads are slightly pointed and in some cases, their ear lobes are stretched. It was at this point that Jasmina and I realized that our driver "Eric" was a Masai Warrior too! You'll see in the pics.
We were greeted at the entrance of the village by the Doctor and the village chief. Their English is okay. They welcomed us and said they will show us how they make fire every day as thy have no lighters or matches, how the Doctor heals and they would show us their homes.
Just then, the village women and young men came out chanting and dancing to greet us. It was pretty cool. Jasmina joined in the ritual dance. You might have seen this on National Geographic but what they do is compete on who (men) can jump the highest. There was one Masai woman that held Jasmina's hand as they both jumped up and down. It was amazing. I was allowed to snap pics and did so.
Once the dance was over we clapped and thanked them. We followed the Dr. under an acacia tree where he proceeded to show us what plants and roots were used to treat specific ailments. Then they showed us how to make fire. It's a serious process. You need a piece of soft wood, a hard wood stick and lots for donkey or zebra dung...... It took one boy to hold the soft wood and three other boys, each their turn to rub the stick between their hands. It only took about 1 minute to see smoke..... they added more dung and dry grass and slowly blew into the pile (no pun).....Voila, Fire!
We visited a hut and it was quite the experience. Enter a little opening, turn right (180 degrees), there's a little hallway for lack of a better word, all the while crouching over, turn left (45 degrees) and you are in. In front of you is a mud stone fire pit for cooking, to the left is the area where the children sleep and to the right is where the parents sleep. Beds are straw and a top layer of cow hide (leather). They cook, eat, sleep and procreate (allot) here.
Once the tour was completed, were could not leave without looking at all of what the village women make. It was like a mini-market of jewelry made from beads, zebra hair from the tails, wood and or bone carvings, walking sticks and clubs.....and so much more. The way to shop is this, you shop with the chief and give him your selections. Once done, you sit under that Acacia tree once more as he displays everything in front of you. Then you begin to bargain. He pulls out his pencil...... (a tree twig) and continues to scratch the earth in front of us. We ended up at half of what he proposed but Jasmina and I knew it would help the village. With the money, they buy beads and produce from another village at the base of Kilimanjaro. The Masai do not grow a garden. They survive on beef, milk and beef blood. They will only kill a wild animal if it is threatening their heard. Of late, this village has and is buying or trading for vegetables as last year there was a devastating drought and it has reduced their cattle by 70%.
We said our good bye's as they chanted and danced once again.!
Eric, took us back to the camp so we could have lunch, a swim and freshen up for our afternoon game drive.
We showered and met up with Eric at exactly 6:30am to kick off our morning game drive with a planned bush breakfast.
We left the camp and within 3km's Eric said "there there are!".......Lion's! Resting in plain view within approx. 500 feet from us. It was amazing! Mom and 4 offspring. They were older and just about the same size as mom. Yesterday evening we were told by another group of folks that they had seen young baby's with their mother, today Eric assumed that the Dad was probably looking after the young'ins which is why he was not with the pride. I snapped quite a few pics that look pretty good. I'll Post them later.
We continued on. It was a great morning and Kili was somewhat clouded over. Eric took us to the top of a small hill, pulled out the table and 3 chairs. What a great bush breakfast overlooking the Savanna of Amobseli!.
We finished up our morning by visiting a Masai village not too far from camp. The Masai people are cow herders / farmers who wear very colourful beads. They believe that the wild animals belong the wild and the cows were given to them. The Masai are nomadic and move frequently. Their villages are built starting with a surrounding of acacia bushes (very thorny). This keeps out the wildlife and night predators. Inside the village, there are holding pens for the cows made of branches and then their huts/houses. These huts are built by the women (as the men tend to the herds). The huts are made of branches, straw and cow dung for waterproofing and insulation.
This particular village we visited has 4 families comprised of 110 Masai. Yes, each man has an average of 12 wives.
The men are Masai Warriors who protect their cattle and the village. To distinguish the Masai Warrior from other (non Masai), they have scars on their cheeks, their bottom centre two teeth have been removed, their heads are slightly pointed and in some cases, their ear lobes are stretched. It was at this point that Jasmina and I realized that our driver "Eric" was a Masai Warrior too! You'll see in the pics.
We were greeted at the entrance of the village by the Doctor and the village chief. Their English is okay. They welcomed us and said they will show us how they make fire every day as thy have no lighters or matches, how the Doctor heals and they would show us their homes.
Just then, the village women and young men came out chanting and dancing to greet us. It was pretty cool. Jasmina joined in the ritual dance. You might have seen this on National Geographic but what they do is compete on who (men) can jump the highest. There was one Masai woman that held Jasmina's hand as they both jumped up and down. It was amazing. I was allowed to snap pics and did so.
Once the dance was over we clapped and thanked them. We followed the Dr. under an acacia tree where he proceeded to show us what plants and roots were used to treat specific ailments. Then they showed us how to make fire. It's a serious process. You need a piece of soft wood, a hard wood stick and lots for donkey or zebra dung...... It took one boy to hold the soft wood and three other boys, each their turn to rub the stick between their hands. It only took about 1 minute to see smoke..... they added more dung and dry grass and slowly blew into the pile (no pun).....Voila, Fire!
We visited a hut and it was quite the experience. Enter a little opening, turn right (180 degrees), there's a little hallway for lack of a better word, all the while crouching over, turn left (45 degrees) and you are in. In front of you is a mud stone fire pit for cooking, to the left is the area where the children sleep and to the right is where the parents sleep. Beds are straw and a top layer of cow hide (leather). They cook, eat, sleep and procreate (allot) here.
Once the tour was completed, were could not leave without looking at all of what the village women make. It was like a mini-market of jewelry made from beads, zebra hair from the tails, wood and or bone carvings, walking sticks and clubs.....and so much more. The way to shop is this, you shop with the chief and give him your selections. Once done, you sit under that Acacia tree once more as he displays everything in front of you. Then you begin to bargain. He pulls out his pencil...... (a tree twig) and continues to scratch the earth in front of us. We ended up at half of what he proposed but Jasmina and I knew it would help the village. With the money, they buy beads and produce from another village at the base of Kilimanjaro. The Masai do not grow a garden. They survive on beef, milk and beef blood. They will only kill a wild animal if it is threatening their heard. Of late, this village has and is buying or trading for vegetables as last year there was a devastating drought and it has reduced their cattle by 70%.
We said our good bye's as they chanted and danced once again.!
Eric, took us back to the camp so we could have lunch, a swim and freshen up for our afternoon game drive.
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