Masai Village

I'm sure you've all see pictures or programs about this tribe of people.  Well, we got to go to one of the villages and get up close and personal.  We participated in their traditional dancing…reluctantly…here's Den approaching the men as they invited him into the circle.  He was pro!  

This is all of us with our buddy Nickson and one of the Masai men.

Myself, Nancy and Rosemarie were invited by the women to put on one of their 'neck rings' (which barely fit over my head btw!) and dance…which included jumping (not as high as the men) and shrugging our shoulders just right to bounce the ring up to the chin and back again.  This lovely old woman came over and held my hand and kept saying "look up, look up".  At first I wondered if she was wanting me to see something in the sky…but I quickly got the message that I was doing it wrong and needed to look up while jumping and shrugging.  It was pretty hard to keep a straight face…as you can see!

We were invited into a hut to see how they live; taken to the little school house behind the village where children from ages 3 to 6 learn the alphabet and numbers in English.  It was a very interesting experience…and I won't need to see that again…the 'scents' of the village will stay with me forever…

When the Masai boys are between ages 11 to 14, they begin their journey to become a warrior.  They are circumcised and wear a painted mask for between 3 to 6 months…as part of the right of passage.  It includes other things but you can google that if you're really curious.