This adventure was nearly a month long so much more is coming your way. I do have a few other things to accomplish daily so this is sometimes near the bottom of my list. I do apologize for that.

Today we are off on “A day in the life of the Maasi” in Ambosseli National Park.

The Maasi are are a nomadic people known for their bright red clothing and the rite of passage for their young warriors. Years ago young men would go out and find and kill a lion to prove their manliness. Today that is no longer done.

These people subsist on milk, blood from their animals and not much else.

Isn’t it interesting that in the west we are told to eat a certain diet to survive and yet many peoples around the world exist and even flourish on very different diets.

Do the eskimos eat vegetables? Not as much as many other people, I would suppose. Do some of them dislike fish? I wonder about this type of thing often.

I’m not surprised that there is a cement factory nearby.

The soil is the color and texture of cement before adding water. The village is about 45 minutes away from our camp on bumpy and dusty rock dirt roads.

The tall Acacia trees stand silently like sentinels as giraffe stretch upwards to eat the youngest tender leaves within reach. The clouds are thin and high today.

Some trees produce a chemical that will stop the giraffe from eating too much of the tree. In this way the trees can survive over time. Nature is very clever and adaptable.

These things happened long before man and will continue to happen after we are all long gone.

The village is surrounded by three low fences of dead bushes with very large thorns. This will keep the animals safe from lions who might prowl here through the night looking for an easy meal.

However the lions are just about as fearful of man as we are of them. The two species seldom meet.

The buildings are made of sticks and woven together much like baskets and then covered in a mix of dung, ashes and dirt mixed in water. The women do a fine job of it. This is woman’s work and the men do not participate in this activity.

The woman wear different amounts of beads and jewelry depending on status. They sang and danced for us while we were there.

I lost my son almost two years ago and the chief offered one of his to me to support as my own. He has many wives and children and a helping hand is always welcome.

We walked the village and saw the cows penned up in the center of the village. The ground is higher there due to years of animal waste piling up. The animals seem content if not energetic.

The men can often be seen walking along the roads with their herds of small, thin cattle. Dowries of cattle change hands before a marriage. The process for how many cattle will be exchanged for a young woman can be long, difficult and interesting.

Once many years ago a young man in Jordan offered my wife’s parents several goats for my wife when she was a young teenager. Her father drove a hard bargain and the young man waIked away without her. Many years later I was very fortunate to be given my wife, but for a much larger sum.

We had a difficult discussion today among the women of the village about female genital mutilation. A local woman who is fighting this awful practice lead the discussion. She has been threatened often but goes on with her important work.

The reasons for this practice go back many generations and are obviously wrong. It is against the law to do this now and those who partake of this practice will be jailed. Thank goodness times are changing and fewer women are victims of this awful brutality. But sadly, it still does continue to a certain degree.

Some of the money we spend on this trip goes to build schools and give them the items needed to educate more children.

The drought has made life difficult for these people, but they do have to live with nature as we do. As their wandering or nomadic life style comes to an end more children will become educated and find work in towns and cities.

Yes, this nomadic culture will change, but hopefully their positive practices will live on in the coming generations and won’t be lost all together.

We went to a nearby school and visited with the children and their teachers. It is a fine facility and constantly being improved.

We saw the new girls dormitory and walked around the area looking at the changes being made.

It was a full dusty morning. We came back to camp for lunch. We will go out again at 3:15 to look for more animals. It isn’t hard to find them. They are everywhere.

Don’t forget that “Sunrise, Set,” my book of short stories and “Kazu, son of Oshida kamasaki,” my ancient Asian adventure love story are now also available on Audible. “Grandpa Ernie’s Secrets,” my spy novel set in Italy is in audio production now.