Introduction to Maasai Culture

One day, we had a field trip to a Maasai community in Mto Wa Mbu. The Maasai is a local tribe with certain cultural values that primarily involves a nomadic lifestyle. Their wealth is measured in cattle, and much of their daily life depends on cow products (milk, meat, and blood). Also, a woman is given away with a dowry of cattle. Circumcision is a common practice among men (and sometimes women) in this culture. Men are circumcised when they are 15 as part of an initiation ceremony to becoming a Maasai warrior. He has long long dark string woven in his hair for a couple of years after his circumcision. All other males and females wear their hair cropped very short.

  

We had a special homestay with the Maasai people that most tourists do not even get to witness. When we arrived in the vehicles, we were received with a traditional welcome song that involved lots of grunting, throaty croaking, yips, and women singing a tune rather than words. As part of the ceremony, the men engage in a jumping competition, where the highest jumper wins (top). Women and children sing and lift their shoulders up and down to bump their large beaded necklaces in time to their song (middle).  A baby girl wasn't satisfied with the song and bumping of her matrons, and instead waddled over to the jumping men. She made cute little jumping motions, but had both feet planted for fear of toppling over (bottom). Many of the students were dragged into the jumping, song and necklace bumping, however I stayed and documented the event.

 

After the warm welcome, we were split up into small groups, and taken to see the inside of a Maasai house. They are built kind of like a cinnamon role, where the door is parallel with the walls of the house, and leads into a dark open space with a bench, and 2 hard cow-hide beds for the parents and children. What is interesting is that the kids sleep together until the boys turn 7, in which case they need to find another place to sleep. Their kitchen is a tiny fire pit in the middle of the small 3x3ft open space. They demonstrated how they make a fire with a machete, soft acacia, hard acacia, highly flammable donkey dung, and dry grass.

   

Afterwards, we separated into different groups that were going to learn how to do wood carving, herding, making beaded jewelry, tire shoes, traditional cooking, spear throwing, and house building. I signed up for wood carving, thinking that I could make a really sweet Maasai club. Instead, we ended up smoothing out the scratches on already made clubs and herding sticks with a pocket knife. It was still really cool to help them out with that, considering all of us were girls, and women do not participate in wood carving as a general rule. Our class was bending the rules in many ways: girls were herding cattle, whereas guys were making bead jewelry, cooking and making houses (women are homemakers, even in the literal sense). Skeletons of the houses are made from acacia limbs, and the walls are constructed out of cow dung and ash. Since Maasai are nomadic people, they do not build permanent residences anywhere. When I got tired of wood carving, I tried my hand at bracelet making. I had a great idea to make a bracelet with the colors of the poisonous coral snake, with white fangs for the center piece, but I ran out of time only half way through before lunch.

Lunch was prepared by our camp cooks in order to ensure that the preparation was sanitary. It was sanitary until we had to eat with our hands because the staff forgot forks (I felt bad for the people that were building houses and had cow dung on their hands...they washed but you can't help but think about the fact that you were handling cow poo moments before. After the students were served, the main men of the tribe (chief and son) took portions next, then the women and children. They must have been starving, because they filled their plates until food was falling off. The Maasai warriors didn't get to eat because women had seen the fat that they cooked with. I still don't understand this, but as part of their culture, Maasai warriors are not supposed to eat food if certain aspects of it are viewed by women.

As part of an assignment, we had to interview some of the villagers to get an idea of the major problems they encounter, that primarily involves water and food shortage during drought, wild predators, health and education issues.

We left shortly thereafter because it was very hot, and all of the activities were dwindling. The tribe sent us off with a goodbye song and dance, which was much like the welcome song and dance come to think of it. Still, very cool!

Tracks + Dung + Grass = Dirty Fun Time

The second week of classes, we set out a couple of times to Lake Manyara, just outside of the Lake Manyara National Park. Here, we are able to get out of the vehicles and explore the area occupied by zebras, wildebeests, thomson's gazelle, hippos, buffalos, hyenas, and lions.

We were initially given a lecture in class on identifying wild animal dung and tracks. Dr. Kioko went over to his garbage can of goodies and pulled out a massive lump of elephant turd. He just rough handled that thing like it didn't just come out of the rear end of a large animal. I got a whiff of earthy  slightly sour stench (lucky me, I was a keener in the front middle seat). Thank God he didn't make us pass that around...although I thought too soon. He then placed a dry baboon duke on my notebook! I had to pick it up, examine it in all its seedy glory, and pass it to the desk behind us. I couldn't help but think how unsanitary it was, considering how a lot of the baboons are suffering from a gruesome epidemic that manifests itself as backside ulcerations...but I put those thoughts aside when I realized that 'I am a rugged scientist manhandling crusty wild animal poo!' Next on the menu was giraffe, wildebeest, gazelle, and zebra poo. Giraffe poo resembles a red blood cell in the sense that it is small, round, and depressed in the center. Wildebeest poo condenses into a mound of small circular bits. Gazelle poo is tear drop shaped, and zebra poo resembles a kidney. Kioko brought out a fresh specimen of buffalo poo to finish off, and this particular one had just as fresh a smell. We compared it to cow paddies so that we can tell the difference in the field (basically, buffalo poo is bigger and messier, whereas cow dung is layered and flat). Lion and Hyena poo is apparently rancid because it consists of meat and blood, so we didn't have to go through that potentially traumatizing experience in an enclosed space.

I didn't really get much from the animal tracks lecture because, silly me, I forgot to bring my glasses to class, so I couldn't make out the finite details or the names underneath the tracks on the powerpoint. However, I learned a lot more once we were in the field. Kioko couldn't physically bring in hippo poo because it is a splatter 3-5 feet along the ground (almost as if someone had projectile vomited). As for the tracks, they were very easy to see along the soft wet sandy banks of Lake Manyara. We found lots of distinct hippo tracks (left), a hyena track (right), and some wildebeest. 

We then were divided into groups of 3 and were instructed to do a line transect from the lake shore to the acacia forest about 2 km away (top). We carried this 2x2m square frame, dropped it on the ground, lifted it up and dropped it again at a 90 degree angle a couple more times so we got a 4x4m square plot to look for dung and tracks. It was hard! Especially when we got out onto the dry grass where it is really hard to decipher tracks, and identify dried dung pieces. It was really cool watching the Thomson's gazelle run across our transects (middle). Man, those guys are fast! I also encountered a Marabou Stork (bottom) feather that I mistook for an eagle feather - its massive.

Towards the end of our transect, we were just getting ready to pack up our square frame and move on to the next plot when I saw a track we had missed before. It was big and definitely carnivorous looking, but my partners and I couldn't remember or figure out what it was. We measured the breadth of the track and I drew the indentations on the back side of our datasheet. When we asked Kioko what it could be, he said it was a lion track...the only one seen of all the groups - Laramie the Lion Tracker.

 

We packed it up to return for another day. By the end, we were all sweating like pigs, as there was no cover in the sodic grasslands, and the sun was beating down on our heads. After a long day in the field and hot sun, it is so easy to fall asleep in the safari vehicles, despite the bumpy roads. I tend to have little naps between camp and parks...the rocking motion is very soothing and puts me to sleep.

Another day, we came back to Lake Manyara, except instead of looking for dung and tracks, we were identifying and assessing the phenology (reproductive vs. leafy stages) of grasses, forbs and sages within 2x2m plots along a transect. The grass here looks super strange compared to our grass at home. It has interesting little internodes with small clumps of grass digits, some can be super spiky, others aren't grasses at all! It wasn't as fun as the tracks and dung, but still fascinating. Our group was admittedly slower at doing the assessments, but we were thorough.

After spending a couple hours doing transects, we walked to the edge of Lake Manyara and observed the flamingos up close.

Fun day off...Caves, Obama, and Suicidal Frog

Our first non-program day (free to do fun extra-curricular stuff...not to say that the other 6 program days aren't fun!), we ventured to the Elephant Caves for a hike. The story is that the soil in this region is so nutrient rich, that pregnant elephants would come here on their way to Lake Manyara to get fundamental iron, magnesium, calcium etc. Over time, they excavated the area, essentially creating a massive cave. You can see their tusk marks in the rock behind me. One year (I don't remember which) there were heavy rains, and the cave collapsed on a number of buffalo and elephants seeking refuge. The remnants of the cave is seen below. Buffalo still come here for water, and baboons are occupying the area (they are everywhere!).

Elephants still come here for minerals...their tracks are a potential tripping hazard, but really humbling to look at.

 

The hike was gorgeous! Although, I couldn't spend that much time looking around, because I was trying to make sure I didn't step in buffalo poo that littered the trail. I was certain I was going to run into a buffalo, given how fresh the stuff was...I didn't though, and it was probably for the best. Acacia trees (below), wild mint and banana grew everywhere.

We crossed a stream...

 

That leads to an intimidating waterfall...

Not that one... This one!

 

I got my 'cliff face' on...if you can't tell, I'm scared, even though I'm 2 feet from the edge. People were trying to take selfies (you know, when they lean back and take their picture with stuff). I was so afraid for them that I just assumed the role of cliff portrait photographer.

All in all, I had a swingin' time!

Next we went to Karatu to spend some mulla. We were all hideously overcharged because we were mwanafunzi mwamerikani (American students). Venders kept trying to give us 'student rate' deals, which ended up being at least 3x more than the going price at other markets...so it was more like the 'American rate'. I didn't mind buying bracelets for a bit more from a little boy who goes by the name 'Mr. Cheapo' because he was adorable. My favorite item however...

They call America, 'Obama land'... it's hilarious!

Next, we were brought to an artist's house in Rhotia, where a bunch of students learned how to make batik (a form of painting with wax and dye). I did not partake in the activity, because I wanted to get back to camp early and get work done (which never happened). However, I did buy a batik, and I have no idea what it is going to look like. I didn't see any that I really liked, so I ordered a custom one with a background that I liked, and flamingo silhouettes on the sunset water of Lake Manyara. Thinking back on this decision, I probably should have got something with elephants or zebras or wildebeests...flamingos aren't unique to Africa (although neither are elephants, but still) But all the cool ones were taken before I could decide what I wanted. 

A couple friends and I walked back through Rhotia back to camp, and since we had just gone hiking, we didn't have skirts to go over our hiking pants. It is taboo to not wear a skirt as a girl, so we were very self-conscious. We got some strange looks, but made it back to camp without any confrontations.

After dinner, we had a fun fire...until we saw a frog, and we all paused to admire it in the fire light. Then it leaped into the fire! All of us jumped up and screamed. We didn't know what to do. Many of us wanted to grab it reflexively, but it would have been for naught. Instead we rolled it out with a stick, said a few words, and made a funeral pyre for our brave little friend.

Lake Manyara Safari

 

Over the past couple of days, we ventured into the Lake Manyara National Park to make behavioural observations that we will use for our research article. I really like this sign because it touches upon all of the gifts that humans receive from the wild, in contrast to the common perception that nature is something we can claim, exploit, or dismantle. 

We rode in pop-top safari vehicles in which we could stand on the seats and peer out the top to get a good view. I look super silly with two hoodies on, but it gets breezy when you're going however many miles per hour over rough terrain.

The first animals I saw were blue monkeys, verbit monkeys and baboons in the groundwater forest. There were soooo many primates. Blue monkeys are very quiet, and spend most of their time lazing about or climbing trees. This one looks particularly sad. One blue monkey hopped across the street on his hind legs - so adorable!

 

Vervet monkeys also liked to hang out in the trees, and are known for their 'blue balls' (males obviously). 

 

 

The baboons travel in massive troops (top) most of the time and groom each other. Often the babies would get their fill of bugs by grooming their parents (middle). One very small baby was distressed (probably because it was being harassed by other baboons) let out a big scream, ran across the road and hopped into the arms of its parent (bottom). Very small wrinkly baboon babies hung from the bottom side of the mother's torso, looking rather disoriented and clinging on for dear life.

 

I also was lucky to see some amazing birds! Frequently, I saw some solitary blue kingfishers perching on branches near the road (top). A Hammer cock, seemed to be lacking confidence in direction, and finally crossed the road after seconds of contemplation (middle). Also, a family of crowned cranes sauntered along the grassy plane (bottom). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a decent photo of them.

Last but not least, I saw a large female ostrich for the first time. The way she moved was so interesting - she took a few careful 'ballerina' steps, tilted her head down to graze for a second, took a few more steps, grazed a bit, and then ran with incredible speed.

There were many ungulates in the park as well: zebras, wildebeests, warthogs (no pic), buffalo, giraffes, impala, bush buck, and dik-dik (in order below).

To end on an exciting note, we saw a family of elephants that have been tracked for over 20 years in Lake Manyara National Park. This heard is particularly interesting because some of the females lack tusks as a result of genetic mutation (top). There were a few very young baby elephants in this family as well, about 2 weeks old (middle). Since elephants are very charismatic and cool creatures, many safari jeeps with students and tourists quietly gathered around them, causing some of the females to get very stressed. When this happens, they are more prone to charge (run at and pummel) a threat, especially when young ones are around. We were leaving the area when a big female cut us off on the other side of bush, and apparently trumpeted (everyone in my vehicle was so scared that they don't remember the momma voicing her distress, but other students heard it and viewed anxiously from behind us), and took two quick, sure-footed steps towards the car and was less than 2 meters away from my open window. The driver floored it, and if we hadn't of gotten out of there fast, she would have charged us rather than merely just intimidated. You can see that she stirred up a lot of dust, and was in the middle of a head swing in the bottom picture...super angry momma. This is why it is very important to be as quiet and unobtrusive as possible when viewing these majestic creatures so closely.

We saw very few carnivores. One truck was very lucky to see a leopard lying in a tree. By the time we got to the location however, it ran away (probably because everybody in the lucky truck was yelling 'OMG, a Leopard!' I did happen to be the first in my truck to see a lioness lying in the grass by Lake Manyara, however, I could only see the top of her head behind a bush.

Altogether, I saw 3 of the 'Big Five': Elephant, Lion, and Buffalo. One park down, three more to explore!!!