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While Masai Mara was not in the cards last weekend, I still had an excellent time. I would have to rate it as at least one of my top 3 weekends ever! We left Friday afternoon and headed to Naro Moro (closest town to the base of Mt. Kenya) and met up with a Mau mau rebel who was around 70 years old (he couldn't remember his exact age). He was a freedom fighter in Kenya's fight for independence from the British over 50 years ago. He hasn't cut his hair since. I included a picture to prove it in the photo album. He brought us to a cave in Mt. Kenya where he and his fellow freedom fighters would hide until nighttime. He prayed before we entered since Mount Kenya is considered a god to the mau mau. It was very interesting to see and each area of the cave had a separate purpose for their use. Certain areas were used for sleeping, others for praying, others for meetings, etc. Afterwards we visited a school near the cave where we played games and sang songs. I will have to write a letter to them because they all wanted my address, but I had no pen.
That night we camped near Mount Kenya. We had a campfire and listened to the loud bush babies all night long. The next morning (Saturday) we got up early to go to Samburu for our safari. Along the way we stopped at the equator. It was pretty crazy to have one foot on either side of 0 degrees latitude....and that old saying about toliets flushing the opposite directions on either sides of the equator is true. It was demonstrated with a draining bucket just a few strides on either side of the equator as well as on the line. It was amazing!! We then continued for another couple of hours to the Samburu village. Our time here was so much fun and a great experience. We were welcomed with traditional dance and a special welcome song. We were even dressed up and joined in the second dance. We checked out their huts and were even shown how to start a fire using goat poop and sticks. It is amazing how simple they live. They only eat goat's milk, blood, and meat, along with ugali. Vegis are not a part of their diet and they only eat two meals per day. After our time at the village we left to go on an evening game drive in the Samburu National Reserve. We saws tons of animals...especially elephant (at least 50 in just a couple hours). We came back to our campsite (inside the game reserve) and hung out to await the goat roast with the Samburu people that night. While waiting we indulged in bicuits and tusker. While my friend Cari and I were sitting at the picnic table a monkey came up sat down inbetween us and knocked over my tusker while trying to grab a cookie. It took us along time to realize he was sitting there...I guess we just figured the other had hairy arms. The monkeys continued to be a pest to the cooks stilling mangoes, carrots, whatever they could get their hands on, but we thought it was pretty entertaining.
The time finally came around 9:00 pm for the goat roast...the guards were there already at dusk to ward off the lions, leopards, and whatever else was looking for a quick meal. The entire process was semi-sad but an awesome experience. They brought the goat alive, and I think it knew what was in store for it. They began by suffocating it by just closing off its mouth and nostrils with there hand until it passed out. Then one of the students was able to do the honor of slitting its throat with a knife he purchased that afternoon at their village. After the neck was cut open many of the samburu men and even a couple of the students drank the blood from the neck. They have to do it in this process because the blood has to be fresh, warm, and oxygenated. After the blood sucking was over we had a little anatomy lesson by the doctor of the village. He explained each of the parts while skinning it and even ate some. The kidney and liver were eaten raw by the samburu during the skinning. I did eat some liver but only after it was cooked. One of the Samburu men, named Job, was quite the ladies man. He wanted me to be his 4th wife since Samburu people practice polygomy. We cooked the rest of the goat over the fire and had our midnight snack. Afterwards we were instructed to go straight to bed as to not interfere with nature's hunting schedule, and we would be leaving at 6:30 am the next morning for a game drive. I'm quite happy I went to bed because the next morning the guards said that a leopard had come through the camp...most likely smelled that delicious goat blood.
Many of the same animals were seen the next day: elephants, giraffes, zebras, many birds, impalla, gazelle, antelope, monkeys, etc. It was another great safari and beautiful landscape but we were unable to see any lions, but the massive amounts of elephants made up for it. Before we left the camp the monkeys had to leave a lasting impression. When we got back later that morning we saw them running off with stuff from the tents. They were able to unzip them and steal t-shirts, cosmetic cases, etc. I had nothing stolen so I thought it was pretty funny. The drive home took about 6 hours and we were able to see some amazing landscape. We even drove past the rich Del Monte pineapple fields, so next time you open up a can think of Kenya.
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