LOCALadk Magazine

44 Winter 2018 LOCALadk Magazine LOCALadk movie rather than a safari. The minute-long rocky ride defi- nitely made my adrenaline pump. During the nights spent at Massai Mara, we also witnessed the most amazing starr y skies either of us had ever seen. Af- ter dark, around 9 –10 p.m., the sky would be full of bright stars and the colorful Milky Way. (Massai Mara is quite far from any city, therefore there's little to no light pollution.) Even the night skies in the darkest areas of the Adirondacks do not compare. Chloe and I wanted to leave the campground to find a better place to photograph the Milky Way; maybe we could find a nice Acacia tree to put in the foreground. . . . We were stopped at the gate by the Massai security guard. He half jokingly told us to close our eyes and listen to the surround- ings, and then decide whether or not we wanted to leave the camp. What we heard was a mixture of different animal sounds, possibly hyena and others. So, we agreed with the guard and decided to turn around. We ended up taking a pho- to of the Milky Way right outside our rooms, while enjoying cups of hot tea. The other highlight of this trip was a visit to a native Mas- sai village. The village was nearby our camp; our tour was giv- en by the son of the chief. We learned about the histor y of their village, and also heard some interesting stories about the Massai people. We were even invited into one of the vil- lager's homes. Small villages, such as these, usually only remain intact for about nine to ten years, because termite infestations slow- ly ruin the houses. As a result, the villagers burn down all the houses and re-build at a different site. Their homes are usually ver y small, and mostly built by hand—traditionally by the village housewives—with a mixture of dirt and cow ma- nure. The houses do not have any windows, except for fist size venting holes in the walls, to prevent mosquitoes from getting in. Small fire pits burn inside the homes continuously to repel those who do make it inside. The villagers also told us about a traditional rite of pas- sage for young men. According to the son of the chief, when a Massai male reaches 15-years-old, he is sent to live in the wild with groups of other young men. They remain there for up to three years, and are taught by older men. The young men cannot return to the village until, all together, they kill a male lion. Another interesting tradition among the Massai is a popu- lar jumping contest between the men in the village. If a man can jump higher than a certain height, then he can marr y a woman with only half the number of cows than typically re- quired for marriage. Good times always go by fast, and our ten-day trip to Ken- ya was certainly too short to fully appreciate the beauty of the countr y. I'm certain that the jaw-dropping landscapes, amazing wildlife, and the friendly Kenyan people will be re- membered by both Chloe and myself for the rest of our lives. During the long flight home we both agreed that we will re- turn to Africa some day. Hopefully, that day is sooner than later.

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