The walk to the dig is a story onto itself. The Maasai are rich in culture, community and tradition and the lead guide, Kitende is willing to share their story. Their customs and their ways are based on survival similar to that of the wildlife. They raise goats, cattle and sheep as their source of income but they are not allowed to kill wildlife (unless for personal protection) or raise crops. They have been restricted from these activities since wildlife tourism is a major part of Tanzania's income but why they were forbidden to raise crops was because the government was trying to drive them out of their current location which obviously didn't work. Their mode of transportation is walking.....period. It is nothing for any of them to walk 20, 30, 40 kilometres in a day. In fact, a Maasai warrior must be able to walk a 120 kilometres within a day. Kitende explained to me, that if an Elder is sick and in need of help, they must be able to make a return trip in the same day to provide assistance. They know that walking is good for their health and that combined with a focus on self-medication based on herbs, it is not unusual for males to live to 95 to 100 and females 80 to 85.
The goal of all Maasai males is to become a warrior. This usually occurs around the age of 15 and they are then circumcised. Ouch. Although they no longer battle other tribes since 1995, the traditions of a warrior still exists. To become a warrior is not a birth right but needs to be earned. According to Kitende, the overriding requirement is the warrior "must know everything". (Sound familiar?). They must know the habits of all wildlife in order to co-exist. They must know how and where to dig for water in the dry season. They must know how to properly throw a spear and the several uses of a machete. They have to be able to distinguish hoof patterns to know which ones belong to their herds when tracking them since some are very similar to several predators such as cape buffaloes. And dangerous interactions with wildlife does occur. He told us cape buffalo can be very dangerous and will attack. If you are close to a tree you can always climb up it. If not, lie down and stay still. I asked him if that ever happenned to him and he responded "many times". We found out Kone, the other warrior on our walk, was chased by a bull elephant up a tree as a boy. His name was changed to Kone after the type of acacia tree he climbed up. And elephants have been known to kill humans. Ironically, when they have, the elephant will dig a grave and bury the human out of respect before leaving. If there is a killer lion on the loose, the warriors gather together and hunt it. When they find it, one warrior is sent forward as bait and when it goes after the warrior, the rest surround the lion and kill it. I didn't ask if one volunteered as the bait.
The family unit is based on polygamy and males will have 4 to 5 wives and will raise 20 to 22 children. (I can see Bob Evoy salivating). The Maasai warriors wear predominantly bright red cotton robes and the females wear rich blue nylon robes. The Elders of the tribe have to approve all marriages and you can only earn a wife if you give her father cattle in exchange for her hand in marriage. Elders are definitely revered and Kitende told us that all Elders of the tribe become your father. Whatever they ask of you, you do. Likewise female Elders become your mother. Children, both boys and girls, starting learning how to herd at the age of 5. They must also learn to distinguish hoof prints so as not to endanger themselves. At the same time, they do attend school and are taught by the mothers several different disciplines including Swahili and English. We saw adolescent boys who were herding approach us and the warriors and they bowed. The warriors gently touch their heads and I could have as well. This is how they learn to show respect. The expression "it takes a village to raise a child" is alive and well in this part of the world. You may not agree with their lifestyle especially around marriage given our Western sensitivities but it works for them. We saw no signs of discontent but instead a close bond and respect for one another.
All of this we learned from the Maasai during our walk to the dig site. But shortly before we arrived, Kitende turned to me and said this was a good spot for Diane and Louise to sprinkle their mother Marie's ashes. They took turns sprinkling her ashes without undo ceremony and when we started to move on Louise said "Good bye mom" and I couldn't help feeling the emotion of the moment.
The Olduvai Gorge is one of the most important dig sites in the world and it is a gorge approximately 50 kilometres long. This is where Dr. Louis Leakey and his wife Mary first discovered early chopping and cutting tools and weapons made by hominid (pre-historic man) and in 1959, discovered the oldest hominid at 1.8 million years old. They named it Zinjaantheropus. Zinja is ancient arabic for "east Africa" and antheropus means "man". From the basin of the gorge some 300 feet deep, you can see 5 distinct sediment layers that date back from 3.4 million years ago to 1.8 million years. In which layer fossilized remains are found roughly approximates when they existed. Just walking around, we found fossilized bones and ancient plants which we are bringing back.
We return to the camp shortly after 2:00 p.m. (by vehicle) for a much-needed shower from all the dust and then lunch. We took the afternoon off to relax on our porches and sip some wine and talk about the day. We topped the day off by walking to a large outcropping of Kopjes look out at miles and miles of open space hundreds of feet below us as the sun set.
Tomorrow will be focused on finally seeing the big migration herd.
No comments:
Post a Comment