Young Warriors Dancing

Over 1,000 young warriors (morans), near where I was living, got together to elect a leader for their age group. These young men are warriors in training.

At first I felt uncomfortable taking photos, unsure how that would be received. I soon found that most morans welcomed my presence and camera.

Here the morans are seeing how high they can jump. They jump up and down as a warmup for dancing or war.

After this warm up Jumping I got to see group dancing. The Maasai do not use musical instruments. They use their voice and bodies for sound and rhythm.

I, also, was unsure of participating in their dance. But found myself welcomed. Some even thanked me for coming and participating. I thanked them for continuing their traditions which are slowly disappearing. As the young Massai go to school more and embrace the modern world many let go of tradition. This is a struggle for the Massai. Taking control of the changes which are happening in their world and adapting. One elder warrior told me that he thought there  may be no more Massai warriors being trained in 10 years.   I do  not know if this  is true or if many hold this view but it was one offered me. I feel it is sad if they lose their tradition in an effort to embrace the modern world. Their dancing is fun and a great workout for the spine and legs. My legs and hips were sore, for a few days after, from joining them. But I'd do it again if given the chance.

At first I did not recognize any of the  young warriors. There were so many. Then I started seeing young men from  our village.This photo is of a neighbor, Patrick Sipoi, who I saw at the gathering who was showing a bit of exhaustion when the photo was taken. Their dance and election went on for 3 days and two nights without sleep. He usually has a great smile but it slipped away at the moment this photo was taken. He had been dancing for 48 hours by the time the we posed for the photo. Everyone there had lots of fun even if then were a bit spent from the experience.

As the sun went down on our day, we could see Mt Kilimanjaro hilighted in the Kenyan sun set. We drove back to our village as the warriors continued their Dancing for another day.

Maasai Children

My little friend has the great name of Obama

Maasai children have very little for toys and such but are happy because of the love they get. Whenever they saw me come, I would get crowded by the children. They loved my camera and were always wanting me to take photos of them.

Battles Of Wills: Two Year Old vs Maasai Warrior!

The two year old has some deadly hair grabbing techniques.

The power of a well trained warrior wins out.

Even though people have different roles, the love and care of children is a community effort with the Maasai.

Banana Flower

Most Americans know what bananas look like.

Most would not recognize a banana flower.

 

The bananas and their flowers grow on these trees.

Bananas have big, beautiful flowers!

Elephant Orphanage, Nairobi

 Feeding time for the orphans.

They get fed a special formula. It took a while for them to get the right mix for the babies. But they finally got it right.

They get to play in the mud holes.

It takes years before the youngsters are adopted by a new family of elephants.

Slippery fun for the youngsters.  Many of the spectators get speckled and splattered with flying mud.

They also get to have some greens with their meal.

To touch and be touched.

Yes

Quartz

These quartz rocks were an hour's walk from our camp.
They are just sitting on the ground.

Most of these stones are just a 1/3 mile from our camp. They
 are not single crystal points like many people are used to seeing.
They are a single rock with many fragments which flake off 
the rock and moves downstream. The harsh Kenyan 
elements crack the surface of the stone.

A rainbow of colors can be seen in these stones.

 This beautiful quartz was sculpted by water in this stream bed.

This is a shard of qaurtz found in the sand of the river 
right behind our camp.

Some of the beauty of Maasai  land will be missed if you 
are in a hurry.