Maasai Village

I learned today that it's easier to spot wild animals in the Serengeti than it is to spot caged ones at Hogle Zoo. I left in a jeep early this morning to spot wildlife with a family of four from Calgary, a girl from Ottowa named Lauri, and our Tanzanian driver Sampson. After passing by a couple of giraffes and hundreds of gazelles, Sampson spotted three cheetahs about three hundred yards away to our left. Just seeing a cheetah from that far was pretty incredible for me, but Sampson was not satisfied. After taking a minute or two to let us watch and snap some pictures, Sampson floored it and hauled around a narrow dusty road until we were literally within twenty feet of the cheetahs. The cats held their ground as the five of us popped out of the openings in the roof to get a better look. I really can't imagine a better photo-op for cheetahs. One sat in the yellow grass and looked at us as another stretched his legs and the third sat upright in front of us. The cheetahs spotted some gazelles approaching in the distance and two of them ducked down and crept slowly below the grasses to meet them. Unfortunately for us the gazelles noticed the cheetahs immediately and darted away, but maybe tomorrow we'll get to see a kill or at least a good chase.After seeing the lioness with her cubs yesterday someone mentioned that all we were missing was a male lion. We got lucky this morning and had a perfect, unobstructed, closeup view of one. Sampson spotted some vehicles gathered around something in the distance and as we got closer we saw the lion, appropriately accompanied by two lionesses and a young cub. Several vehicles had gathered around the beast with all of their occupants staring at him, but he acted completely oblivious to it all. I watched intently as the cat licked his paws, yawned, and and looked as dignified as a creature possibly can while lying in the dirt under some bushes. The lioness yesterday was great, but there's something about seeing a real male lion complete with a long shaggy mane that adds real legitimacy to the lion-spotting experience.Gazelle sightings are a dime a dozen in the Serengeti, but I still really enjoyed seeing them. Before coming to Africa I didn't realize how fast gazelles are. I've always thought of the gazelle as an animal known mostly for it's long, graceful stride, but I was pretty impressed today with how quick those strides are and how much ground can be covered with just a few of them. At one point today we spotted some gazelles in the distance and watched a creature behind them that was moving so quickly and cornered so tightly that we were sure it must be a cheetah. When the animal slowed down we saw that it was really just another gazelle. There's a reason why cheetahs have to be seriously fast to catch those things.

I was really hoping to get at least a few good pictures of Maasai before leaving Tanzania and I got my chance this afternoon. The four jeeps hired by Gap Adventures stopped for an hour at a Maasai village that allows outsiders to visit for ten dollars per person. Normally I would think that it's pretty ridiculous for a village to charge tourists to visit, but this situation was much different. Most of the Maasai we've seen have been the ones that emerge silently out of the bush wherever we stop and ask for food or money. I realize that those people have very little means of supporting themselves and I sympathize with them, but I really support the idea of a village finding more entrepreneurial means of earning money rather than just begging for it. Just visiting the village was well worth my ten dollars, but the Maasai who lived there even performed ethnic dances for us, provided local, english-speaking tour guides, and showed us around authentic Maasai homes and a small school. During the visit I sat in one home with four other travelers as an English-speaking Maasai man described the construction and use of the home to us and answered questions. In Ethiopia I was amazed and sympathetic with the tribal people who lived in small round tukols, but the Maasai have even more cramped accomodations. The house we sat in was about five feet tall. It was made entirely of twigs with some burlap and cardboard used as insulation and the inside, which was about ten feet square, contained two miniscule “bedrooms” and a fire pit and was home to eight people.Tomorrow I visit the Ngorongoro crater for one more day of wildlife spotting before heading on to Zanzibar. The crater is supposed to be completely packed with animals, so of course I'm excited. With any luck I'll spot some cheetahs chasing gazelles, rather than gazelles chasing gazelles. I'll cross my fingers.