Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

| by archiveworldraceblogs

I want to tell you about the most fascinating people I met in Nairobi last week.

The two guys that sort of stood out in our backpackers hostel. Their names are Kios and Ntayia. They are Masai tribal warriors. They wear what we would consider tank top dresses in red with belts and necklaces, and each have a large brightly colored wrap they tie around their necks sort of like a cape. One of the men had holes in his earlobes I could fit a golf ball through. These guys are actually safari guides and were visiting the hostel to drum up business. I probably talked to them for 2 hours or so. In this time, I heard all about Masai life and asked at least a hundred questions. 

 
 

These guys were brothers by the same father, but have different mothers. Their father currently has 4 wives and 35 kids, and hopes to have 70 kids someday. Wives are acquired at a price of 10 cows each which seems to be the preferred currency of the tribe. Each mother lives in a different house in their compound with location based on her marriage order. The houses form a circle around all the cows to protect them from lions and other predators. The family farms maize (corn) and they get really annoyed with the elephants that are always coming into their maize fields. They said they are always shooting arrows at the elephants to keep them out. A couple nights before our conversation, the two were out trying to scare off a lion that was hunting their cows. They make this noise in their mouth and throat that scares away the lions. They also kill the lions if necessary by throwing spears at them. I asked if they’ve killed a lion before and they both said yes. Rediculous. I asked them if this was scary and they said they are not scared with a sort of conviction that made me believe they aren’t scared of anything.  

 
They told me about how the men of the village are circumcised at age 13 and are not allowed to cry, wince or speak in pain during the procedure or they will never be considered a man in the village. I wish I could convey to you the way they answered then I asked if the circumcision hurt. Of course, the both said yes, but the depth of feeling and the looks on their faces told me so much more. They also told me that their tribe is no longer circumcising girls, but that is a recent change. I asked if the girls are supposed to keep quiet and they said, “no, they are allowed to cry”.

 
They told me that the Masai people all believe in God which they put the most emphasis on, but when I asked they said they believe in Jesus as well.   We talked about the fact that I’m single and 35 (about the age of one of their Moms) and they asked me if I feel secure without a husband and seemed curious about how I live back home. I tried to explain that I take care of myself, but I don’t think it registered exactly. They asked me how I would feel about my husband having more wives than just me. That was easy to answer. Kios told me he only wants one wife, but Ntayia prefers to have between 7 and 10 wives. He just needs to acquire enough cows to get them.

 

By far, the Masai warriors were the most interesting two people I’ve encountered on this journey. They were so straight forward and matter of fact about their life that is a world away from anything I know. They really want to take us on a safari, too. Maybe at the end of the month in Kenya we will be able to go on safari with them. I would love to see the village where they live. Even if not, this was a tremendous experience for me.