Adventure in the African bush. . . . . . .

This past weekend I headed out to Olderkesi, a community deep into Masai land, just a few miles from the Tanzanian border.  This weekend was to be very exciting as not only was it deep in the African bush, but my parents were coming to visit too.  I was very excited to see a little piece of home after a month of being away.  Olderkesi is truly in the middle of nowhere.  It's 50 miles from the nearest electric light bulb and is completely isolated from modern convenience.  We were going to see Jon Steury, the son of Dr. Ernie Steury who was the first Dr. at Tenwek in 1959.  Jon now lives in this small community and runs a ministry project that focuses on spiritual training, agriculture, water purification and community health.  This was an amazing experience for my parents and I.  It started out as an adventure when it poured on them on their way out.  Obviously, being so isolated, the roads are dirt and are in poor repair.  The dry ground that hadn't seen rain in a few months couldn't withstand the shower and they got stuck about 10 miles from Jon's house where I was.  Thankfully, they were able to get through to us and we headed out in the souped-up Land Rover Defender to rescue them.  It was so bad that the off road machine got stuck too and a tractor had to pull us all out. 

This is how I found my parents.  They were covered with mud and soaking wet.  Didi was curled up in the car to stay dry!  They almost had to spend the night in the bush with the local Masai warriors!

Thankfully we all survived the muddy night and made it home.  The next day, we stayed around for the biggest event of the year for Olderkesi.  The Olderkesi Ministry Training School was having its graduation that day and we got to experience it.  This school is made up of local Masai men who have sought education in ministry.  It's a big deal for them and their community and many Masai were there beautifully adorned.  If you don't know anything about the Masai, they are a very primitive tribe in Kenya.  They hold onto many traditions including nomadic herding and their traditional dress.  They are very protective of their culture and, in fact, don't normally let people take their picture for fear of exploitation.  Amazingly, because of the magnitude of this event, we were able to interact with and take pictures of the local Masai.  It was incredible.

Here are the graduates after they've been "hooded" with gifts from their families, now receiving a prayer and blessing from the Bishop.

The typical dress of a Masai woman. . . . .

A few Masai men getting ready for the ceremony, herding sticks in hand.  What you don't see under their cloak is a panga (machete) and rungu (wooden club) designed for fending off wild animals and intruders. 

After the celebration, we gathered with the locals for a nice lunch of rice and roasted goat!  That was a first for me but it was very good (although a little tough).  That night, we loaded up in Jon's Defender again and headed out onto the African plains for an impromptu game drive.  We saw some Gazelle and some nocturnal animals like the Bush Baby (a tiny monkey) and Spring Hare (a rabbit/kangaroo mix).  It was awesome to be out on the plain and especially at night.  We had a real safari yesterday and today at the Fairmont Mara Safari Club that was great.  That'll be a post of it's own.