Magadi/Masailand

We made it back!

We left for Madagi on Saturday morning via matatu. What a temperature difference! It was 110 degrees in the SHADE there. I have no clue how hot in the sun (and probably am better off not knowing). We saw a bunch of flamingos on Lake Madadi when we first arrived, which was very cool. Since it was so hot, we sat outside a hoteli for a few hours waiting for it to cool a little. It was still super hot when we started walking, but at least the sun was less strong.

We stopped to take a break under a tree (literally out in the middle of nowhere) and met some Masai men. All weekend, everyone was really curious about why two white girls were walking out in the bush. Everyone kept asking Mushila (Lucy's son) where our car was. The men we met were dressed in traditional Masai clothing. In Ngong, some women use traditional dress, but it's really unusual to see men doing so. We also saw some zebras in the distance while talking to the Masai men.

We made it to the Masai huts where we were spending the night shortly after dark. Unlike the Masai homes close to Ngong (which are a little more modern), the Masai out there live in traditional huts. These are short, small buildings made of branches and cow dung. Since it was so hot, however, we did not sleep in the huts. Instead, everyone (us and the family) slept outside on cow hides. The stars were amazing! I wouldn't say I was exactly comfortable, but it was great to sleep under the stars. Plus, the moon was so bright that when you woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, you didn't even need a flashlight to walk out into the bush :)

I might have mentioned this before, but the famine problems are extremely bad in the Magadi region. The family we stayed with had NO food. Luckily, we were able to give them some vegetables. Also, Rachel and I only ate half of our noodles and gave two of the little boys the rest.
We woke up early on Sunday to walk to the hot springs. Rachel and I put our feet in, but that was as far as we went. It was around 10:00 when we got there, and it was already getting pretty hot. The hot springs were at least as warm as a hot tub and didn't exactly feel refreshing in the hot sun! After the hot springs, we walked to a cluster of trees where we sat the rest of the afternoon. We also saw two dead giraffes who had been torn apart by lions - kind of gross but definitely interesting.

We stayed with another Masai family on Sunday night. The man had two wives, and each wife had a side of the compound. Their huts were simply made of sticks, and there was barely enough room in them to cook. The goats stay in an area in the middle of the compound w/in a fence also made of sticks. The man left to get food for his family, but he never returned. Unfortunately, Mushila told us this was fairly common. We gave the family the rest of our bread, some fruit and the rest of our noodles. I wish we had more to give them. Once again, we slept outside on a cow hide.

Yesterday, we woke up at 3 a.m. to catch a truck into Magadi. Since Monday is market day in Kiserian, many Masai were taking goats into town to sell. We sat on a makeshift seat on TOP of a cab of a large truck (more like an overland truck than a pickup). It was definitely not the safest transportation, but we made it to Magadi fine. It was actually pretty fun, but I would not have wanted to ride up there on a busier road.

Anyway, it was an amazing weekend, but I'm glad to be back with the kids - and back in a place where you can walk outside in the afternoon w/o overheating!

Hope everyone is doing well!

P.S. I have posted a few photos from the weekend on Facebook.