Massai

Four-wheel drive trucks have their limits. Ours was a a wet grass field so soaked that it was more like a swamp. The rear wheels sank in and were just spinning in the mud. A group of Massai (aka Maasai, an ethnic group in northern Tanzania and southern Kenya) came to help, bringing rocks and pushing the car, but it wouldn’t budge.

So we visited their village while the driver waited for an engine to pull the car out. They invite tourists and even sell souvenirs. They did a little dance for us that involved surprisingly high jumps. The village consists of small huts made from cow dung, grass, and a wooden frame (and no, it doesn’t smell at all, it’s like cement). Inside they have two small rooms and a fireplace; somehow five people can sleep in one. There is also a goat pen.

Eventually the car was pulled free and we got back on the highway, but after a little while we had to stop because a river has flooded the road and water was rushing across it, causing smaller vehicles like tuk-tuks to stall and threatening to wash them off the road. That water was deep and moving fast!

It’s the beginning of the rainy season, this is normal here. Well, it gave us a green Serengeti.