Elangata Wuas

Our last camping site for the next little while is called Elangata Wuas. It’s in the Great Rift Valley, just like Nguruman was, but because the valley is narrower at this point, the escarpment walls act like a wind tunnel at night as the air cools and falls down the sides of the escarpment. We stayed at Elangata Wuas for five amazing days and did things like listen to lectures by local Maasai people about land issues in the area, had a “gender discussion” in which the girls (33) and boys (5) on our trip split up and talked to a group of Maasai women (or men in the case of the boys) about specific gender issues. That was probably the highlight of my stay in Elangata Wuas- it was especially interesting to hear their questions for us. They asked us about when people get married in Canada, when they have kids, and other more personal things which I’ll leave out to spare any men reading this post. Another highlight was when we visited a school and played soccer against the school’s soccer teams. Although we had a lot of work to do it was so nice to take a break and exercise. And it was such an amazing way to interact with the kids here. 

On our first morning in Elangata Wuas we hiked up the escarpment- another highlight of our time here.

 On the third night of our stay here in Elangata Wuas, we split into groups of three and were shipped off to homesteads in the region to stay the night. I stayed in a Maasai family’s compound which housed the grandfather, his two wives, all of his wives’ children (unless they were married women, in which case they move to their new husband’s community to live), and their spouses, and then all of their children. We slept in a house made out of cow dung, mud, and sticks and a bed of a cow hide stretched over sticks. Again, my McKenna sleeping skills came in handy- I slept through the night while other people in our group couldn’t sleep at all. While at their home we attempted to help them milk their cows and chopped veggies for dinner. Mostly though, we just played with the kids in the family and relaxed and chatted with the family members. The homestay was an amazing experience and it was kind of nice to be away from the group for one low-key night, but it was very nice to get picked up in the morning by one of our drivers, John (who greeted us all with big hugs and kisses on the cheek and saying, “I missed you guys so much!!”), head back to camp and have a hot shower and more familiar food. 

Speaking of food- on our second last night in Elangata Wuas the kitchen staff secured a whole live goat for us to have a goat roast. The meat was incredibly delicious- perfectly barbecued. I have no pictures of it though, it was consumed far too quickly!

Sam, Andrew, and Miranda studying on the lookout overlooking our campsite.

 After 17 days of “camping” (it’s hard to call it camping when there’s hot showers and running water and delicious hot food cooked for you!) we are heading back to Nairobi for about a week. It will be sad to say goodbye to the camping staff but we’ll be meeting up with them again when we camp on the beach (!!) in Malindi in a few weeks. That’s all for now! Hope everything is great at home and Happy Birthday Andre!