Chris and I were awoken in the
middle of the night, ok, maybe somewhere at the beginning of the fourth quarter
(the most important quarter of sleep, duh) around 4 or 5 A.M. We painfully woke and arose from our sleep. We
were to cook the rest of the goat after starting up the fire pit. We set the
goat leg over the flame to roast, the time we spent watching the leg roast was
spent in a dream-like state. I know I personally teetered on the edge of
consciousness and unconsciousness while watching the flames from the fire
dance…around goat leg. We couldn’t see anything beyond our Orpul, beyond the light from the flames there was a sense of nothingness,
just us. The four of us sat in a circle watching the flames caress our roast
while we waited for the sun to raise. After
forcing chunks of meat to my still sleeping belly I came back to my senses a
bit to wash down our food we made some "Nyama Chai" (soup). As the
sun rose Chris and I ascended out of the darkeness of the orpul guided by lenjekka and Paapaa in warrior hood. We were ready
to face a lion!..but hey insisted otherwise so instead we washed up to wash off
the looming fatigue putting an end to our training camp.
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| a part of the vast spring |
We packed up everything we brought
out and prepared to wash up around ten o’ clock. After relaxing for a brief
moment we were right back at it. Today we were to head to the natural spring where
many of the cattle of Lesoit go to drink, to meet with an engineer in the midst
of some pipe work.
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| Some Masai and Chris "Cold Chillin" |
Upon arrival many Masai were
washing, while cattle drank from the spring, it seemed almost like a getaway
from the responsibilities of their Kraals; wives, children, and stock, here
they joked and enjoyed the company of their friends. We began touring the
springs until it was clear we missed this mysterious engineer. Though we missed
the engineer we met up with a bunch of young Masai relaxing watching over their
cattle and joined them.
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| Cattle drinking from a trough |
We conversed and kicked it old school, and even had a
photo shoot. It was an uneventful day
full of recovery and relaxation, so I thought. While we returned to Cha
ng'omobe' we came across a large herd of missing cattle grazing on land which
was to be reserved, Chris and I were auspicious enough to get the chance to
heard cattle. With the force of synergy unheard of, Frnak, Chris, and I rounded
up the cattle and lead them back to the Kraal. Call me lame, but it was really
exciting. I was like a boy frollicking between 900 lb cows.
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| "Epic Cattle Herding" |
Chris and I had
free time for the rest of the day. I
took this opportunity for adventure Time!!! I figured I’d take the 10 minute
walk to the market for water and to test my understanding of my whereabouts. I
jogged there in five minutes practicing my Swahili with the locals who were
really welcoming. After I bought some bottles of water, I made my way back to
Frank’s Kraal only to get lost in the woods and partake in some help from some
local peeps. I returned for dinner with the crew and star gazing afterwards.
With the end of our seventh day I found the end of my trip finally near. I
won’t lie I was home sick, but it wasn’t time to go home just yet, we still had
the big soccer game tomorrow!
Here are a few more pics of our experience herding:
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| Lanjen and I |
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| Chris exhibiting his Herding capabilities |
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| Bossin out with the Masai, Herding. |
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