3-13-12–The Samburu Tribe Village

 

After leaving Samburu Sopa Lodge, Newton took us to a native village right outside the reserve. It was definitely interesting to talk to them, see how they lived, ask questions, check out the inside of their homes (OH MY) and explore the small village. The Samburu basically herd cattle, no gardening involved here. For meals they drink a poison mixture of milk and blood. Yes, gag, blood. Uh, yeah, that’s about it. Oh, here’s the real kicker, though. The women do everything. Yup, everything. The guys teach their kids how to herd animals and then sit back and retire. The women cook, MAKE THE HOUSE, not CLEAN, but MAKE, take care of the kids, keep the camp clean and anything aside from just sitting there. The men literally retire by about 40 years old and what might their life expectancy be? Well, one old dude just passed away at a ripe old age of 120. That means he was retired for 2/3 of his life. Oh, and he’s buried in the middle of the camp. Make sure to always walk to the left when going around his pile of rocks & thorn-covered acacia branches.

I would have enjoyed the village visit more if I hadn’t felt like all they wanted was money. I can appreciate that this is how they actually make money (gotta buy more goats sometimes, of course) but we paid $60 for Brad and me to get in, plus another $40 for two bead necklaces. With the cost of goats nowadays they’re raking in the dough. And I don’t think the sticks and random plastic bags are too expensive. Oh, maybe they’re paying for ER care after they are circumcised. Both sexes. At like 17 years old. By the way, they aren’t allowed numbing medicine and they can’t blink while it’s happening. AND they are having warm milk (blood milk?) poured over their heads at the same time. There’s something about the eyelashes but I’d shut down by that time.

On the way back to Nanyuki I got to really check out the cool cactus trees that were here and there along the way. Our truck overheated. The area here is very hilly; it’s kind of the foothills of Mt. Kenya. Actually, it’s amazing to me how many different climates or climactic regions we passed through in about 6 hours. Some were flat and incredibly hot and arid while other areas were very, very lush with massive rolling hills and some areas reminded me of the west Texas Guadalupe mountain range. The temperature range was vast, too. Most of the time it was comfortable to have the window open, sometimes it was too hot (but we didn’t have AC, so whatever) and at one point I was so cold I had goose bumps. The elevation changes are vast.

So, with all the hills, POOF, the truck fries. Newton goes trucking off down the road to get some water, but for some reason didn’t get any, then he went somewhere else and they guy came back with water, then charged us (btw, the kids along the side of the road expect you to pay them for your taking their pictures. Apparently they think we make money off our photos. HA!). There’s a lot of money-making going on in everyday (non-working) life here.

Regina at Fountain Tours was super speedy and miraculously we got a private van to take us into Nanyuki where we were planning to meet our host families and hook up with Julie Denney, another nurse on the mission.