Sep 30: the Masai, up close and personal

What a day this has been.  We retuned to the Lodge for lunch to see from our balcony elephants in the stream.  And as we ate lunch we watched mongoose gambling around the resident monitor lizard.

Just an hours rest we're off again to take a walk with a couple of young adult Masai who show how to recognise various types of animal dung and trees.  We learnt you can tell the age of the elephant by the size of its dung pellets!

We joined with a group of young men in a welcome dance, we joined the ladies in their fertility dance and had a demonstration of their famous jumping.  Amazing! Truly amazing!  It isn't just the sight of them, but it's their singing and these weird rhythmic guttering grunting noises they make at the same time.  And they dance all around you finishing up, nigh on nose to nose with us.  They're all so happy and friendly and keen to hold hands or high five you.  Not really intimidating, but just to say inside our comfort zone.

We were invited inside one of the mud huts: each one houses the kitchen, and sleeping quarters for their family, baby animals and a couple of milking cows!