On the Move: On the heels of the Wildebeest in the Maasai Mara

There is not much else more iconic than a trip to the Masai Mara...the migration of tens of thousands of Wildebeest, Zebra, predators in tow and the famed Masai herdsmen, long and thin, draped in red blankets looking after herds of cattle and goats. It would be hard for someone to come away disappointed in this amazing environment with its tumultuous past and rather tentative future. Ben and I were lucky enough to arrive during peak migration of Wildebeest (and tourist alike).

We arrived for an afternoon game drive leading from the front gate to our campsite. The first thing that struck me was the enormity of the area.. it is massive, sprawling, the golden-brown tones of a large grass savanna seemed to spread over the hills for miles and miles. It was the stereotypical African environment: Acacia trees, golden grasses and red hot sunsets. The stuff that inspired Karen von Blixen-Finecke to write "Out of Africa," the amazing and exotic environment that drew the big game hunters "Out of Europe." The only difference I saw after crossing into the Masai Mara Game Reserve from the hours of driving to get here was there were no Masai or their Brahma-style cattle. I also noticed that I did not spot a single animal beast or bird.... strange. Okay maybe not so strange just a bit naive that the whole place would be filled to capacity with National Geographic-like adventure.

Now I called it a "game drive" and that is just what they are. Most East African parks, particularly those in Kenya or the massive Mara-Serengeti savanna ecosystem, are strictly to be explored within the confines of a vehicle. No getting out, no excuses. The immense spaces and not to mention the wildlife (particularly those meat eaters) are not domesticated in any way shape or form. Yes they may watch you carefully and with little interest in those all so common big white safari vans but there are accidents every year and people die... they are trampled, mangled or eaten. I have a healthy respect for the rules, so as much as you want to pull a Julie Andrews and spread you arms and run singing through the rolling hills.. you don't.

So the first sign of wildlife in the Mara was proceeded by the smell. We though yes, I know that smell, musky large, leathery elephant smell. And sure enough there was a small herd of elephants, about 3 adult females, their juveniles and a few rather young, still nursing, calves. They were amazing and our driver put us very close to the action. I often felt a bit too close and intrusive, yet these lumbering giants continued to forage and eat as if several white safari buses were part of the mundane scenery of "Great Migration" of July and August. They were amazing never the less and approached the vehicles in close proximity, to the delight of many tourist albeit two who always remained a bit anxious due to the immense respect we have for the absolute power and wildness of these magnificent creatures. Ben and I often were the ones yelling: "Stop, Stop.. Sawa sawa (okay), that is close enough!" (although sometimes to the bitter disappointment of those traveling with us).

We continued on, although you could watch the elephants for as long as you desired, as they seemed in no hurry to move on to the next group of gawking tourist. We starting seeing evidence of ungulate life in the savanna, a zebra or twenty here, an impala or Thompson's gazelle over there, when we were lucky enough to get an early reminder of why you should remain in the car- a pride of lions sleeping on a large-sun heating rock, waiting for the sun to fall beneath the hills and instigate the night-time hunt. I was very pleased to note that their rock was about 15 meters from the road, giving them a bit of a buffer against the snapping of cameras and pointing of fingers. The pride consisted of about 4 adult females and what appeared to be a rather young male, his mane not quite full and long but more like a motley crew cut with a week of growth. He sat up and looked around a bit, almost off in the distance and when a female stirred awake they looked at each other briefly and she laid back down. Our guide was explaining to us how the female lions have a longer lifespan than the males and he added a comment to the effect of it being due to their indolent behavior. Probably also has to do with the fierce competition between males.... the old man will eventually lose his pride to the younger, stronger and more fit sophomoric one. Could help but wonder if that was the case with our young male here?

The next day we spent the entire day on game drive, only stopping once to view the Mara River, a hippopotamus laden, crocodile sprinkled, muddy waterway, that if you are very lucky you will see the crossing of the Wildebeest. There was also a troop of Black-faced vervet monkeys that hang around tourist areas hoping to steal a bit of food. Hippos lounged on the opposite mud-bank of the Mara although occasionally a bit of a tiff would break out and demonstrate that indeed these animals could efficiently move their bulk. The armed guard, which you tip and was the source of a debate in the vehicle (need them or not), took us to the vantage point where you could look at the Wildebeest that had yet to cross the Mara River. The guard told us that at various times they will cross for about 2-3 hours straight and then stop for an unspecified amount of time until they resume again. Not all Wildebeest migrate, in fact there are even some within the Mara Reserve that are year long residents. The same can be said to be true on the other side of the border, where the Tanzania's Serengeti National Park joins the Mara.

The environment, despite straddling two national borders and three different management regimes, forms a rather continuous piece of conservation area with animals (hypothetically?) being able to migrate between three different reserves: The Masai Mara Reserve (Kenya), Serengeti National Park (Tanzania) and Ngorongoro Conservation Area (Tanzania). Three different management models, similar and yet differing histories, all within the Masai traditional boundaries and all very interesting from both an anthropological and natural resource perspectives. In short the "Mara" is not managed by the Kenyan Wildlife Service but instead is managed by a Community -Based Organization (CBO) on behalf of the Masai themselves. It was extremely hard to find more information on the history of this area, the structure and politics of profit sharing and/ or how the management plan incorporates the larger Masai community....all things to be explored later? I am on vacation after all! (This is however a field of inquiry that I will hopefully be exploring in graduate school- human ecology and conservation areas management).

And of the Masai themselves? Well, I did go visit one of the tourist "villages" paying a bit more than 10USD for unlimited photographic opportunities, got to see "customary dances," go into a Masai house and try some of the sausage-tree home brew. A cultural sell-out? Cultural tourism? Cultural preservation and profit? I really don't know how I felt about what I saw and I would encourage others to reserve harsh or quick and easy judgements as well. One fact is true: for many a decades in Kenya and Tanzania the image of the Masai was used to sell the country, becoming the picture of tribal East Africa, and the Masai themselves didn't benefit at all. Could you really blame them now for being aggressively adamant to receive a few shillings to take their picture? Can you imagine what it was like to see your image in magazines, pamphlets and books to advertise tourism for which you not only didn't profit but actually lost land and resource access to create?

At least in these "villages" the Masai have some command and control over their image, their culture and profits. They also are able to minimize the effect of tourist on other villages or homesteads by herding the mzungu (along with their cattle and goats) into one concentrated area. I heard many a complaint by tourist about the authenticity or wanting access to a "real village." All these complaints seem a bit ego-centric to me (particularly considering most of these people would role their eyes and yet go inside and take photographs.. all the while feeling sorry and embarrassed for the villagers...hmm). Cultural tourism is tricky, the effects can be complicated and represent a matrix of beneficial and disadvantageous effects and may preserve or distort the culture participating. I believe that people should avoid quick and rash judgments on such matters (or if they disagree...stick to your guns and don't go or support the venture!). Anyone who has ever gone to a Hawaiian luau, an Amish village or Native American Reservation probably has had a few of these conflicting thoughts in the back of their minds. Are we celebrating the cultural diversity or destroying it with our capitalistic purchase of its performance?

Either way the Masai are a dominating force when it comes to the image of East Africa and here is the real kicker... they only make up about 5% of the population of the hundreds of tribes in the area. According to many of the other residence (such as Kikuyu, making up 20% of the ethnic population of Kenya) the Masai are famous because they have refused to let go of their culture, their customs and integrate into the larger monoculture of Kenya, more so than other groups. It not that some of the Masai don't wear modern clothes, shoes or haven't lost many or their customs, because indeed some have, yet many have not and many more live somewhere in the middle. I guess the one instance that demonstrated this more to me than any else was the short road stop we made in the middle of Masai country. Three Masai boys, leaving their livestock for a moment, came running up to the van, amazingly just to peer into the group of strange people inside. Going on the material alone (dangerous but lets go with it) they represented a spectrum of Masai-dom: one was completely traditionally dressed, one had a pair of shorts a t-shirt and then the Masai blanket draped over his shoulders and the eldest was dressed in completely western attire down to his sneakers. All were Masai however. All of them carried implements of a herder, all spoke the same language and all were performing the most important task of a Masai... looking after their cattle.

The Mara was not disappointing in the least, not on a superficial level or an intellectual one. We saw so many animals in this park, lions, cheetahs, a jackal, vultures, zebra, cape buffalo, giraffe, a tone of different antelope and birds. One of the most interesting things to watch was a group of Maribou Storks and various vultures posturing and picking the remains of a dead cape buffalo, which we returned to several times during the day: Nature sure has efficient waste management or more accurately, in this system nothing is wasted. The amazing landscape, animals, people, conflicts and history are shrouded in mystery and myth, compromise and harsh reality. I certainly came away with more questions than answers and a powerful imagery of a place that deserves to be one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

-Jessica