After waking up, we enjoyed to a delicious breakfast. We then drove to a primary school with some of the Masai people from our camp. The head teacher showed us around and we saw all the different class rooms! The tour was a startling and eye opening experience for us all as the school was in a very bad condition.
The students had only a few small benches made out of wood to sit on, and at least three students had to share a bench. Two classes shared one room, only separated with a small wall in between. The children at the school were very nice and sweet, but we all felt very bad for them because of the conditions of their school and difficulty of their lives. Most of them must walk more than 8 km (almost 5 miles) on their own every morning to reach the school. Additionally, some of must carry and take care of their little brothers and sisters.
After finishing the tour we gave the students balloons and soap bubbles to play with. The children were so happy about it and did a little performance for us. We took our few last pictures and got back into the vans.
When we reached a very bumpy road, the drivers dropped us off, and we had to walk back to the camp. The sun was burning on our shoulders, but the leader of the Masai people explained much about the natural world around us and its animals, which was really interesting. The walk to camp took us three hours and was exhausting. Although tired when we reached camp, we were happy and proud we made it. We enjoyed a well earned lunch and then had a little break to rest!
Once we were rested, we drove to a Girls Boarding School. We waited a few minutes for the head mistress who soon arrived by car. She seemed surprised to see us! The leader of the Masai people talked to her for a second and then she led us into a big room in which all the girls had an assembly.
Our teacher Kerry presented us by quickly telling them our names. Next, we were given a tour of the campus by a small group of girls. Again we have to admit that we were shocked! The student dormitories were two huge rooms in which little walls gave three of them a little bit of privacy. The beds were also in a terrible condition. But the girls were all so friendly and sweet and were fascinated by us and our cameras.
We talked to the students, took pictures and conducted interviews. We contemplated all we had seen that day as we walked back to our cars and drove back to our camp. The day had been long and exhausting. After dinner we promptly all fell asleep in our tents.
Pia and Sarah
Day 6 - Pink Flamingos
Today’s adventure started in the early morning. We got up at 5.45 am to head to a safari in the morning at 6.15 am. Without having had breakfast we got onto the safari vehicles and headed out into the wild. The first thing that came into our eyes once we left the lodge in the vehicles was a incredible sunrise.
The first animals we saw were small antelopes and gazelles. As we continued driving we spotted lions! Everyone grabbed their camera, no sooner than had we started taking photos, the adult lions walked away. Fortunately a small lion cub stayed in the open in front of the bushes and allowed us take photos of him. Soon after, another cub joined him!
Once we had taken our photos and marveled at the cubs for a while, we left the spot and continued on our safari to search for more types of animals such as zebras and birds. Suddenly someone in the vehicle shouted, “Stop, look what’s there!” When we turned to look, we saw elephants! We were all excited because this was the animal we were probably most waiting to see. Everyone took lots of photographs. As exciting as this was, it would not be the last time we would see elephants today.
As soon as we were done taking photos we continued driving and saw gazelles and zebras and after a while we spotted more elephants and lions! And this time there were also adult lions! The large number of animals there was incredible. Continuing on with the safari, we left this spot and found a huge group of buffaloes. There were birds on many buffaloes either picking on their head or in their ears. On the way back to the lodge we saw more gazelles, zebras, and also monkeys.
When we returned to the lodge we finally had breakfast. We stayed at the lodge until lunch. Then, we brainstormed about what to do at the Maji Moto, the traditional Masai village we planned to visit the following day. After that we discussed what we are going to do when we will return to Boys Town before we leave.
Once we had completed our conversation, we went for another safari. During this safari we saw lions, gazelles, antelopes, birds, elephants, giraffes, jackals, zebras, and buffaloes. Once we returned to the lodge we had time to get ready for dinner. When dinner was over we interviewed the naturalist of the lodge who is a real Masai. Before we could start filming we had to set up the equipment perfectly because of the dark light conditions. Then the Masai answered some of the questions we came up with during brainstorming in the afternoon. It was such an interesting opportunity!
Once we were done with the interview, we participated in a critique on our images taken in Boys Town and those taken earlier today. And that is how another nice and interesting day in this beautiful country ended.
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