Michael survives Maasai!

This is probably the most fascinating and educational post so far...while traveling the 4 hours from Kilimanjaro to our home for the next three days at the Plantation Lodge just outside the Ngorogoro crater, we kept seeing boys like these at a distance and some alongside the road. Michael asked our guide why some of their faces are painted and here is why. As members of the Masai group, some boys choose to go through a circumcision ceremony at puberty, age 15/16 and if they do so without pain killer they get many presents - cows and Masai clothing as pictured - and then they must wear this face and body paint as a symbol of their manhood. Michael wanted to take pictures so our guide negotiated with these boys to allow us to photograph them and to be photographed with Michael. The survival part of the story...due to exploitation by tourists photographing them, the Masai are now quite hostile to being photographed without being paid so one group of boys threw a stick at our jeep and another made aggressive gestures at us when we tried to photograph them while driving by! Sorry...long story but amazing to us so hope you find it worth the read! Wait until you hear about the Masai women...stay tuned to tomorrows blog when we visit a Masai village!