Some of the Best World Treks – Part 2

Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano – God's mountain

The volcano is still active today and the hike to it is quite an adrenaline experience, as you never know when it’ll erupt again. Three weeks before our trek lava erupted; therefore, it could still be seen everywhere on the surface as well as on the slope where we were walking uphill. The dust accompanied us all the way. The volcano is still active and very loud.

The preparations for the climb began as early as eight in the evening when Wilson served me a full bowl of macaroni and sent me to bed after dinner. “It will be necessary to get up early,” he said. And really, the morning awakening was already at midnight. We drove for an hour to the foot of the volcano, and our conquest of this almost three-thousand-meter-high mountain started with a group of tourists at one o’clock in the morning. My guide was from a nearby village and he knew rather good English. The climb itself, I have to say, wasn’t at all strenuous for me, but it was tiring for my guide as I had to urge him almost all the way to walk faster. It also happened that he sat down during our lunch and started snoring happily and loudly for half an hour. Well, after five hours of walking, I helped him get to the top, and the beautiful sunrise and the landscape at the top of the volcano and its surroundings were worth the effort.

Who are Maasai tribe?

Next to the volcano is the beautiful Lake Natron, where the eye can spot flamingos. The area is also known for the Olmoti Crater, an approximately two-thousand-meter-high mountain, and the Maasai tribe are said to have led their animals there. And who exactly are the Maasai? The Maasai are nomads who live in the African savannah. The Maasai warriors take care of the safety of their people and their livestock. Through many acceptance rituals that test their courage, skill, and endurance, they become men. Their main task is to protect the community in which they live. The Maasai are polygamists (at one of the weekly markets where cattle are sold, I found out that a wife costs 15 cows, which means the richer you are, the more wives you can have). The Maasai wear wrapped canvases around their bodies, mostly red and blue and purple in color. Their shoes are made of rubber. They drink blood mixed with milk from large pumpkins called calabashes. They are also known for their dance, which includes jumping extremely high into the air. They always carry a stick to defend themselves against wild beasts. They usually wear a lot of jewelry.

In the Maasai village I visited two families and the village healer. The Maasai families live in a small round or square houses made of mud and covered with grass. In one of the villages, I also learned that animal excrement can also be a good floor cleaner.

The Datoga and Bushmen tribes

The next day I visited other more famous tribes living in the vicinity of the Ol Doinyo volcano. These are the Datoga and Bushman tribes, also known as the Hadzaba. This time, we set off in an off-road vehicle. The road was initially paved, but later the path became dusty and full of potholes. This and other similar roads put daily showering in Africa out of the question.

The path to the Datoga tribe went past baobab trees and coffee plantations, and I also saw quite a few baboons along the road. To the tribe, however, we had to walk for a good hour. The Datoga are relatives of the Bushmen, the guide told me. Upon arrival in the village, my guide and I spent just enough time there, so that the tribe earned some money by selling various metal products; I bought a beautiful handmade metal bracelet from them. By village I mean a slightly larger bush, under which the older man made metal products, and next to it stood a mud-built “house” where his two wives lived; a husband in this tribe has two wives who are friends and fully understand the husband's need to have more than one wife with him – if the husband falls ill, he needs to be cared for, one of the wives explained to me.

The next morning, I went on a hunt with the Bushmen. They don’t live in houses, and if it rains, they seek refuge in nearby caves. We started hunting in the morning between six and seven o'clock, hunting (of course armed with various spears and other home-made hunting tools) for five hours, and the result of the catch were two rats and two birds. The Bushmen were pleased, and I, after strenuous five hours of walking up and down the woods, as well. It’s customary to prepare their catch in front of the tourists, right in the middle of the forest. The Bushmen lighted a fire without matches. They helped themselves with animal excrement, which they crushed and then placed a handful of dry grass on it. They then kneaded a wooden stick between their hands through a small hole in the prepared metal. The fire was already burning, and the rat was frying (thrown right into the fire with all its limbs). The head is offered to the tourist as the most delicious meal (if any of the tourists has poor eyesight, the Bushmen recommend the eyes to them). After our hunt (and a “delicious feast”), we brought the fruit of the baobab tree to the “village” for the Maasai women.

To be continued…