Last week Skylar, Quinlan (two of my step grandsons) and I went to Bush Adventures in Laparua. There we met our four Maasai guides. Born and raised nearby, Silas, Saita, and Kortol are moran (warriors) and Roslynn is Silas’ sister. We were to be trained as Maasai warriors in the daytime and talk about Maasai culture around the campfire in the evening.

We started out stripping down and putting on our shuka, one wrapped around our waists like a skirt and one tied over our shoulder, then both synched in with a belt. The blingier the better. We all whined until they lent each of us a necklace to wear. Then we headed out on a three mile hike which included climbing a 1000 foot hill. Feeling a bit silly when we started out, I grew to like the shuka. It was loose, comfortable and airy in the warm Kenyan countryside. By the time we were back in camp I had decided that I … still felt silly wearing it. However comfortable, I don’t think a bright red toga is exactly my style. We wore them every day.

Rungu

The next morning we donned our shuka and went out to throw rungu. Rungu means club. The Maasai use three types of club. One with a round knob on the striking end that is used to severely injure. It doesn’t break the skin but causes internal injuries that are difficult to heal. The second is thin with a heavy metal tip. It is also used for striking but is likely to break the skin and thus the wounds heal faster. The third type is for throwing. It is basically a stick about 18” long with one end smoothed off so that your hand doesn’t get ripped up when you throw it. It is easy and fast to make and a warrior can hold several in one hand while throwing with the other. They are used for hunting small game such as a dik dik and for the opening salvoes in a battle. So a 64, 24 and 19 year old spent the morning throwing sticks at a stump. By the time we were finished we were contacting the target maybe one out of ten times. But boy did we scare that “dik dik”.

Bow and arrow

After an excellent buffet lunch, we tramped back out into the bush to try our hand with bow and arrow. At my first sight of the bows, I laughed inside. They looked like something I had made as a ten year old. Just grab a stick four to five feet long, bend it a bit and tie a string to both ends. Boy, was I wrong! They use a special wood that is very strong and springy, dry it and smooth it. The longest bow had too much pull even for skylar. Both the bows and arrows were handmade by local craftsmen and were actual weapons with solid metal arrow heads, some barbed and some not. The safety lecture, “If you notch an arrow, don’t point it at anyone no matter how little you pull the string back. You could poke their eye out.” sounded like a speech they had gotten from their fathers. We took aim and let fly. Quinlan was soon hitting the target with regularity. Skylar and I struggled to match him.

Shield

The shield was a blast. A war shield is made of rhino or buffalo hide. We practiced with a cow hide shield. Good enough for our purposes but it wouldn’t stop an arrow or spear. In fact, a war shield wouldn’t stop a direct hit either which is why we were trained to deflect objects to the side. That was the first instruction. The second was that if something was coming at your head or right shoulder to dodge rather than deflect it. To practice Silas threw a six inch piece of elephant chewing gum at us.

Elephant chewing gum is a succulent that has four foot leaves about an inch in diameter. The way he threw it was fascinating. Holding the knife steady at about eye level he would swing the leaf against the blade which would cut off a six inch piece and send it flying in the direction he was aiming. Simply by raising or lowering the blade he controlled how high the piece flew. And it really flew. Much faster than throwing by hand and he could do rapid fire.

When it was my turn to play, I quickly learned the importance of the two rules. Blocking one of the first projectiles straight on, the shield flexed inward and skinned my knuckles. If it had been an arrow or spear it would have gone through. Deflect. A minute later one flew at my head. Raising the shield I blocked it, but now I couldn’t see. I had blinded myself. I knew more were coming at me but I didn’t know where they were aimed. If I dropped the shield one could hit me in the face so I kept it up. Thwap. Thwap. My lower body and legs were unprotected. If it is coming at your head, dodge don’t deflect.

It was about this time I realized why we were having such a good time. We were playing the games that Maasai boys play when they are growing up. And after all, do boys ever really grow up?

The next post will be about Spear throwing, making fire, tracking, wrestling, and making dinner.