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Today we begin our journey out of the Serengeti back to Nogorogoro. First we stopped at the Olduvai Gorge in the Rift Valley where Dr. Leaky discovered "Lucy", one of the oldest human ancestors. As we were leaving the Serengeti to the south and just before starting the climb back up the side of Nogorogoro valcano, we saw a Masai village not far from the road. We were met with a very friendly group of Masai warriors that were having some sort of meeting. They invited us into their huts and offered us tea. As the huts are made of cow dung and the the cattle are kept right in the middle of the village, the flies and smell are almost overwhelming. However, when we went into the dark huts we found them to be quite pleasant. The air was cool and a small smoke fire kept the flies away. The warrior that I am standing next to above was wearing a watch and athletic shoes. He also spoke perfect English. He told me that he had gone to university and worked for awhile for British Petroleum, but had decided many years ago to come back to the village. Why I asked? "Because here I have everything I need - 6 wives and many children to look after the herd." However, he explained that it was not all just happy times. It turns out that he spends a lot of his time arbitrating arguments between his wives. The wives also decide who gets "night duty" with him - so he has little choice in the matter. He had 16 children. By his choice, only one of them was going to school. He invited us to a ceremony later in the week where many new young warriors would be anointed, but unfortunately we had to decline.
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