“I am happy for you to meet my country”

With these simple words, Salaton welcomes us to his Kenya.

We navigate the chaotic streets of Nairobi with Salaton and our driver, Timbutu. Even in the capital city of Nairobi, the sight of two traditionally dressed Maasai and two pale Americans is a novelty.

The simultaneous, one-word response to Court’s “Are there many accidents here?” is a quick and curt “yeah.”

When we arrive at Maji Moto we are greeted by four Maasai with a welcome song and traditional shukas (bright red Maasia wraps). A quick look around and you realize it’s a world removed from . . . just about everything. The traditional huts are constructed of the key materials needed for any solid building project – soil, water, ash, and dung. Our basic quarters where we spend the next two nights are quiet, relaxing, and perfect.

We get a chance to sit down and talk with Salaton when we arrive, and it’s instantly apparent that he’s a true leader. He’s quick to smile but careful with his words. He resembles a devout Buddhist in many ways (Eastern religion being a more recognizable reference point for us Westerners). He understands the energy and impermanence of life, owns nothing, gives everything back to his community, and has the ability to be stoic and amused at once. An old, wise soul with childlike joy.

When we discuss our new home state of Hawaii, Salaton has never heard of it – and can’t believe it’s part of the same United States that he has visited since it is so far removed in the middle of the ocean. Even without knowing the aloha spirit, the oft repeated phrases po-le po-le (slowly slowly) and hakuna matata (no worries) make me think the Maasai would appreciate the Hawaiian way of life.

Salaton advises us that we will take part in a cleansing ceremony on our first evening. Foot-and-mouth disease has been detected in the area, and we will be cleansing the livestock as well as ourselves with smoke. We enter the circular livestock pen and perform the ceremony with the animals still in it. We dance around the fire purifying the cattle and ourselves. The ceremony ensures good health and long life to both the human and bovine participants.

The next day, we are honored with a wedding ceremony to begin the day. We again head to the small village where the cleansing ceremony was performed, and enter a small, crowded hut with three (and possibly four) generations of Maasai. We are adorned with sacred skins, our shukas, ceremonial beads, sandals, traditional red clay face markings, and I am given a special walking stick (which few Maasai own).

Court receives a traditional leather belt. The Maasai notch their belts a bit differently than Americans, tying a knot for each child they give birth to. An elder female performs a blessing and advises us that our child will be a boy. When the time comes – easy, moms, easy. Po-le po-le.

We receive further blessings and song as we emerge from the hut and are married as Maasai.

What to do after you are newly married? Teach yoga of course.

We are given a tour of the Enkiteng Lepa school where disadvantaged girls (typically those that run from circumcision and early marriage) are given an education along with other students. Neither the teacher nor the students had ever heard of yoga, but this doesn’t seem to matter as Court leads a laughter-filled practice outdoors. I’m taking pictures and am struck that she is the yogic equivalent of Johnny Appleseed. . . Saffron Fennel Seed seems fitting.

We return to Maji Moto for a relaxing evening and dinner, which is good, because we spend the next two full days trekking the expansive vastness of the Loita and Sienna plains.

(NOTE: We will be giving back to Maji Moto by supporting at least one disadvantaged girl through a full year of schooling as well as giving support to the school to continue improving its infrastructure.)