June 21st - July 1st

The Apo Calypso team is busy making arrangements for the days to come, however let us give a brief update on the previous 10 days.

The 21st and 22nd were spent in Nanyuki preparing for the touchdown of Heather Ramsey on the 24th and deciding how best to spend her 12-day visit here in Kenya. Due to a number of illnesses in the team, we had been forced to keep our energy exertion to a minimum for these two days.

Having recovered, on the afternoon of the 23rd we set out to Nairobi for a nights stay on account of Heather's early arrival the following morning. Unfortunately, our meeting with Senator Joseph Lekuton fell through, partially as a result of his obvious preoccupation with the newly formed coalition government. Nonetheless, on the 24th we were back on our feet and ready to partake on our next adventure.

We picked up Heather, got a bite to eat, and before we knew it were returning to Nanyuki to charge batteries and pick up the necessary groceries and supplies for our departure that afternoon. Our destination: back to the community boma for an in-depth look at the Maasai woman' and Moran's day-to-day work for the community. In Heather's words, this is not simply a car ride, but rather a trip back through a seemingly 15, 000 year time period.

We obtained some beautiful shots of the flowing river of Ngare Ndare and arrive that evening just in time to set-up camp and record a marvelous sunset through the floating Acacias and behind the rocky ridges of Il Ngwesi.

Having awoken to the calling of the eastward Sun, the team was well-rested and prepared for a few days of extensive work. On the 25th alone, we managed to capture a full 6-hours of footage, which included:

- the birds and trees of the rift valley
- women beading a nourishing their children
- the different stages of the boma throughout its construction and inhabitance
- woman constructing fence from branches
- a goat slaughter with 20 Moran warriors
- Moran jewellery/adornments
- the Maasai flute
- and another beautiful sunset

While this was all being filmed, Javid was meeting elsewhere with the elders of Il Ngwesi, the go-to men for everything in that community. Fortunately enough, the meeting went off without a hitch, and luckily the elders of two other communities, Amboseli and the Masai Mara were present. These two contacts, particularly in the Mara, will indeed play a useful role in the weeks to come.

On the 26th, we were allowed the chance to capture more of the life of a Maasai woman. We gathered footage of group song and dance, the sweeping of the boma, the building of fire, breast-feeding, and the vital retrieval of water. The woman's responsibility over the rest of the community is never underestimated on any of its members' behalf.


The next day we returned briefly to Nanyuki for a photo off-load, battery charge, and restocking of food for our next destination.

We then head off to what is the biggest sporting event, not to mention the finest example of the commercialization of nature, in Kenya. The Safaricom Marathon in Lewa Downs Conservancy is one of the top ten most difficult terrains on the world circuit, and Apo Calypso was in the press lines capturing the sunrise stampede on the 28th of feet (some with shoes, others without) through the Rift Valley. Inspiring landscapes bore the name 'Safaricom' where all eyes could see, an unmistakable conflict for the Maasai culture, attributed to the rise in commercial interest in what was once Maasai territory.


Having experienced and captured nature in a considerably different fashion than our previous encounters, we have returned to Nanyuki for Canada Day and will be back in the bush tomorrow.

We have received news of a massive graduation ceremony and celebration for the older Moran's in the Makurian community boma beginning on the morning of the 4th until the evening of the 5th, throughout which 1,000 Maasai visitors and 10 bull slaughters will be expected. We have been invited, and are awaiting news on what the elders will expect from us in order to film the procession.

NEXT DESTINATIONS:
- Sweet water
- Chumvi
- Nadungoro
- Makurian
- Mount Kenya helicopter flight
- Nairobi
- Masai Mara