I am camping in a site called Snake Park tonight. It is a campsite that also has a number of snakes, crocodiles, birds, lizards, etc in a section of the campsite - all in their own cages of course. We were lucky enough to arrive on feeding day so at 2pm we got to see the snakes killing and eating sweet little yellow chickens. At times they were still alive and chirping as they went down. It was certainly not for the faint hearted. Bit disappointed that we were not on the right day for 2 massive snakes to get fed a baby rabbit! This park is unique in that the owners have set up a medical clinic that specialises in snake anti-venom and provides free medical treatment to the locals. If someone comes in with something that they need to go to the bigger hospital in Arusha for the clinic also pays for their medical bills. All sales from the campsite go towards funding this clinic so we felt that a boozy night was in order to support this good cause.

We also went on a Masaii village walk with a local Masaii warrior. First we went to the museum that they have established and learnt about their culture. We had a guide who liked questions and was happy to answer them so we certainly got our money's worth in questions and answers. Masaii are a polygamist culture so men can have multiple wives - as long as he has enough cows to pay her family for her! Each family lives in a small cluster of houses. From what we gleaned women do all the work - cooking, cleaning, construction of houses, babysitting and obviously having children. Men look after the stock and also prepare their own meat to eat - that is the only cooking that women are not allowed to do. Didn't quite work out why not, just that that is their culture. As the husband usually has a number of wives, there is actually a roster drawn up of which wives hut he will be in which night. Our guide's father has 12 wives and he has 47 brothers and sisters. Incest is also very much frowned upon and so it was very important that people know their father's name and region of origin to guard against this. Families are responsible for finding their husband's wives and husbands do not actually get a choice in their wives.

Male and female circumcision is also a part of Masaii culture. Female circumcision is now actually illegal however our guide told us that it is still quite commonplace as it is part of their culture. This usually happens when a girl is in her early teens and a razor blade is used, not in a hospital and no painkillers. Young men are initiated into adulthood by being circumcised when they are about 13 years old give or take a year. They use a knife and once again no painkillers. The boys are not allowed to cry as this would cause shame on their family and mean that they are not really a man! Once a boy has been cut he then goes to live in the wild for 3 months and has to paint his face with white paint. We saw a number of these boys with painted faces when we went to the Serengeti, but I did not take photos out of respect for them. They are not circus freaks after all. It is thought that they learn to live on the land during this time and how to survive in life.

After the museum we went to an actual families village and got to go into their small huts and meet the children of that village. The huts are constructed out of sticks that are then covered in cow dung and mud. The roofs are thatched. Considering it was about 30` outside we were pleasantly surprised by how cool the huts were. However not sure I could live in one, as they were a bit smelly from the practice of also keeping small animals inside until they were big enough to go out with the main herd. All in all it seemed like a very simple life with few luxuries, however everyone we met had a big smile and loved to touch our arms due mainly to our white skin. The children also delighted in rubbing our hair when we squatted down to be on their level, they were mesmerized by the softness to what they know which is either a shaved head or very tight and course afro. Very interesting tour all round.