The whole life of the Maasai revolves around cows. A man measures his wealth by the number of cows he owns, not money. Each morning the Maasai man will rise early and go to check the animals in the pens. He does not count the animals, as a Western farmer might do. Instead he recognizes every single animal by heart. Just as if they are his own family members. So you see, there is a very close relationship between the Maasai and the animals they own.
Notice in the picture that the animals are in very good shape. Cows are highly valued. But goats are also raised for meat. There is an interesting Maasai custom.When a man's wife is a few months pregnant, he will slaughter a good goat. He will make a Goat Soup from the animal and give it to his wife. This is done because goats eat a wide variety of plants. So the animals get a lot of different vitamins. The goat soup will provide the growing baby with the nutrition it needs.
By the way ... many tourists refer to Maasai enkangs as "manyattas". This is wrong. A manyatta is an enclosure of thornbushes built by the Maasai moran (warriors). They sleep in the circular manyatta at night. But there are no animals or families living inside a manyatta - it's a temporary arrangement.
More coming ... we'll be adding more pictures soon!
