Makete and Matema Beach

For Renee’s history class, and mine we took a field trip. We first traveled to Makete. On the first night, it was very cold when we arrived. Paulo and Peter were wearing Masai blankets to keep warm and we wanted to try it for ourselves. They were so warm! We all ended up falling in love with the Masai blankets that Peter let us use for the trip. When we returned, Renee drew a picture of all of us in the guest book. Everywhere you go here there is a guest book that you sign saying your name, where you’re from, and stuff like that. This hotel had a guest book for the guests to draw something in as well. So Renee drew this nice picture of us and then we decided to recreate it:

The next day we took a hike through the highlands to a traditional clinic. The ground was very muddy and it was difficult not to slip and fall. The views were absolutely gorgeous though! At the clinic, we learned from past midwifes about how women used to come to the cave to give birth. They would have to stay at the cave until the baby’s umbilical cord fell off because the baby is not considered human until that point and therefore can’t be brought back to the community yet.

After the traditional clinic, we continued on to a small village where there is a sacred forest. The priest was at the forest at the time, and he is the only one allowed to enter it. In order to greet the priest by shaking his hand, we had to wash our hands with this special plant.

We continued on our journey to our next hotel after that. The car ride was anything but pleasant. The roads were in horrible condition since it was raining and muddy and we got lost multiple times. Not to mention, Peter emptied one of the gas tanks and put the gas can right behind our seat! It started to give all of us headaches and stomach aches so we were forced to wrap our Massai blankets around our heads. That got us some looks going through the village!

The next day, we began our journey by visiting a sacred lake. The lake was so clear that the clouds and mountains were perfectly reflected in it. No one is allowed to swim in the lake or fish in it since it’s sacred.

We ended our trip at Matema Beach. I got my own hut on the beach all to myself! We spent about hour swimming in the lake before it was time for lunch. After lunch, we took a boat over to Ikombe village where local pottery is made. We watched a demonstration of a pot being made and afterwards just hung out for a little bit. The kids were obsessed with getting their pictures taken and then looking at them!