Maasai warriors to teach zoo visitors about life in Africa

In sort of a reverse safari, four Maasai warriors are braving Seattle this summer to help visitors at Woodland Park Zoo understand the culture of people who live on the African Savanna, caring for goats and cows, moving every few days in the dry months to find water for their herds.

In the coming weeks, they'll tell visitors stories of their frightening encounters with lions and leopards, and of wielding spears to protect their animals.

But in Seattle, they have already encountered a different kind of extreme experience.

Think Costco. At dinnertime.

"People were pushing these big carts, and rushing in there looking like they were being chased," said Kakuta Ole Hamisi Maimai.

Kakuta, as he is called, was the first person to leave his village of Merrueshi in the south Maasai region of Kenya to go to college, returning home each summer. He worked at Woodland Park Zoo for about six years to develop an authentic Maasai Journey as part of the African Savanna exhibit. The new program debuts Tuesday and continues through September.

"My village had to sell a lot of goats and cows to send me to Seattle," said Kakuta, now a junior elder in his community.

This year, he brought three others from the Maasai region to act as interpreters for the program, describing their lives in Africa, and their relationship and experience with the wildlife.

In Seattle just two weeks, they are learning to dress in layers against the cold and rain, drive the bumper cars at the Seattle Center, and are renting an apartment together. Next, they are looking forward to a Mariners game.

But most amazing of all to the men from the arid grasslands? The water that is everywhere in Seattle, especially the huge puddles of it -- those waterholes named Green Lake and South Lake Union.

"There is so much water in one place. In the savanna we have no water; we have to keep moving, looking for it," Kakuta said.

"We wake up in the morning and take care of our goats. The goats are everything for us -- food, milk, cheese and money," Kakuta said. "We want to share our experiences of growing up in the savanna with the wildlife."

He first heard about Seattle when he was working as a tour guide in a national park in Kenya. He became friends with a visitor who eventually persuaded Kakuta to enroll at The Evergreen State College; he graduated, and recently completed his master's at the School for International Training in Vermont.

Even Seattle's balmy 55 degrees makes Kakuta shiver.

When he first arrived in the U.S., Kakuta said, he was stunned by the chilly air, big cars, wide roads and crowds. The idea that buses ran on a schedule baffled him.

"The first week, I wanted to go back home," he said.

Maasai men in their 20s and 30s are warriors. They spend long months away from their families during the dry season, moving with their animal herds, searching for water. They don't have calendars, only seasons -- a dry one and a wet one. And they don't celebrate birthdays or keep track of their ages.

They don't farm, believing that it will destroy grazing land. Their diet is mainly meat. No fruit or vegetables. Only recently, imported potatoes and rice have been added to their meals.

Kenneth Sokoine Ntalamia arrived in Seattle about two weeks ago. He wears the wide, brightly beaded bracelets of his village on his wrists. One features a beaded American flag on the top on half, and the symbols of his land on the other. His mother made it, he said, to remind him of home.

Kenneth said he is impressed with the accuracy of the zoo's African exhibit.

		Andy Rogers / P-I
	Bracelets worn by the Maasai feature colorful beadwork.

"This is the savanna in the city," said the young warrior and herdsman.

For the past year in Kenya, he has been working at the Amboseli National Park as a cultural lecturer and tour guide. His English is impeccable and his storytelling colorful.

He tells adults and preschoolers tales of his close encounter with a lion, and compares the culture of his village with Seattle's.

When it opened in 1980, the African Savanna exhibit at Woodland Park Zoo was one of the first large, naturalistic settings showcasing a mix of animals from the region.

The exhibit has been expanded for the new Maasai Journey experience, with more animals added.

Two new male giraffes were brought to Seattle from the Oakland Zoo. There are also ostriches, which have returned to Woodland Park for the first time in more than 40 years.

Although a crowd gathered Wednesday morning to watch the two new giraffes being hand-fed, the creatures remained hidden.

But once the giraffes overcome their shyness, zoo visitors will have a chance to feed them this summer for a $5 fee, in addition to the admission price.

Woodland Park Zoo has developed a close connection to the Maasai region, giving about $10,000 and members of its own staff for construction of two classrooms in the Merrueshi Primary School in Kakuta's village five years ago. In the last two years, the zoo has raised about $24,000 toward a waterholes restoration project in the drought-ridden region.

MAASAI JOURNEY

Maasai interpreters are available daily, telling their stories about encounters with African wild animals and life in the drought-prone savanna. Here are some of the programs that are part of the Maasai Journey at Woodland Park Zoo this summer:

Feed a giraffe: 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily. Have a close encounter with a giraffe for an additional $5.

Hippos up close: 1:30 p.m. Staff members answer questions about the big animals.

Lion: 2:30 p.m. Zookeepers talk about lions and African wild dogs.

Beading: Learn upapi (beading in Swahili) daily, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., for a $3 donation, which will be used for conservation efforts in Africa, including the waterhole restoration.

WOODLAND PARK ZOO

Open daily, from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., starting Tuesday and continuing until Sept. 30. See zoo.org for more info.