Day 21

Ninapenda pango yangu (I love my rock shelter)! It’s quite a bit different than I imagined, but in very good ways. First of all, it’s much bigger than the pictures suggested. The roof is gabled and sits at about 15 feet in the middle and then lowers to about 8 feet on the sides. The space underneath is quite large, about the size of a two car garage. It is extremely well positioned on the landscape. The overhang faces southeast, so it is exposed directly to the sun in the mornings but is shady and cool by the afternoon. From the mouth, you can see almost the entire valley below while still being hidden from view yourself. Best of all, a large roof spall (about the size of a streetcar) has fallen in the middle of the mouth, creating a sort of fourth wall for complete shelter. There are two entrances on either side of the roof spall, both of which are fairly well hidden until you’re directly upon them. In fact, we had to hike around the hillside for awhile before finally finding it. If I were an early modern human, I can’t really think of a better place to hang out. Obviously a few people share my sentiments since the walls bear some modern day graffiti. It’s entirely possible that we’re digging in some cool Maasai teenager hangout.

With that in mind, we actually visited the nearby Maasai village on our way back from the site. Pastory explained our project to them, and asked them not to disturb the cave while we’re working on it. Although we were only there briefly, it was really interesting to be in a Maasai camp. I hope that we’ll run into them again. Between perfect hideouts and interesting neighbours, this is shaping up to be a good summer.