by David Erickson A trip to East Africa is full of surprises.
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt of a longer version of David’s
trip to East Africa. We had talked with Fred, our guide, several
times about visiting a Masai village, so, that afternoon, upon
leaving the gorge we drove west to the edge of the great
Serengeti Plain. During a lunch break under an Acacia tree, my
wife Jeanne asked Fred about the circular scar under each of his
eyes and he said: "The witch doctor did it. So I wouldn’t go
blind." He offered no further explanation. His eyesight was
certainly exceptional, though, as he easily pointed to animals
at first invisible to us. When we arrived at the village, Fred
negotiated a payment that would allow us to enter, see the
inside of some of the huts and take photographs. The payment he
explained would be used "for medicine." The village consisted of
about 15 small huts, in a circular compound surrounded by a
fence of Acacia bush. The long, sharp and nasty thorns of the
acacia effectively deter an