I’m the new guy in town and a walking through the twice monthly Maasai market here at Olbalbal is getting me a lot of attention, not least because I have the only white face in sight.

Those Goats and sheep are changing hands so quietly and with so little haggling that I begin to wonder if any buying and selling is really going on. Noonkuta, a Maasai lady standing nearby, assures me that it is.

This lady is buying beads to make a beaded belt for her daughter. These sandals made out of old car tires are the best for walking in the bush especially when it is muddy. That young man riding the motorbike is clearly driving without the benefit of lessons. I carefully keep out of his way. Here is an old man, OleLesinka, a friend from Endulen, wanting to go aside to “eat the news.”

I don’t need beads, tire sandals or a new “shuka”, the cloth that the Maasai wear toga style, but spend an hour just wandering around saying hello and chatting with people.