The rains are over and almost instantaneously the plains have lost their rich green color and are becoming brown as the grass dries and dust fills the air.

The hills in the Ngorongoro high country are covered with yellow flowers signaling the end of the rains. It is a very beautiful sight but means that good green grass for the cattle will be harder and harder to come by in the coming weeks and months.

Although the rains have been over for just a couple of weeks, the scarcity of grass is already causing people to move their herds to places that are still green. As the seasons change, it is brought home to me that the Maasai are totally dependent on their environment and must live in sync with it.