Once again the rains have come to North Maasai country. A few short days into the new season and one questions whether the plains here on the edge of the Serengeti were ever dry. The grass, although still short, gives the landscape a welcome green tinge replacing the ochre dust that for months has been the view where ever one looked.

With the heavy rains in the Ngorongoro highlands comes the flooding of the dry river beds. A phenomenon that can be the undoing of the unwary stranger and sometimes even the Maasai themselves. Less than a week into the rains, three people are dead. And these casualties are not the normal ones, children playing in the sand of the bone dry rivers or women digging for hidden water. Rather OleSeku and two young warriors braving the knee deep rushing water were taken by the sudden shoulder deep rushing wave.. The bodies were found a couple of miles down stream. It happens every year, but seldom to strong adult men.