Golf
When you give a Maasai warrior a 7-iron , he instinctively compares it to the spear in his other hand. He carries that traditional, effective weapon every day from his adolescent rites of passage onward. He knows what it’s for, and he knows the damage it can do.
Glancing over to his other hand and the yard-plus of steel shaft with a rubber grip and a dull, angled ax-like head, he struggles to deduce what sensible use such an implement might serve. You can’t blame him. His spear helps feed and protect his tribe. A golf club exists only to amuse self-abusive people playing a silly game.
Still, as my week at the Chem Chem Safari Lodge in Tanzania wound down to its final evening, I had this opportunity to teach this Maasai to play golf.
The veteran safari guides and conservationists at