Many thousands of years ago, on the quiet plains of the Maasai Steppe in Tanzania, there lived a close-knit tribe, the Maasai. After many years of drought and suffering there was still no promise of life-giving rain. Their land was brown and barren.
The suffering of the Maasai caused their King great pain. After a mysterious dream, a dream of which he refused to speak of, he announced that he would make a perilous journey to the misty summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, the home of the Gods. He called aside his beloved daughter, Ayanda, and told her to care for his people until his return. Tearful and heavy of heart, Ayanda watched her father walk off towards the distant slopes of the fabled peak.
As the dry parched seasons passed without relief, Ayanda cared well for her people and they, in turn, adored their beautiful queen. But their hearts were deeply troubled by her sad eyes and grieving heart. One hot and dry night, Ayanda too was visited by a dream. Her father took her by the hand and guided her to the edge of a vast lake with violet-blue depths. Ayanda understood that her father would never return but that he was trying to show her the means to save their people from certain death.
