Salaton is the first child of his father’s fourth wife. There are 12 children in his family. His father, who died in 2025 at 92, left four wives and 44 children. As you can guess, his father had very little influence in his life personally/financially. Most of his growing up years were spent with a nearly empty stomach. His mother struggled to find any means to feed and clothe her children. Unlike most Maasai boys/men, Salaton helped his mother get water and branches and helped care for the younger siblings. They had no livestock to count on for milk or meat. Any money Salaton could earn from little on, he would use it to help his mother and siblings. To this day, his mother and younger siblings count on Salaton’s support in every way.
Salaton lives in the city of Arusha in a small room to be available for safari trips as a guide. He presently works for Upcountry Adventure where he is getting on-the-job training using the computer to create tourist bookings, and he has been a guide on safaris. When he can get away from Arusha, he is at his village checking on his livestock and either planting, weeding, or gathering the crops.
Salaton dreams of having a safari vehicle to get from town to home (223 miles) which is a long way by bus on roads that are difficult to traverse. Having a safari vehicle would make him much more marketable in the tourist industry as well.
