Maasai Mzungu

Early rise, car packed, and off we went! Myself, Valerie, Fred, Tom driving and Harry our chef. A long journey through Arusha city with a stop off at the mzungu supermarket for a few bits and bobs, including a million more batteries that my camera kept chewing up! On we went along the highway - which to us mzungu is the equivalent of a motorway but only a single-carriageway with almost as many roadworks as we have, but countless police checks, I think on the journeys to and from Maasai we got stopped 9 times. And this may partly be due to the fact Valerie was sat in the front. You see Tanzania have very strict motor vehicle regulations, more so for the vehicles being used to ferry tourists around, so if the police spot a mzungu in the car then it's more likely to get stopped as they assume a white person is a tourist and the car needs to be checked. And there was nothing intimidating about these checks, well maybe there was during the first few, but generally they're just checking the car log book, the drivers license and insurance, that there's a first aid kit and fire extinguisher.
Anyhoo, after several police checks we went on and left the highway. Drove past the Military Academy and into the region of Monduli. We arrived in a town which was heavily populated with people in Maasai dress, we pulled up by a shop where several huge water bottles were loaded into the car and a Maasai man squeezed in with us. This was Alais, our guide and translator. I must admit, sitting next to him in the car at this point I felt a bit nervous. There was less awareness of personal space and boundaries which made me a little uncomfortable but this was definitely amplified by the foot long knife tied to his belt! We'd experienced an 'African Massage' driving around town (basically huge potholes on the tracks off the main road) but as we left the town and ventured into the rural area, the road became a dirt track....then we were introduced to 'Maasai Massage' where the "roads" made me think of those Red Letter Day off road driving experiences you can buy; in a 4x4 with extensive protection wear provided! But here we were in a typical people carrier on terrain that was never flat or straight and massive crevices within the millimeters of they tyres that the car could have slipped down!

one of the hundreds of ditches either side of the tyre track

And as Tom's skillful driving took us further into Maasai land, we caught glimpse of a Boma - a gathering of mudhuts where one family lives, usually with an enclosure for livestock made out of thorny shrubs and branches and sometimes with one of these fences surrounding the boma. We passed several of these, some weird and wonderful plants and trees and an ostrich - my first glimpse of wildlife that is mostly associated with Africa. We also passed lots of the locals; some herding their cattle, goats or donkeys carrying water and firewood, others carrying food and water on their head from wells and waterholes. Alais told us that some people will walk upto 40km for water, and often this was water from water holes/ponds rather than from a well of clean water. We passed a water hole and there were people washing, people filling huge water carriers (jerry cans), livestock drinking...it wasn't until a bit later on that I realised that what I'd just seen with my own eyes was what we'd often see on a charity TV advertisement. These people were travelling for miles to get water, and with all the livestock drinking from these pools then it was highly likely that their waste products was getting into this water too!

home sweet boma!

The Maasai Massage continued as we drove on and every now and then we had to rush to close the windows as big dust spouts and clouds formed and rushed towards us. We weren't always quick enough! We arrived at our boma and were given a quick tour of the four huts that we'd call home for the next few days.




There were two round mud huts. Valerie and I shared this one. Alais told us that Maasai women build the houses - quite literally the 'home makers' and the interior of the roof was twisted into an intricate spiral before the exterior thatched roof is woven into place. Two wooden beds with mattresses, a shelving unit and industrial strength mozzy nets. I was very glad of these, but this was more of a barrier between me and the spiders rather than defending off the mosquitoes. There were lots of spiders!

Directly in front of our front door was a fenced-in dining area where all our meals were served and we sat chatting the night away. Beyond this was the bathroom...well I think it's safe to say that term is used rather loosely! A thatched shed like building with a mud wall separating 2 tiny rooms. The first had a curtain across the doorway and was the 'shower' room. But as expected there was no shower, just a little hole in the floor for water to drain away if you used a basin to wash. But having seen how precious water is here, we just stuck to washing with baby wipes that we'd taken. The next door was the toilet...a long drop. And it wasn't too bad. The only downside was checking for spiders at night, if anything was to crawl on me during a night-time visit I think it's safe to say I would've jumped a mile and possibly ended up with one foot down the hole! Thankfully it never happened, phew! The view from the bathroom however was stunning. Especially so at sunrise just as the sun started beaming onto the landscape.

   

On the opposite side of the boma was another mudhut, and in between was the kitchen; the size of the mudhuts but just branches making the walls. Possibly the most basic of camping kitchens I've seen but the food was amazing! A trestle table for the kitchen counter, a small fire for the oven and a single hob gas stove. The feasts Harry made would be impressive if they were made in a regular kitchen, the fact they were made in this make-shift kitchen was just astounding! 

We were welcomed to the village by the warriors and women of the village...and a village here spans many miles. Each boma is only one family home, and from where we were staying only 2 other bomas were visible, so most of our welcome committee had walked a good distance to greet us. The warriors and women performed a celebratory song, the warriors danced and the women danced...and got us involved in the dance. It was a lot of fun but I dare say we were providing a great deal of amusement in our attempts to copy the moves. The warriors did some of their infamous jumping which was impressive to see the height they can reach. Then one of them ran towards me and nudged my shoulder. It was clear that this had taken me by surprise as everyone burst out laughing. The warriors continued to do this and Alais eventually explained that this is a dance about making friendships, some of the younger warriors who 'nudged' our shoulders were quite bashful afterwards.

Maasai sandles made from old tyres,
most durable shoes around!

In both of these videos you'll have to excuse the wind interfering with the singing, but trust me it was impressive. And I know I look a fool in the second video and provided some amusement, but the moves to get the necklaces to move properly were tricky enough before adding in the foot-work/hip movements/shoulder jerks! Then in the next dance we had to jump too, was tiring stuff but fun!

After the dancing, the children swarmed us trying out their English greetings, amazed when we responded in Swahili or a little in Maasai...but I caused more amusement for them because I was greeting all the girls with the male greeting and all the boys with the female greeting! Alais then gave us a tour of the whole boma, showing us his hut, we met his mother who welcomed us, we were shown into the cattle enclosure...the cattle didn't like us very much so we were then introduced to the goats...who didn't like us either but were less of a threat! Our first morning there we helped milk the goats before they went out to pasture. We weren't as efficient as the Maasai children but we were assured we were more of a help than a hindrance!

Children as young as 7 are responsible for a herd of goats, guiding them to water and herding them around the land to pasture. And as you can see there isn't much green grass this time of year so they do walk miles upon miles only returning to the boma just before nightfall.

On the second evening we were audience to a goat slaughter, but that's another story! Not as traumatising as I expected and I was surprised at how delicious the meat was. Another wonderful dinner as the sun set, then gathered together for some konyagi and talking into the late hours of the night in a place where the stars really did shine as bright as diamonds; I wished upon at least 10 shooting stars and for the first time in my life saw the milky way (or so I was told).

Yes, it did actually get cold enough to need layers - even for this northern lass!

One of the most awesome places in existence and despite the numerous challenges the Maasai people have to contend with day after day they are so unbelievably happy, warm and welcoming. And I'm  honored that I was told I could be a Maasai Mzungu if I wanted lol ;)