Day 26 - Arusha, Tanzania

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At 8am we left for a visit to the Maasi Cultural Centre and were met at the gate by several Maasi in their brightly coloured blankets. We started off at the museum where we met our guide, Jack, a very tall Maasi with red blankets and a long wig of black hair.

The first scene was of a Maasi house. A man may marry as many wives as he can afford to keep, but each must live in a seperate house, which the women build themselves. They are made of sticks and mud mortar with grass rooves. The next scene was a typical house with a mother bed (where the wife usually sleeps) and the father bed (where the husband sleeps when he visits). A boma is usually attached to the house for keeping the cows and goats in at night.

The following scene was a male and female circumcision. Males are circumsised at 17 and females at 15. Males are not allowed to cry out or look away but women are allowed to do both. It is a sign of weakness if the boy cries out and they are cast out of the tribe. Next were the traditional dress of the Maasi men and women. Young children of both sexes wear purply-brown blackets but when they are circumsised they wear black robes. When they are married they wear the traditional red Maasi clothes, with a necklace that passed through the ears for women. When one child has been born they wear the necklace around the neck. Special adornments are added to the clothes when children are circumsised and married. The man's dress changes if they become elders or chiefs, with ceremonial sticks to show their power.

Next there was a display of Maasi artefacts, from snuff pipes, cow horn bags and a huge Kudu horn which is blown to herald good news and invite other Maasi to the village for a celebration. There were also fire sticks and a cow tail for flicking away flies. At the end of the musuem there was a shop where I found some gifts.

We briefly went into the Maasi village before heading outside again to a paddock where four camels were waiting somewhat moodily. Clearly the prospect of transporting many wzungi (white poeple) was not a thrilling one!

The four were haltered together in a large line with one Maasi leading. He whacked them on the knees to make them sit down and they lurched horribly to their knees, complaining with some grunts. Jen and I went on the last camel, her front of me and once everyone was settled the lead camel was heaved to its feet and the rest grumpily followed. Back and forth we lurched and then we were up! Great view from that high up! When the camel walked its feet expanded as it put them down by about a third! They left no footprints in the sand! The movement was much like a horse, excpet the mattress we were sat on damped it slightly.

We made our way over the sand towards the Maasi village accompanied by Jack. He explained that his father had 9 wives an that he had 37 brothers and sisters! He was 21 and wasn't married but only wanted one wife and 2 children (not to be circumsised). He also had a mobile phone tucked in his belt - a modern Maasi!

He said that a few weeks ago a man had pulled a little white box out and put things on wires in his ears and then "Big Music" he said grinning! An Ipod! He loved it and wanted one but was amazed at how much they cost. He apparently wanted to study politics or medicine at university.

Children, goats and donkeys greeted us with a mixture of welcomes and we presently arrives at the village. Jack showed us a house which belonged to an "educated" person as it had a corrugated tin roof. We wandered around the village, with mainly the children staring at us. Then men then began to sing and make music using their mouths. It was great and then they began to dance! They stepped forwards individually and bounced so high a few times before ending with a big thud and stepping back in line. All the women and children gathered with their bead collars to watch. Ben and Vanessa had a go ay jumping but they weren't nearly as good and everyone (including the Maasi) laughed!

Towards the end the women joined in jiggling their shoulders to make the collars move up and down. The girsl were asked to join in and we were given a collar. I jiggled my soulders and apparently behind me all the men were staring at me open-mouthed. Jack asked me how I knew how to dance - had I met Maasi before? I explained not an he said that I must have Maasi blood and therefore had to marry a Maasi man. I laughed and said "Well how about you?" jokingly. He smiled and I said "How many cows would you give my father as my dowry?". "None," he explained as it would be a love match - pah!

Pleased tha I ad received my first propsal I rode back to the school on the camel again. Jack was asking me all sorts of questions and it soon dawned on me that he was rather keen on the idea. We looked at the libray which was set up to educate the Maasi as they have no schooling. I found some A-Level Physics books , and Becky found a photo book of North East England. Afterwards we headed to the computer room and watched Jack in his traditional dress on a computer - bizarre!

We then trotted to the local hospital, which as the only one in Tanzania to specialise in snake bites. It consisted of a reception, a consulting roon (well stocked) and a ward of six beds. They treat a lot of malaria and snake bites, and even managed to save the life of a man who had been bitten by a black mamba! It was good to know that this place was right on our doorstep should any escape from the snake park!

Then we returned to the musuem and ladies craft marke. Jack again walked with me and said he wanted to introduce me to his parents and to give me an engagement present. At this point I was getting a little worried by his enthusiasm.

Back at the camp, some of us waited to go in the craft market and then got bored and went in by ourselves. There was some really gorgeous jewellry and beadwork and I bought a few ncklaces and a couple of Maasi blankets. Jak also gave us a demonstration of lighting a fire with the fire sticks. He placed his sword on the floor and a piece of wood across it with a hole in and then placed one end of the other stick in the hole and twisted it in his palms. After a while a little pile of ash grew which he put in some crushed up cow dung. He blew on it and the embers glowed and caught. It was magical and I could imagine generations of Maasi using the same techniques, back into the mists of time.

Jack asked for my email, so I gave it to him, but then he said that he didn't have an email address, so I don't know what he was planning to do with it. He asked me to go back and talk to him later, but I really was quite alarmed now and scuttled back to camp! Again I tried to catch up with my diary in the shade but just ended up chatting. Lunch was a nice pasta salad.

At 2pm we met to go in the Snake Park for feeding time! They were slightly late but I went in anyway ad was "rewarded" with the sight of a cobra catching a live chick. It bit it and the chick squarked for about a minute, pathetic little cheeps, until its head rolled back and the venom had killed it. I watched with horrified fascination as it began to swallow the unfortunate chick whole. I went to get the others and we watched a variety of snakes each chicks or white mice. There was also a boa constricto that squeezed a large chick (about half hen sized) to death.

One which was not fedwas a python that seemed to be about 5m long (it wa hard to tell as it was curled up) and about as thick as my waist in palces. This was a man eater and some photos on the tank showed some victims in snakes. It usually eats antelope though!

The snakes we saw included: rock python, black mamba, green mamba, boomslang, rhino snake, puff adder, gaboon adder, egyptian cobra, spitting cobra and a speckled sand snake. These are the ones that I remember - there were about 25-30 snaked in total! It was fascintaing to see them latking their prey and herding one apart from the other terrified chicks, but felt a bit freakish to watch.

It was much nicer (!) to watch the copulating tortoises, a small male on a larger female. She wasn't really interestd and kept wanderin off at which point he would slide off her shell and topple over. To hoots of laughter from us he gamely tried again and again until shame probably made him give up!

There were also some baby crocodiles although they were larger than the ones in Livingstone and about 2 years old. They were stil only about 1 ft long though. The larger crocodiles were very small compared to those I had seen before but stil interesting with the manevolent glint in their yellow eyes. I spent qite some time photographing the specimens before heading to the bar to write again.

We were a litle hungry and Vanessa suggested cereal, which was a brilliant idea. Unfortunately the milk was frozen but I had friut on top of mine with juice - actually very nice! After yet more attempts at my diary we had dinner. I helped to cook - we had marinated lamb steakd, mashed potato and stir fried soy vegetables - yummy!

Afterwards we headed to the bar, which was hung with loads of tour t-shirts and photos. Ben (Ozzy Ben) graciously donated his vest-t-shirt and the others requested that I did the writing with the tour catchphrases: "Okaaay" (Michelle's favourite phrase), "Maschuline" (Richard's Namibian way of describing something brave or foolish) and "Doodle", which had become a favoured way of decribing male genetalia!?!?

Afterwards I fainted, scaring most poeple in the bar and Michelle walked me back to my tent. We saw a snake on the way back, which I think was a speckled sand snake, something from the park earlier. Soon I was tucked up in my bag and dreaming of the Serengeti tomorrow!

Sally xx

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