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Published: September 12th 2007
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On Sunday, the American family that climbed Kili and I took a day trip into the unknown. Abu, one of the Hatari drivers, took us for a ride out into the bush in search of a Maasai Village where 'supposedly' you can visit with the community, learn about their culture and ride camels? There was a brochure on the whole thing, but the owners of the hotel had never been on this 'excursion', so they said "you're on you own and let us know how it goes". At least they said it would be a nice drive.
So off we went into the unknown. We drove for about an hour, got totally lost, and finally found a Maasai man who hopped in our car to show us the way. We came upon this compound where there were a couple other guys. No camels, no Maasai village, nothing remotely close to what this brochure talked about, but after Abu talked to them for a bit they said they could take us to a local Maasai village that was only a short walk for 15,000 shillings (about $12). We had come this far and gotten this lost, why not go for a
Waiting for the Livestock
They use the bushes to keep their animals in at night. walk? So, off we went into the unknown.
We arrived at the village to a group of very curious children and adults I'm sure wondering who the heck we were. You could tell they don't get many visitors. After a bit of pleasant discussion between the village head and Abu, we paid the eldest man of the village 15,000, and then another man walked us through the village, showed us three different bomas (their huts where they live), introduced us to three different women and shared with us a little bit about their life.
The first woman we met, was in her 'room' with her newest child. She thought she was in her 30's and she has five children. Her room is separate from her husbands sleeping area and they are separated by the area where she cooked. The whole boma was almost pitch black and smoky. I just sat there next to her thinking about how here is this woman, a continent away, in my same age range, and our lives are SO different. What would she think if she came over to my house? I was embarrassed by the thought of it. Her life takes simplicity
to a whole new level.
The last woman we met was the oldest woman of the village. She says she's in her 100's. She only comes out of her boma in the morning but pretty much for the rest of the day she stays inside and each of her children take turns sleeping in the boma to care for her.
As we visited each woman, I noticed our village guide gave each woman an orange as "payment" for her hospitality. That's ONE orange. When we left their boma they immediately peeled the orange and shared it with the children who each came running out of the boma with a slice. I felt bad we did not bring anything to their homes, but it was a very spur of the moment/not sure what we were doing kind of adventure.
After touring the bomas, we spent some more time with the children, who were enthralled with ponytails, Mac's arm hair and our watches. We said our thank yous through Abu and our village host who were translating between Maa, their tribal language, Swahili and English, and then walked back to the car for our adventure home. We assumed getting
Cooking in the Bomba
This is with a flash. The only light inside is the small window and the fire for her cooking. home would be a little bit easier since we now knew the way. Nope. Somehow the road was now closed so we needed to take a different road. After driving on that road for a while, we were stopped by another man telling us that this road was closed too. At that point a villager jumped in the front seat to show us the way. It cracks me up how these 'roads' are literally dirt paths and somehow people know the way. On our way home we even saw a huge bus taking the path, which also includes passing over water.
I love Tanzania. For me it is truly living in the space of the unknown. I had no idea when I booked a room at Hatari Lodge I would have a mouse encounter, see Kili out of the clouds, have a live monkey alarm clock, meet a wonderful family, enjoy getting lost in the bush and experience this Maasai village.
Oh, random note on my "It's a Small World" recurring theme . . . Liza, one of the family members that climbed Kili, just finished Harvard and is moving to San Francisco the middle of September. The
Village Children
Very excited with the Mzungu visitors with cameras. crazy part, she's moving into her uncle's apartment . . . on Casa Way, a couple doors down from my old apartment in the Marina.
For more history on the Maasai, Kitumusote, one of the organizations our volunteers were placed. http://kitumusote.org/history
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Chris Maddox
non-member comment
Smiles
Christy, that is truly a special day. It is so humbling to see how they live in simplicity and can still smile as they do. I am sure you will never be the same. Thank you for sharing. Miss you here in London.