Tanzania Summer 2008

The safari was AMAZING and we want to do another one! It took us about 5-6 hours to get to Maasai Mara, which was pretty much straight south of Nairobi and about 45 minutes from Mount Kilimanjaro (we found this out after). Like Addis, Kenya had many mountains and valleys so the drive was just gorgeous! We were driving down this mountain and I’m pretty sure my life flashed before my eyes about five times. On our left was this cliff about 14,000 feet down and the shoulder was 3 feet wide without a guardrail. This, with the crazy Kenyan driving, was a little nerve-racking, but still so fun and all part of the adventure. Eventually, the roads became dirt and it was really bumpy but the scenery was awesome. We passed so many small villages, each having a one-room hotel, curio shop, and bar and butchery (a weird but common combination). It was so cool because there were so many people just standing on the side of the road and everyone waved to our van and we would yell “Jambo!� out the window (“hello� in Swahili). They must be putting in a fence along the road because there were men for miles digging a trench. I had so much respect for those men and their hard work because in America that would have been done in a couple days with a machine. The differences between here and America are countless and it’s almost hard to believe, but it’s real.

It was like being on the safari already because we saw so many animals. Also, the Maasai people were bringing their cows, goats, and sheep to pastures so animals were just freely crossing the roads and we had to stop often so we didn’t hit them. Their cows are so skinny we could see their ribs! It was easy to spot a Maasai because they wear bright red cloths and contrast greatly with the sandy terrain. It was amazing to see miles and miles of land, untouched by man. We were asking ourselves, where in American can you find something so beautiful, yet wild?

Our safari was two days and consisted of two game drives, one in the evening and one in the morning. We also tented-out which I absolutely loved! I hadn’t slept in a tent in so long and it was awesome being in the African wilderness with all of its sounds. A lot of other people who were on safaris stayed in tents by us and there were people from all over the world there! I’m beginning to get used to the bathroom situations over here and actually kind of like it; squatting is way better than sitting. However, I did drop my $10 bracelet (we also are learning how to barter, haha…not) that said Kenya on it in the toilet, a very sad event. Well, I actually shouldn’t call it a toilet because it technically is a flushable hole, but we like them. So two necessities that must be brought to Africa are toilet paper and hand sanitizer… and lots of them.

Both game drives were awesome and we saw so many wild animals! All of the animals were migrating from Tanzania to Kenya and it was like seeing zebras for miles. We also saw elephants, wildebeests, warthogs, hippos, giraffes, oxen, colorful birds, hyenas, lions, gazelle, elands, and impalas. During our first drive, we saw two lions mate…twice. It was so interesting and almost funny how much they acted like humans; like an old married couple that you see on TV. I’ll leave the rest to your imaginations, haha. The morning game drive was the best though- I could wake up like that every morning! The sun just peeking through the clouds and the rolling hills with the mountains in the background were breathtaking. I can’t even begin to explain how beautiful Africa is! The consensus was that all of us were going to return to Africa at some point in our lives and bring our families.

We’ve all fallen in love with African food, too! Our cook on safari, Camillo, was an amazing cook and we were all well fed and got to try some new foods. My personal new favorite is cabbage. I’m going to find a recipe online and probably make it all the time in the US! Other new foods that we like are chapati (not new for Indians, but it’s a flatbread made of wheat that’s a little sweet), ugalli (rice, flour, and water that are mixed into a cake-like formation), and matoke (plantains that are mashed like potatoes). Beef is also huge here. For those of you who know me well know that I rarely eat beef but I’ve come to like it! It’s not nearly as fatty and almost tastes like venison. Ice, our vegetarian, is also having some luck with the vegetables. Every meal has some sort of cabbage, potatoes, or vegetable medley in it whether in a stew or just cooked (they’re usually picked up with chapati or ugalli). I think we’re all a little dehydrated though because you have to buy bottled water and we seem to underestimate how much we use for drinking and brushing our teeth. This will change hopefully in Bukoba when we can boil and filter our own water.

Before leaving Maasai Mara, we were given a tour of a Maasai village. I would consider this to be the coolest and most humbling experience I’ve ever had. The village was a group of huts made with cow dung, branches, and grasses enclosed in a homemade fence. Our tour guide, a Maasai who was fluent in English, started us outside and introduced a warrior. He was like the other Maasai we had seen- skinny, tall, and was wearing red. He also had stretched out ear lobes. He and about 10 other young warriors then did the welcome dance for us where they jump around and make this weird humming sound from deep in their throats. One then grabbed me from the group, gave me his stick, and kept telling me to jump, and so I did. Eventually all six of us were immersed in the group of warriors and were doing the welcome dance.

We then entered the village and a bunch of kids ran towards us. They were so cute but I felt so bad because there were so many flies inside the village and they all needed Kleenexes- we all wanted to wash their faces with our wet wipes! The women then gathered together and sang us a song that is usually used to welcome a new baby. We gave the women and children gum and the children were all excited.

The village consisted of about 25 huts all in a circle. The ground was dirt but was dotted with large piles of cow dung. This is because at night they bring all their cows, sheep and goats into the village for protection and the dung is then used to re-smear their huts. The tour guide took us inside a hut and it was bigger inside than we thought! Each hut was exactly the same and had a kitchen/bedroom and two other rooms for baby goats and calves. There was a fire inside and it was amazing how well the dung keeps the heat inside- we were all sweating! The Maasai are also a polygamist tribe and the number of wives a male could have depended upon how many cattle they had. Each family had it’s own hut, so a male has more than one hut, and the particular hut we went into slept seven people. Our guide told us that during pregnancy and infancy, blood is drawn from a cow’s jugular vein and mixed with milk and sugar for nutrients like iron.

They then showed us how to make fire using two different types of wood (hard and soft) and some dry grass. It was amazing how fast they could do it! They gave the tools for Andy and Ice to try it but they couldn’t get it started. It was pretty funny! Then they tried to sell the tools to us, and we found out that this tour was essentially done to try to get us to buy something from them. Although they did make very nice jewelry and we would have liked to buy something, it was just a little overwhelming and we all just wanted to get back in the van!

Our time with the Maasai made us all realize how little you need to live and the main focus is just surviving. I mean, all they really have is probably a few changes of clothes, a couple pots, and the land to survive off of. When I think back to coming on this trip, I was worried about making sure I had a camera and my iPod was charged! This entire trip has just been a realization experience, and maybe the beginning of a transformation, for all of us. We are seeing now that life isn’t all about what you have, it’s what you do with it.

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