Tag Archives: Masai

Masai Visit Tanzania Africa

Masai Visit Tanzania Africa

Masai Visit Tanzania Africa

They let us go see a Masai village on the trip. For $7, of course. When we got there we were greeted by dozens of young Masai whipper-snappers. I came to find out that they were all related. It seems that a Masai village is one man and his wives and children. In this case, the number of wives was five. A Masai warrior can have as many wives as he can afford. What that means is that he can buy all the wives he wants as long as he has the requisite dowry. This dowry is usually paid in cattle. I was told that the standard asking price was around 10 cows. All this gets a little complicated. The point here is that a Masai male may have lots of wives and lots of children. Notice the huts. They are made out of mud and have no modern conveniences. I make this comment for all the American women who might want to rush out and find a Masai male to marry them. If you want to live the traditional Masai life you’ll have to get your dad to come up with a little dowry. Plus you’re going to have some competition for your guy’s attention. 20120603

Masai Dancing Tanzania Africa

Masai Dancing Tanzania Africa

Masai Dancing Tanzania Africa

After our visit to the Masai village we got to see the Masai warriors do a little dance. Actually, towards the end we got to join them. Here we have Simeon, a Swiss national, jumping along with the Masai dancer. Notice that Simeon doesn’t get quite as high as the Masai dancer. This may be due in part to his not having had a lot of practice jumping up in the air. I think the warriors in the Masai tribe get to practice a lot more often than Simeon does. 20120603

Me and Gabriel in Africa

Me and Gabriel in Africa

Me and Gabriel in Africa

Gabriel was our driver and guide on our 3 day trip to the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti. He was excellent. I learned a lot from him. Africa really is a different place than the U.S. Things are the same in so many ways, yet different in so many others. He seemed to be something of an authority on the Masai people and their culture. I’m sure he wasn’t, but compared to what I knew about them, he was to me. He was also excellent with his identification of mammal and bird species. He challenged me to be able to rattle off 20 species of mammals and 25 species of birds at the end of the trip. Luckily for me, he forgot to ask me about them when the trip ended.