Maasai village visit

Maasai performance

One of the most common "add ons" to a safari is a visit to a Maasai village. The Maasai are one of the most well known ethnic groups in Africa, known for their colorful clothe, "jumping" rituals, long skinny physique, and resistance to Westernization. The Maasai people are traditionally semi-nomadic and are most prevalent in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are pastoralists and have resisted and fought with the governments of Tanzanian and Kenya to maintain traditional grazing rights in national parks and other protected areas. I have reviewed a great book regarding the history of wildlife management and conflict with Maasai people, In the Dust of Kilimanjaro by David Western.

Although the Maasai have long rejected modernization, they are now quick to capitalize on the high levels of tourism, a seemingly strange contradiction between their fight for their pastoral and self sufficient lifestyle. One can't help but admire a culture for resisting the urge to be modernized with permanent houses, schools, the English language, and other culture brought from colonization, especially in light of what appears to be a unique culture. Still, as with most indigenous cultures around the world, there is a tendency to romanticize the culture, especially while viewing it through the lens of a short village visit between game drives.

My first interaction with a Maasai was through our bird club. As most of the members of our bird club are aspiring tourist guides, Lukas, our friend, was no different. He had grown up in the traditional Maasai lifestyle, migrated to a nearby village for work and was employed by an NGO as a security guard. For some reason, the Maasai's most common line of work is as a security guard, so Lukas's story is a common one. There he met a Dutch woman, they fell in love, and she sent him to college where he completed a degree in wildlife guiding. Again, not a totally uncommon line of events for this area. Now, Lukas joined our bird club and we thought he was going to be an awesome birder due to the mystique that surrounds the Maasai and their interactions with wildlife. Unfortunately, he was quite below average and even seemed to be a bit bored of birding when we were out.

Over the course of our trips I began to ask Lukas about Maasai life. I thought I was tactful in my inquiries about his culture and he was very open to sharing his experience. He told me that the earliest he went out to tend his familiy's cows alone was when he was eight years old. He spoke in depth about how much he loved to be alone and how easy it was for him to "cool his mind".

Later that week he called Ana and I and said he wanted to meet. We didn't know why but we agreed and met him at a local restaurant. In our previous interactions he was wearing western clothes but this time he was in full Maasai garb. He presented us with a brochure highlighting a local Maasai village and the way he presented himself to us really turned me off. I had thought we were friends and at least I had thought I had explained my desire to stay away from "non-authentic" villages so the fact that he dressed up and brought us a generic brochure was disappointing. Still, he presented us with his "thesis" that he made for school which was about Maasai culture and animals. They were somewhat crude handwritten books but we borrowed them to learn more. Either way, it was a revealing interaction.

My second interaction with Maasai is through a non-profit that Ana and I provide with pro-bono consulting. The organization works to end the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) among the Maasai, a mandatory coming of age practice for women. We assist them in writing proposals to gain funding and it is obviously a darker side of the culture than we are presented with in the village-tour brochures. I'll save the FGM for another post but needless to say, it gave us a new perspective on their culture, especially as it pertains to just how paternalistic their society is and how few rights women have.

So on our safari we knew the guide would suggest visiting a Maasai village. Ana and I were not thrilled at the prospect but her parents wanted to go. We paid $20 a person to view a village. We were told that we should take as many pictures as we want. I found this interesting since the Maasai had previously fought this practice claiming that it "takes their blood" yet apparently either they changed their beliefs or were content being compensated for it. There was one English speaking guide and he introduced us to the village and a group of men did a "welcome dance" with much less than $20 of enthusiasm. They even paused mid-dance when they thought another safari vehicle was coming but alas, it was just turning around.

We were then herded inside of their "village" and crafts lined the walls of the interior. We were told that the women made the crafts and the proceeds would go towards the women's group. The guide said to pick what we liked and we'd negotiate a price in the end. I was somewhat skeptical of the existence of a women's group knowing the culture of the Maasai though it's not unheard of in some villages that have worked with NGOs and other development organizations.

Outside of the village area. 

The tourists look on, obviously one is not very pleased. 

The tour was already pretty uncomfortable for me but the last part of the tour really made me furious. We were given a tour of the "school", a place where children had gathered and gave a cute though contrived and forced welcome to us. The "school" was a small hut with a donation box in the middle and a chalkboard with permanent writing with the ABCs. The students sang us a song and the guide told us they come here to learn. I was furious at this because it was clear the children did not receive regular schooling and I can't imagine how many people came before us and stuffed the donation box, yet the "school" remained a hut which I can only imagine was unoccupied when tourists weren't there.

In the end Ana's family enjoyed the tour as it was a peak inside the culture of a group they had recently become familiar with. For us, it was a disappointing shallow interaction with a group that had successfully commodified themselves. I think cultural tours are an excellent way for local people to benefit from tourism but I was furious and disappointed that they manipulated tourists emotions regarding the women and the school to extract more money from tourists. I think a fair and accurate presentation of culture should be presented, or perhaps I think those who view these cultures in a brief moment of time should take the responsibility to learning more after they leave. However, I do understand that most people are on vacation and simply want a picture with a group of cute kids jumping in the air.

The "school". 

Performance. 

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a 8,300 square kilometer (3,200 square miles) park adjacent to the Serengeti to the north, with the centerpiece being the Ngorongoro crater. The Ngorongoro Conservation area also contains some famous archaeological sites, such as the Olduvai Gorge, which has produced fossil evidence of earlier ancestors of modern humans.

The areas that surround the crater are a continuation of the grasslands of the Serengeti. The landscape then slowly morphs from the plains as the elevation around the crater rises and gives way to a lush, dense, sub-montane forest habitat. This landscape surrounds the crater rim and the change from the endless plains is dramatic.

The Ngorongoro crater is the world's largest inactive, intact, and unfilled volcanic caldera. The crater, which formed when a large volcano exploded and collapsed on itself two to three million years ago, is 610 meters (2,000 feet) deep and its floor covers 260 square kilometers (100 square miles). Awesome vistas are available from a viewpoint passing through but the real action is inside the crater.

Approaching from the north. 

A Masaai village to the north of the crater. 

View of inside the crater from a look out.  

The road down into the crater is very steep and the panorama of the crater walls surrounding a flat plain is stunning. The crater is about 19km (11 miles) across so you can see the crater walls in the distance in every direction you look. It's large enough that you can't see landmarks like lakes and hills from all points, but small enough that you feel like you can drive around the entire area. The abundance of wildlife in the area is shocking, with the only notable absences being gazelles, leopards and giraffes. Other game is extremely habituated and we even saw two lions mating!

Ngorongoro was my favorite park/conservation area that I've visited in Tanzania. Even excluding the animals, the landscape is so unique and the surrounding high altitude forest area is vastly different from the surrounding plains. There is certainly much more traffic inside the crater than other parks, at one point I counted 35 safari cars surrounding a lioness and her cubs, but this does not take away from the beauty of the area. Rightfully so, it's popular for a reason.

Zebras graze the grass. 

Two lions, mating like crazy.  

A hyena stalks for prey. 

A lioness seeks shade. 

Lake Magadi, a relative oasis in the crater. 

Lake Magadi from another angle. 

A lioness and her cubs. We could hear them "roaring" (more like squeaking) from our car. 

Ostrich! 

Solitary wildebeest. 

Not so solitary wildebeests. 

Beautiful view and quaint lodge. They even had an old wood fueled stove in the room as it quite very chilly in the night. 

Lot's of condensation due to the elevation. 

An elephant wandered through camp and blocked our way to the car.

Serengeti National Park

Serengeti National Park is likely the most famous national park in the entire world and for good reason. I was worried that my expectations were too high, especially given my recent binge on BBC and National Geographic nature documentaries. However, my two days in Serengeti were as unforgettable as any in my life and the landscapes and animals were unique an.

A view to the south at the park gate. 

A look into the iconic and dry Serengeti plains. 

Serengeti is Tanzania's largest national park at 14,763 square kilometers (5,700 square miles or half the size of West Virginia). It lays adjacent to Ngorogoro Conservation Area to the south, Lake Victoria to the west, and Maasai Mara Game Reserve in the north. It's best known for the insane numbers of wildabeest and zebra that migrate during the change of seasons and also for the iconic plains in the south of the park. The name comes from the Masaai word “siringet” which means “endless plain”. However, the main attraction is the wildlife, more specifically, predators. Lions, hyenas, cheetahs, leopards, and birds of prey can all be spotted with one of the highest densities of predators of any park in Africa. 

The drive in from the south was startling for it's barren nature. The landscape was flat for as far as you could see with brown grasses covering the seemingly desolate landscape. Hard to imagine that when the rains come the landscape would be transformed to green with millions of grazing animals. For now, only a few solitary ostriches roamed about. 

The rains started about two weeks ago so the landscape became a bit greener with huge packs of zebras and gazelles grazing. We saw a few different prides of lions that were lazing about. It was pretty cool because the zebras would form a large semi-circle around the lions while grazing, always on alert. The highlight came in this area when we saw a cheetah stalking a gazelle. The cheetah crouched in a low position and moved slowly, stalking the gazelle with an intensity that I could feel. The gazelle caught on and for a moment both animals were frozen. Suddenly the cheetah flinched and and the gazelle shot off like a rocket. Unreal!

We made our way to the center of the park which was a bit more hilly and had some rivers and marshy areas. The wildlife sightings continued to be numerous with several lions, giraffes, gazelles, wildebeests, hippos, zebras, and ostriches. Less commonly seen were hyenas, jackals, and elephants. We drove through the park all day and in the central area the changing landscapes were mesmerizing even when there were no big animals to view.

We spent the night at a luxury lodge in the center of the park and saw hippos, baboons, rock hyrax and warthogs pass through. We then got up early for a game drive at 6AM and then another game drive after breakfast till we exited the park in the afternoon. We took our time as we exited and we passed through the same southern route as when we came in. So much of the park was left unexplored but there is always next time!

A cheetah positions itself for a hunt. 

Zebra!

This lioness had a radio collar, likely part of a research effort. 

A solitary lion basks in the sun. 

An agama lizard. Even the reptiles are more awesome in Serengeti. 

Zebras graze the endless plains. 

A lion seeks refuge under an Acacia tree. 

Iconic landscape. 

Ana and I good to go on the morning Safari. We spent most of our term standing on our seats with our heads popped out the front hatch. 

Cross-roads in the park. 

This lion was not shy. 

This was a rock called "Lion Rock", which was unsurprisingly colonized by lions. There were at least five that we saw with cubs taboot. 

Lion cubs sleeping in the shade. 

View from the hotel. 

You can't imagine how much chlorine was in that pool (I did not swim). Looks nice though!

Tarangire National Park

Map of the national parks in northern Tanzania and Kenya. 

Comprising 2,600 square kilometers (1,000 square miles), Tarangire National Park is a stunning wildlife area in the heart of the Great Rift Valley. It lies adjacent to the Tarangire Conservation area and next to Lake Manyara National Park. It's a common stop on the "northern safari circuit" of Tanzania, though often skipped over for Serengeti National Park and Ngorogoro Conservation Area.  However, wildlife is abundant and as a result of the permanent waters of Tarangire River, animals flock to the park from July to October (dry season).

Getting ready to board the vehicle. The cars have awesome pop up roofs that give a great vantage point. 

We entered the park around 11AM which surprised me as the majority of wildlife tends to be more active around dusk and dawn. However, with these types of things, you've got to learn to trust in your guide. And in the end, there was absolutely no reason for my concerns.

The park is a classic savanna though containing a fair concentration of trees, especially the iconic baobab trees. There are a variety of habitats from grassland and woods to low hills, scrub and swampland. Cutting through all these habitats is the Tarangire river. The river beds had abundant wildlife with hoards of elephants and giraffe. I was shocked at how habituated the elephants were as our car drove right up next to them, literally able to touch them (though ill advised). We saw a lone lioness relaxing under a tree and other guides told us she just had a failed hunt with another lioness. She awoke to find another bush to lay under as elephants drank water in the background.

We continued to drive through the park with spectacular wildlife. Elephants, giraffes, zebras, ostriches, warthogs, gazelles, and dik diks were abundant. Having been on safaris in a few other national parks in other African countries, I was shocked at how plentiful and habituated the animals were. Animals only seemed bothered when crossing paths with vehicles crossing the road and the skittish and elusive behavior of animals in other parks was absent. We quickly learned that clusters of other cars was a good sign and it meant there was a something good. The highlight of the day came when someone had spotted a cheetah laying under a bush. Although it was far and inactive, it was still a treat to see. 

We had lunch at a beautiful vista of the river. Lions and zebras dotted the river taking water, along with various ungulates. Vervet monkeys, baboons, and starlings all terrorized the picnic area. One of the people in our party was victim of a monkey theft as we sat eating. The bold monkey literally came up from behind him and took his biscuits off the table as we sat eating!

We basically drove around until the sunset. Our guide had a radio which was used to communicate with other guides about animal activity. When we passed other cars the drivers would stop and trade information. The park certainly had many visitors but nowhere did the place seem overcrowded and there were many moments without another car in view. 

A baobab tree that has been damaged from elephants looking to extract water from it. 

Lioness through the grass. 

Lioness with elephants in the background. 

A cheetah takes a nap under a tree. 

Vervet monkey plays in the trees. 

Lilac-breasted roller. 

Giraffe takes a bite. 

Elephant family on the move. 

A different elephant family, seemingly inspecting the vehicle full of mammals in front of them.

Landscape to the east with the Tarangire river. 

Picnic spot. 

Crossing rivers on safari always feels legit. 

Dead elephant carcass, supposedly from natural causes.