Kilimanjaro

Kilimanjaro

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Maasai Visit

This morning we took a 2 hour jeep ride north of Moshi to a little village close to the Kenyan border. The village is called Olipongi Maasai Village.

Maasai people are one of the most fascinating groups of people that I have ever heard about. They live in traditional ways that date back hundreds of years, mostly because they refuse to accept the restrictions that Germany and England tried to put on them when each of those countries controlled Tanzania many years ago. Instead of taking trains or cars, Maasai people walk everywhere - sometimes for hundreds of kilometers. They are "Semi-Nomadic Herders" which means that they build villages of round, mud and dung huts with grass roofs. They only live there when there is enough food for their goats and cows. Once the dry season comes they move to another location and build move huts to live in. They live long lives thanks to their reliance on the plants around them for medicinal purposes. We met one Maasai lady who was 94 but didn't look like she was over 60!

The other cool thing about the Maasai is that they dress in bright red sheets, rather than jeans and tee shirts like us. They also have very beautiful jewelry that they make and they are experts on the natural world around them.

Scott, Jamie and I were able to go out into the African Plains with several Maasai and they showed us what plants that they use to create their famous Maasai Medicines and we followed some elephant tracks for a while, although we didn't see it (we did see Zebras though).

Overall this was a fantastic opportunity to see one of the world's most unspoiled and unique cultures. I won't forget this opportunity ever.

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