Visiting a Masaai Boma
Before we leave the main land and take a flight to Zanzibar we want to visit the Masaai and get a bit more insight how they live. We have seen some Masaai and passed through some villages. Now, however, we want to really meet with them. Back in Arusha we are told to reach out to Mama Esther as she can arrange these things. We have some issues finding her as almost nobody speaks English here. Finally a few boys understand what we want to lead us to Mama Esther.
In general it is advisable to make a reservation but in Africa people are very flexible and so after a short wait we are able to hit the road in our car and together with Mama Esther and Mr. Mari. He is an elderly guy with a lot of humor.
Together with Mama Esther and Mr Mari we drive for quite some time.
The view on our way is again very special.
We finally arrive at a Masaai Boma where we can talk to the family.
This is the boma where they live in.
Everything is very basic - at least in our eyes.
Very typical again that everything if full of smoke.
Caused by the fire they have going most of the time for cooking.
Mr Mari is translating for us and we get some interesting insights.
Here comes the man of the house. He lives here with his three wifes and kids.
This family owns quite a few cows.
And of even some sheep. They are among the better situated ones.
On our way back Mr. Mari buys some fresh coffee and we are invited to his house.
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We are very interested to meet this Masaai family which consists of the man of the house, his three wifes and a number of children. Mr. Mari is translating and explaining some of the habits and how they live to us. It is a strange situation if you think about it. We just show up at their boma, want to get some understanding how they live and then we are off again. Anyway, it was a good experience and we could clearly experience how proud they are about their family, the animals they own and their way of life. As this was again organized by the locals who seem to know this family quite well we think it is ok.
On our way back we pass through a small village and Mr. Mari wants to buy some fresh coffee beans on the market. He also invites us to his house which of course we can't reject. That would be unpolite. He continues to tell us his stories and shares insight into this life here. As it is already getting dark we need to leave as driving in the dark around here is very challenging. We make it back securely to our place and another very interesting day has come to an end.