On Safari: Tarangire and the Maasai

I was not a newcomer to safaris when my cousin Jacob and I traversed the vast Tarangire, Serengeti and Ngorongoro in our specially adapted Toyota Landcruiser. Having family in South Africa meant that the rare visit provided the opportunity to see Africa's iconic nature. Nonetheless, my fading memory of those childhood experiences as well the uniqueness of the Northern Tanzanian parks resulted in an experience that felt entirely new.  The sheer density of wildlife to be observed is nothing short of remarkable.  Added to this are the rare geographic phenomenon that have given the area the rightful title of a natural wonder.

Our first destination was Tarangire National Park. It is here that during the dry season, thousands of animals - elephants in particular - collect on the shores of water holes to survive the consequent aridity. These water holes, no more than ponds in size, become the scene of the emblematic African biodiversity. The small warthog, or pumba in swahili, disturb no one and stand proudly in what small space they occupy. The zebra, which under closer examination shows closer resemblance to a donkey than a horse, are found standing close to their kind. It is, of course, the effect of them standing together in large groups to give the appearance of one large animal that deters predators from hunting them.  Ever living in peaceful coexistence with the zebra are the gnus or wildebeest.  This populous species takes advantage of its numbers to spread across all open areas where the males seek to establish their own little contested spheres of influence.  Nonetheless, like pigeons flying from a running child in a city square, the gnus give way to the much larger elephant when it is their turn at the water hole.  The largest land mammal is both menacing in its size yet decidedly peaceful in its slow and gentle movements. The giraffe, sometimes reaching 6 meters in height, walk clumsily from acacia to acacia in search of their lofty snacks.

Surrounding the animals are the immense baobab trees watching in their idleness. Along with having one of the most dense elephant populations in the world, the same is true for baobabs which rise from the landscape like dandelions in Spring. Baobabs exist only where there are large reserves of ground water, explaining why they do not appear in for example Serengeti. They are often called the upside down tree because of their reciprocal appearance - legend says that the baobab was cast down from the skies landing head first with its roots upwards.

The first half hour of a safari tour is perhaps one of the most exciting where every animal you see is cause for jubilation and a hundred photographs. Then, slowly but surely, you become accustomed to the wild life and it takes truly special things to awake your interest. This increases from a passing elephant herd, a family of baboons and finally to the big cats. We saw our first lion of the trip laying comfortably on the branch of an acacia. With this rare sighting of a lion in a tree we discovered that all lions in fact climb trees, dispelling the myth of the “Tree Climbing Lion” supposedly home to the Manyara-Tarangire region. In the two days of tours into Tarangire, we could come across more lions as well as 8 cheetah (always in pairs).

On our third day out on safari, we were on the road again on the way to Serengeti. However, on the way we would first make a visit to a Maasai village. We had seen numerous Maasai on the way herding their cattle in their unmistakable red cloths. Like most Maasai villages open to tourism, ours was just off the main road. We were welcomed in the traditional welcome dance which can be seen being performed in this video:

As we were brought through the village gate the Maasai formed a line and invited us to join their famous jumping dance. My years of basketball did little in my hopes of competing with the warriors who soared above me. 

A Maasai village is structured in a simple fashion as a result of their nomadic culture. The houses are made of a combination of dried mud, grass and cow dung. Each house is divided into three sections; one bed for the parents, one for the children and the kitchen.  Cooking is done inside over a fire fueled primarily by cow dung. With only the door for ventilation, I can only imagine how the house fills with smoke as they prepare their meals. All houses are built within a sort of wall built by dried bushes. Inside the village is another ‘wall’ where the cattle are kept at night. The threat of wild animals such as lions is real. The Maasai warrior who guided us told us he has killed 7 lions and thus deserving the right to wear a lion tooth necklace (which he can also sell to tourists at a handsome price).

Outside the village is the kindergarten where young Maasai children are taught the alphabet and numbers in Maa, Swahili and English. They are then sent to boarding schools far away to complete the rest of their education.

The Maasai are a proud but simple people caught in the tangles of modernization. They once controlled most of the area of today’s Kenya and Tanzania and are the southernmost Nilotic speakers. However, they suffered near total destruction in the 1890’s with the arrival of Rinderpest and smallpox as well as successive years of droughts.  Some estimates claim that as much as 90% of cattle died in this period. Furthermore, German and British colonization resulted in much of their land taken away for the purpose of settler ranches. Nowadays the Maasai are reduced to a poor minority in Kenya and Tanzania where they struggle to integrate whilst upholding their culture. Through tourism, Maasai villages can make several hundred dollars a day during high season but this must of course be divided among the 120+ people that make up a village. The consequences of this are yet to be seen, but there might be evidence of “When Tourism becomes a Double-Edged Sword”, as my former colleague writes in the Ethiopian Reporter. For the time being, however, the Maasai and for that matter, Tanzanians in general, warmly welcome more tourists to their country.