African Safari Photo Journal #8: The Maasai

This is the 8th post in an ongoing series showcasing STP customer Ray Boyd’s September 2007 African safari in Tanzania.

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area isn’t only unique in its geography, but also in the fact that it’s the only wildlife conservation area in Tanzania that allows for human habitation. The Maasai people have been living in the area for hundreds of years. Although they’ve recently been evicted from the crater floor, they still hold limited grazing rights there.

Ray had the chance to spend a little time with these fascinating pastoral people. Historically nomadic by nature, the Maasai are now only semi-nomadic. In their culture, wealth is measured by the number of cattle and children a man has. As you can see from the pictures, they dress in bright-colored ceremonial garb, but as Ray noted, “many of them wore Adidas.”

The men of the Maasai tribe performed a traditional dance for the safari group and the women sang songs. When the women sing, there is usually one song leader, the olaranyani, who sings the melody while all the other women provide the harmony.

As you can imagine, life isn’t easy for the Maasai. Their land has been greatly reduced and they’re limited to farming only on subsistence levels. Education and overcrowding are great challenges in Maasai culture as well. This is a photo of one of the mud huts in the village — that little hole is for venting smoke.