This is the campfire area where we sat after dinner last night watching the stars...
Our first stop today was at a Maasai Village...where we were going to be given a tour and learn a bit about the Maasai People.
The Maasai are one of the best known tribes in Tanzania. By nature, they are nomadic livestock herders and move to greener pastures as need be. Cows play an extremely vital role in their day to day lives and Maasai believe that God gave them all the cattle in the world and that cattle represents a sacred bond between man and God. There is strong hierarchy among the Maasai and each individual has his or her place within the community. We were greeted by the tribe chief...
Gordon and Larry joined in...
Maasai warrior society is (broadly) organized by age groups; children stay at home with parents until the teenage years, when the boys are inducted into the first stages of manhood via the Emuratta, a ritualized circumcision ceremony (women don’t have their own “age group” like boys, but do undergo some of their own rituals on the way to adulthood). Boys who successfully go through the Emuratta (one of the requirements is that you not even flinch) are officially elevated to the status of junior moran. After the ceremony, the new morani move to a “manyatta,” an encampment where they will live together for up to ten years. 
Cordoned off from the rest of their tribesman and not even allowed to eat or drink in the presence of a woman (part of the reasoning behind the manyatta camp is to teach male Maasai independence, since mothers generally take care of household tasks as they’re growing up), it’s understandable that the morani jump at the chance to graduate to full adulthood…literally. 
The Eunoto ceremonies may last for more than ten days, and feature singing, a parade in front of elder warriors, ritual cow slaughter, and the first sip of alcohol, traditionally made from the fermented roots of aloe and honey. But one of the most photogenic elements of the ceremony is the adumu. The young morani form a circle, which one or two will enter at a time. Bodies held in a narrow pose, heels never touching the ground, the young warriors begin to jump. The higher and more graceful the jumping, the more appeal the warrior has to the young women looking on (giving the young men, who will have the opportunity to marry only after the Eunoto ceremony is complete, some serious motivation!). 
When one warrior tires (usually after just a few jumps; the height attained is often impressive, and requires serious athleticism), another takes his place. All the while, the morani forming the outer circle sing, raising the pitch of their voices to “match” the height of the jumps. After the ceremony is over, the morani shave off their long hair as a sign of their new status as full-fledged warriors. They can now return to the community, marry, and start families of their own. Really, it’s enough to put a spring in anyone’s step!
While the men were jumping, the women looked on...
Interestingly, the men are not responsible for building the houses but it's the women who take charge of this duty. Only the pregnant and elderly women are excused from building duties. The elder ladies do, however, instruct and teach the younger generation on how to build good and stable houses.
All materials used for building are natural and collected from nearby areas. The huts are usually circular or oval shaped. The first step is to build the frame which is done by fixing gathered timber poles into the ground. Thereafter, the poles are interlaced with a lattice of smaller branches which are then plastered with a mixture of water, mud, cow dung and even human urine. Finishing touches are done with a mix of cow dung and water.A side-note: we were told they also used ashes in the mixture...and the "human urine", well...they never mentioned that but I guess water is scarce!
The next step is the roof, which is also plastered with cow dung and then covered with grass that is collected in the bush. The cow dung is what makes the roof waterproof.
The building process can take anything from a few days to a few weeks and depends on how many helpers there are and if all the material is available.
All houses together make up a boma that is usually surrounded by a large thorn fence. In addition, a much smaller thorn fence is built in the midst of the huts where the livestock can safely rest at night.
Roughly 3 x 5 m in size and with a height of approx. 1.5 m the houses are generally quite small. But they serve their purpose and families cook, sleep, eat, socializes and store reserves, fuel and even small livestock in there. It is very dark inside as apart from a few tiny round holes in the walls, there are no windows. There are usually 2 beds – one for the parents and the other for the children. Each woman is responsible for her own hut and she is also in charge of renovations.
Looks like fresh building material...
After our purchase, we were very quickly escorted back to the Land Cruisers which was strange. It had been a very interesting morning!
Once everyone was back at the vehicles, we were on the road again driving towards Ngorongoro Crater. Lots to see.
One thing we were told before coming on this trip was to not wear bright coloured clothing. Well that's exactly what all the locals wear!
Our next stop was at the entrance to Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where we were able to stretch our legs, use the pottie, check out the visitors centre, and have an ice cream bar...all while the guides took care of the paperwork for our entrance into the park.
After a very bumpy ride, we finally arrived at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge...
The other two large tables seated the rest of our group....
With your mad line dancing skills I am surprised that you were not out there dancing! Really cool how they build their huts and create fire.....
ReplyDeleteHaha...you're too funny! LOL!
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