On the second day of Masai Mara experience, we had a walk in the nature on our way to visit a Masai village (which I think is made for the tourists only but what can you do).
The Masai tribe is not the largest in Kenya but the most famous because they have preserved their customs and habits. They use plants as medications, get high, prepare and drink alcohol etc - something you would somewhat expect. Along with this though, there were a few weird things (at least for me).
They don't wash babies because they don't have warm water (those in certain villages) rather put animal fat on the baby skin and the use leaves of some plants to remove it.. Also, the Masai have for breakfast milk with cow blood (again those are the ones who live the ancient lifestyle and have not progressed sort of), no lunch and for dinner, they drink milk and let's say eat meat. Vegetables and fruits are not in their diet due to their lack in the region. As other tribes, the Masai do not record babies birthdays and as you can guess already, the women are building the houses and take care of most of the work while men should be occupied with the hunting - again, this relates to those who have the tribal life style and not the ones who have acquired the "modern" way.
The huts we visited were tiny with little almost no light. Like it is always the case, when tourists are around, the sang and danced and then... started the bargaining about souvenirs. You feel that you need to bargain and they expect it but at the same time it is very sad ... It should be acknowledged that there are schools and all kids can go as long as the family can pay the uniforms.
The Masai are not monogamous. Worthwhile mentioning is the fact that the educated Masai have different lives similar to ours. Someone said that there are 2 types of Masai, those who study and those who don't. We met from both types. The chef in Ilkeliani, the drivers etc. How it will continue, no one knows.
The red and bright colors which they wear will always remind me of the time I spent in the region.
The Masai tribe is not the largest in Kenya but the most famous because they have preserved their customs and habits. They use plants as medications, get high, prepare and drink alcohol etc - something you would somewhat expect. Along with this though, there were a few weird things (at least for me).
They don't wash babies because they don't have warm water (those in certain villages) rather put animal fat on the baby skin and the use leaves of some plants to remove it.. Also, the Masai have for breakfast milk with cow blood (again those are the ones who live the ancient lifestyle and have not progressed sort of), no lunch and for dinner, they drink milk and let's say eat meat. Vegetables and fruits are not in their diet due to their lack in the region. As other tribes, the Masai do not record babies birthdays and as you can guess already, the women are building the houses and take care of most of the work while men should be occupied with the hunting - again, this relates to those who have the tribal life style and not the ones who have acquired the "modern" way.
The huts we visited were tiny with little almost no light. Like it is always the case, when tourists are around, the sang and danced and then... started the bargaining about souvenirs. You feel that you need to bargain and they expect it but at the same time it is very sad ... It should be acknowledged that there are schools and all kids can go as long as the family can pay the uniforms.
The Masai are not monogamous. Worthwhile mentioning is the fact that the educated Masai have different lives similar to ours. Someone said that there are 2 types of Masai, those who study and those who don't. We met from both types. The chef in Ilkeliani, the drivers etc. How it will continue, no one knows.
The red and bright colors which they wear will always remind me of the time I spent in the region.
No comments:
Post a Comment