Safari means 'Journey' in Swahili

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

April 20, 2010

Safari

Here in Tanzania we've met so many people who have made our journey amazing. We went with a safari company called Maasai Wanderings - http://www.maasaiwanderings.com/. One of the great things about their company, in addition to our great, funny, knowledgeable guide, Godwin, a Masai himself, is that they invest their profits into schools for Maasai, micro-finance for women and sewing circles, street children, etc.. While on safari we saw incredible sites - from baby lion cubs walking through the Serengeti grass, hyenas dragging the skin of a wildebeest carcasses, and long tusked elephants trumpeting right next to the car, to dung beetles and birds taller than Ben (Malibu Stork - not to mention the ostriches!). The waving grasses of the Serengeti stretch out so far into the distance they are like the waves on the sea. Lions and elephants are dwarfed by the sheer scale.

One of the things that drew us to Maasai Wanderings was that in addition to getting a chance to have unbelievable, upclose encounters with animals - and to learn about them and the ecosystem from our guide - we got to visits two, of the more than 120, tribes in Tanzania.

On Sunday we spent with the Iraqw tribe (pronounced Iraq we). We went on a walking trek with an Iraqw tribesman named Paulo, also a past traditional homes, goat herders, chickens and fields of corn and more we were invited to be the first guests at his church - and Paul and I were each invited up to sing and dance with choir. Now singing in Swahili made it more of a challenge :o) but we each did our best and had such a special day we will never forget it.

As a part of our special day, after sitting in on services for a little while (church can last 3 hours or more) we went to Paulo's house for lunch with his family. Amelia and Ben played with the neighborhood children on the red clay dirt road - only used by goats, cattle and people - with one soccer ball and rocks as goals. They had a fantastic time and didn't want to stop. Paulo's house included a few rooms, one being the eating area with a separate building for the kitchen and another for the bathroom. His family was soooo nice. We all had a great day and were sad to leave.

The next day we visited one of the Maasai villages where Maasai Wanderings built one classroom and working on more. The classroom, about the size of an American classroom, fits 132 (!) children sitting together at benches with long desks. Prior to that they sat under a tree for school.

It was another incredible day - some children came up to Amelia and I and were fascinated by our hair - they wanted to play with it and see how it was attached and what it felt like. We were very happy to share this experience with them.

From what we saw when driving through Tanzania the Maasai, living traditional lives in mud huts as cattle and goat herders must number in the thousands. The village we went to was not a cultural museum but how thousands of people are living in the country - working hard to take care of their families. You can see Maasai in traditional clothes, carrying walking sticks and spears (to protect their livestock from lions) throughout the country. They mostly wear red (men) and blue (women) and the colors against the landscape are brilliant.

There is so much more but this morning (it's 3:30 a.m.!) we are off to the airport for our 6:30 a.m. flight to Cairo, Egypt.

We wish you all the best on your own safaris through life,

Jackie