Maasai Boma

We just returned from an incredible weekend that for us has fit the definition of what most people assume is Africa. We left early Friday morning to drive North past Dodoma to a small Maasai boma in the Maasai Steppe.We drove for about two hours on a cement road then for another five hours along a dust path that led us directly into the African bush. We passed a few small villages and ended up off the path in a small clearing. We were visiting Noah, the brother of the SEGA Maasai guard Sytote, and his village consisted of five round stick huts with mud roofs and fifteen Maasai, clad in the traditional dress of ananka which are the sheets they wear. All of the women wear mostly blue and a ton of white beaded jewelry and they stretch their earlobes out and adorn them with huge earrings which tinkle as they walk. They strap adorable babies to their backs and there were maybe ten children in the village. They also burn circles onto their faces as a tradition, and have so many other interesting traditions it’s difficult to describe them all! For instance, if one man is away from the village and another man comes to visit the village, he can sleep with the first man’s wife! Another tradition we were worried about was the donation of an animal to the visitors, which they then have to kill and eat. We were given a chicken, but luckily managed to escape the killing and got Moudy, the driver, to do it! Phew! There were tons of baby animals around – goats, chickens, donkeys and puppies – it was really cute! The language of the Maasai is Kimaasai, which we obviously don’t speak (well, now we know a little!). They speak a little Kiswahili, and so do we, so that was the mode of communication between us. After a dinner of beans and rice the first night we had a moment where everything just seemed completely unreal. Elena and I were sitting on a log by a small fire with three of the Maasai men in the pitch black under a blanket of stars (you can only imagine how many there were!) We were having a conversation with them in Kiswahili about how many lions each of them had killed. It felt totally normal at the time, but looking back on it, we were so lucky to have an opportunity like that! The answers by the way were simba saba (seven lions), mbili (two), and sana (loads!) We were lucky that night to have Noah guarding over our tents as we slept to scare off any animals! No lions came, but some hyenas visited us last night! We woke up a couple of hours after retiring to bed to singing in the background, which seemed far away. We sat listening for a while then thought “What are we DOING?” – we had to be there, not missing out! We went and asked Noah what was going on and he explained that it was a church service, unaitaka kuenda? You’d like to go? So, we went, and came across a fire behind one of the huts with the whole village sitting around, and the children singing a Kimaasai hymn and dancing around the fire. It was incredible to see, and we really enjoyed it! After half an hour we heard singing coming closer and it was another boma, coming to join! When we tried to leave because we were exhausted, they stopped us, and one of the men came out in a burlap sack with twigs and animal hides and was pretending to be a ghost, scaring all the little kids! That was the highlight of our trip. If you ever get a chance to go to a Maasai boma, take it!!!

Mama Leia and Baraka

Hanging out under the tree - the only shade around!

The Boma!

The Maasai children around the fire at night