Africa Day 2

After we left Lake Manyara, we stopped at a Maasai village, or boma; really, a family compound. Our guide introduced himself as Dan and took us around. The village was surrounded by a circular fence, and had a circle in the middle where the cattle would spend the night. There were a number of round huts made of mud and wattle, all built by the women.

Dan(iel)

Lucy and Barbara inside the hut; behind them is the sleeping area.

The members of the village family lined up to sing and dance for us. The men took turns stepping out of the line and jumping. I have videos but can't get them to load.

The women and girls

A young boy jump-dancing like the men

They gave us a demonstration of how they build a fire. I didn't have the heart to tell them we learned this method in Girl Scouts many years ago.

After the dancing and singing, we had the opportunity to purchase handicrafts made by the Maasai women. Lots of beautiful beading and other items. I looked around and got a few things, then asked if I could go back to the chairs we had sat in for the dancing. There were several men there chatting and they quickly gave me one of the two chairs. The man in the dark purple clothing spoke some English and began asking me questions. First, how old I was. I said 81, and he scratched the number in the dirt and translated for the other men. Oohs and aahs ensued. He proceeded to ask me about my children and grandchildren and their ages, and he translated each answer for the men, scratching the numbers in the dirt. I felt very privileged to have such an interesting conversation.

Our first lodge was the Ngorongoro Farm House, near the crater, which we visited the following day. Three beds with mosquito nets. (Although we were prepared for them, we saw no mosquitos during the entire trip.)