We decided to change things up a bit and went to visit a village of the Massi. The Massi are an indigenous eople who live the life of herders. Historically they lived on the Seringiti but are now living only in areas where the land has been designated as multi-purpose usage. The Seringeti Park is not so designated, but Ngorogoro Reserve has and so villages are not far away from our camp. The Massi do not recognize country borders and are permitted to travel freely btween Tanzania and Kenya.
We drove for over an hour through flat lands where we could see many herds of Wildebeest and Zebras.
When we arrived we found a very simple village surrounded by a fence made of acacia tree boughs. We were greeted by the son of the Chief and the village residents.
Paul and I were dressed in traditional Massi cloth and I danced with the women and warriors of the village.
The homes are of simple construction with two sleeping platforms covered in cow hide and one main room where meals are cooked.
We learned that the Massi heard goat, sheep and cows and live from their meat, blood, bones and skins. They purchase rice and vegetables, as well as drinking water.
They eat twice a day and walk for many kilometers a day. The men are considered warriors from15 to 25 years of age at which point they may marry women chosen by the Chief. They may have as many wives as they can support. The Chief has 14 wives and 67 children, his son has 4 wives and 12 children. At 25 they retire from the warrior life and join in the care of the herds.
The children are schooled in the village from 3 to 7, after which they go to a public school 8kms away. They walk that distance and back each day! We visited their kindergarten where one of the "older kids" ran the students theough their counting exercise.
The warriors showed us how they make fire by rubbing a stick on their kmife and how they dry their meat.
Their chief is responsible for 127 villages and was not there to greet us because he was taking a herd to get water. He is 95 years old3so they are doing something right!
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