MAASAI SLIDESHOW

THE MASSAI OF THE RIFT VALLEY (Kenya and Tanzania) During the afternoon of Monday, July 2, 2007 we visited a traditional Maasai Boma near the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. The homes were built in the traditional way using cow dung and mud over a frame of sticks sunk into the ground. They are very dark inside, with only one small round window; beds were made of leather cowhide. . . The next day we left our Ngorongoro campsite, on a cool and foggy morning, for Serengeti National Park via the southern edge of the crater's circumference. We stopped briefly at the monument to Michael Grzimek - who was killed in a plane accident in 1959. Like his father, Bernhard, he contributed greatly in promoting the nature of Northern Tanzania and was befriended by the Maasai tribesmen . . . We descended from the Ngorongoro Crater Highlands into the Malanja depression, coming out onto the open plains of The Great Rift Valley before entering the Serengeti Plains. . . . . . . . to the Maasai the Serengeti is "the place where the land runs on forever, but beyond the protected core of this iconic wildscape, the land is running out. . . . " Heartbreak on the Serengeti, National Geographic, February 2006 . . . there is "an undercurrent of bitterness and resentment felt by the Maasai community at how their traditional customs and lifestyles are being swept aside in the interests of big business, the tourism industry, and even in the sometimes dubious name of conservation!." ~ Brian MacCormaic "A Maasai is good for a tourist's photograph, useful to carry your bags to the camp, or even to guide you to see the animals, but in the end the animals are far more valuable than people." - Moringe ole Parkipuny, a Maasai rights campaigner and Tanzania's first Maasai MP. Significant of Maasai colors: Green: Pastures, vegetation after rainfall, peace Blue: Sky, God (known as Enkai in Maa language of the Maasai) White: Milk and pure Red: Blood, warriors, danger, bravery Black: Rain Orange: Color preferred by women Yellow: Fruit used for tribal tattoos