At the end of Jun, a local invited me to a safari trip to Lake Manyara. It was exciting to see wild animals wandering freely in forest and prairie. The lake is breathtakingly beautiful - in my opinion it's more like an attraction than wildlife. If you're interested in migration, you might consider Serengeti or Ngorongoron National Park.
The next day, we rented bikes and rode to a Masai tribe around Mto Wa Mbu, Arusha. It was a bumpy journey that I felt my full body jiggling the whole time.
I'm glad he took me to this Maasai family that I was finally able to witness Maasai lifestyle. This was not a tourist trip so no one would wrap me around the Maasai blanket and ask me to jump with them. (I hate tourist scheme- a cheesy and unauthentic play)
Maasai is one of the few tribes that still keeps their own lifestyle. However, it's gradually changing now- some conservative Maasai live in the inland still insisted their nomadic lifestyle, custom (circumcision- it's still a common practice even though it has been banned by the government), traditional thinking (they don't value the education that much), the way of sustaining (they sell livestocks for money and then purchase commodities); other Maasai are looking for a better life and try to find a job in city (such as Arusha or Dar es Salaam).
This 6-year-old girl was smearing cow dung on the hut to strengthen the wall. He dress was messed up with cow dung. I asked if she used the soap washing her hands afterwards. "Only water" her sister replied. "Are people here educated to use soap?" "Yes but we have no soap." she shrugged.
Most Masaai girls are not considered to be educated- some of them will be arranged getting married around 12 years old so the family can get livestocks as dowry. The 17-year-old girl in the picture was lucky enough to go to secondary school since her father valued education.
They were constructing a toilet - from digging a big hold then will cover a canvas on the top with a small hole. The idea of toilet was probably absurd for traditional Maasai - they usually go pee or poo anywhere. To control the spread of disease, the government has been trying to introduce toilet to Maasai.
**Currently I'm doing volunteer project about design education in Tanzania. For project details, please visit: liatanzania.com