Maasai Youth

Evening sky, dust as the cattle get escorted back to their village. Young boys are generally responsible for the goat and cattle herds. This was taken while driving down the road .

Maasai Youth

Taken on the way to Karatu, from the moving vehicle. Here's the lesson learned: Maasai do not like their picture taken, even from a moving vehicle. I didn't even notice the rock in his hand which would have been hurled had he been closer. Walk away - I learned a cultural lesson, reinforced by my error. No more sleuth pictures.

Maasai Light

More of the evening light, Maasai youth taking care of the cattle.

Maasai Village

Yes, this is really what they look like. This is not the village where we stayed with the Laibon tribe, but along the way .

My Home Away from Home

While visiting the Laibon Maasai tribe, we stayed overnight in their village. In the Maasai culture, the women own the homes, which are made of sticks and cow dung mud with thatch roofs. This woman took her family and slept elsewhere so that my friend Anita and I could share this hut for the night. Small, tight, no ventilation. Bed was a stick platform covered with a stiff cow hide. Pitch black inside. Quite a memorable experience!

The Maasai do not generally educate their children in a classroom. Several years ago, the chief of this set of Laibon villages realized that his people needed a more western education if the Maasai were to keep their lands and support their nomadic way of life.

A Child's Smile

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Juxtaposition

The Laibon Maasai chief is a very powerful man. 8 wives, 70+ children and more head of cattle than can be counted. For the Maasai, their wealth is measured in cattle and children. This is one of the chief's sons - he was our escort and guide while were in the village, and was often seen using his cell phone. Go figure!

Beautiful

The Maasai are a physically beautiful people - tall, thin, elegant. What strikes me the most are the colors of their Maasai blankets. The reds, purples, and blues - WOW! Throughout our journey with this village, we had the chief's permission to photograph. The children love to be photographed, but the women are often reluctant. I always asked. Some of the women and older children still did not wish to be photographed, or asked for money after the image was created.

Elegance

The beauty in this image - woman and child cloaked in that fabulous purple blanket!

Chief

This is the chief of the Laibon Maasai, with his youngest child (of 76!) standing behind him. We greeted him formally and were welcomed into his village. Greetings are very formal in Tanzania in general, and with the Maasai. Men and women are treated differently, and age makes a tremendous difference. Elders are treated with a great deal of respect and deference. As the oldest woman of our group, I was treated equally with the men. And, though the chief prefers to live in his traditional mud hut, he has late model turbo charged Range Rover . . . .

Children

The little ones are often cared for by siblings, cousins, friends. Backs and Maasai blankets are apparently a good way to get a ride!

Maasai Woman

This woman graciously shared her home with Anita and I.

Child at Dusk

The dust is real. It's pervasive. And it can make for beautiful portraiture. The cattle and goats live within the village at night; corralled by fences made of acacia branches, the villagers and the livestock live freely with each other.

Charmed

I was charmed by this little one - she followed me, begging for her picture to be taken. What a smile!

Joy

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Firewood

Gathering wood for the fire; all cooking is done over an open fire, often in the unventilated huts. Gathering wood is usually the job of the young girls in the village.

Children at Play

It's ubiquitous - there is always a stick or a ball for play!

Posing for Coin

Yes, these women allowed me to take their picture - then asked for money.

Dawn

The village actually never sleeps; as one of our guides told me, the Maasai never sleep. Well, they do sleep, but not based on a schedule that is familiar to westerners. They are awake to guard their animals, they sleep wherever they are and whenever they need the rest.

Herding the Cattle

The village is coming to life, fires are lit, the sun is almost up, and the boys begin to move the herds out of the village to the grazing areas.

Bride Price

For 60 cattle, Swetha agreed to become this man's wife. One of several . . . .

Goats to the Slaughter

The Laibon tribe butchered and roasted a goat for our lunch.

Sharpening

Part of the process to roast the goat is to make supports to hold the meat. Once the goat is killed and butchered, the sharpened sticks are laced through the pieces/parts and set near the fire for cooking.

Ritual

As the goat is butchered, certain organs are eaten while butchering, considered a true delicacy. I believe this was one of the kidneys. The blood is never wasted. The Maasai believe that the diet of meat, blood, and milk make them strong. Every drop from the butchering process was used - passed first in a cup for anyone who desired fresh goat blood; what was leftover was than made into a soup which also contained other organs, fluids from the butchered goat. I ate the meat and liver of the goat - the liver was quite tender and delicious. I declined to sample the blood or the resulting soup. -

Roasting the Goat-

Pieces and parts of the goat roasting by the fire.