‘Takwena’ and ‘Supai’ were the first words in the Maasai language that I learned, and they were the first words I said to the welcoming Maasai people of the Olaboni village. As I approached the Moran, the Maasai soldiers that guard the village, I respectfully said “Supai” and shook each of their hands. The Maasai women that I encountered, however, would receive a “Takwena”. The children would receive a “Hello!” and a high five.
The village of Olaiboni is a two-hour mini-bus ride from Arusha towards Karatu.
Olaboni is an elderly, practically toothless man who sits on a hill at the center of his village, keeping a watchful eye over his land while swatting away flies with a brush made from the tail of a wildebeest. He has 30 wives, over 300 hundred children, and more than 3,000 cattle! His home is the only structure made from stone and he owns both a car and a motorcycle. The village of Olaboni even has its own school just for the Maasai children, appropriately named Olaboni Primary School. As we approached him, he was chatting away with his neighbors, most likely about cattle. We donned a traditional Maasai cloth out of respect and greeted ourselves to him, using the Swahili greeting for elders “Shikamoo”. He laughed and beckoned us to bend our head so he could touch the top of our head. He was very welcoming and seemed genuinely happy to have our company.
Jen, Zaituni and I with Juma, our Maasai guide, and Olaiboni
One of Olaboni’s thirty wives offered us a place in her home for the night. We entered the small, circular hut made from cow manure, water and sticks and found that it was pitch black. When we found our flashlights, we saw that the home has one main room with a pit for a fire in the middle and some shelves for kitchen things. There were two alcoves where a traditional Maasai bed of sticks and cow hide were fashioned. As we left the hut, we saw a small door to the left which leads to a little corridor where they keep their calves at night.
We arrived to the village just as the cows and sheep that had been grazing in the pastures all day were making their way home. It was a mad house of mooing and baaing, mothers trying to find babies and stray cows getting hit with sticks to get back in line. We walked to the pond where the villagers get their drinking water and noticed the pond was shared with the cattle, who waded straight in and gulped down the water after a tough day of walking and eating.
At night, we were welcomed with a traditional Maasai dance and were given the beautiful beaded necklaces to wear while we attempted to jump as high as the Maasai warriors. After this celebration, we returned to our home, where the mama showed us how to cook porridge. In the Maasai culture, cattle are seen as wealth and so are rarely ever killed for meat. The main diet of a Maasai villager includes milk – lots of milk. The porridge was made by boiling milk over the fire pit, then adding flour. It was simple, but actually very tasty and filling.
Traditional Maasai dancing
When it was time for bed, I climbed on top of the most uncomfortable bed I’ve ever experienced and spent the night getting bit by bugs and listening to the cry of children or the mooing of cows. I am not exaggerating when I said I got no sleep. When the morning came, I was incredibly tired, but refilled my energy a little bit with breakfast, which was (surprise!) more milk. For breakfast they drink a mix of milk and tea leaves which was delicious, but not quite substantial enough for an American stomach like mine.
Learning how to make porridge
After breakfast, we visited the Olaboni Primary School, which had been the purpose of our visit in the first place. Before speaking with the teacher, I spotted a mama dog and her puppy and couldn’t resist playing. Then we spoke with the teacher about starting a Roots & Shoots club in this school and the teacher thought it was a great idea! Next month, we will return to the school to talk to students about projects they can do and to establish ourselves as the official founders of the Roots & Shoots Club at Olaboni Primary School.
The students and teacher of Olaboni Primary with the founders of the new R&S club
We left the village, but that was hardly the end of our day. We traveled twenty minutes to the town of Mto wa Mbu (meaning River of Mosquitoes) where we took a bike safari to Manyara Lake. It was a tiring, hot, muddy bike ride but we made it to the lake where we saw flamingos, wildebeest, Thompson’s gazelles, Vervet monkeys and more cows. After our bike ride, we visited a local bar where we tasted a popular village beer made from bananas. Although I don’t really like beer, this was much sweeter and fruitier than regular beer (but somewhat chunky). When we caught the mini-bus back to Arusha, we were all so tired that we slept the entire two-hour ride back.
Adventures in Tanzania 