Wedding Waltz Lessons Pay off: Dancing with the Masai

On our way to the Crater today, we asked our ranger, Eric, to stop by a Masai village. Here I am with Daniel, inside the camp, a few miles to the south of Ngorongoro. Daniel was one of the few members of the Masai village that was able to speak English. He took us around the camp; which consisted of rather crudely constructed huts, made mostly from twigs and cow dung, with a separate penned area for some hungry looking cows.

I felt very self-conscious, not only of the stark differences in how we were dressed (we were freezing and had several layers of clothes on; whereas the tribe members all had bare legs and arms) and also felt that this visit was slightly exploitative. Our mandatory entrance fee of $60 is not only this tribes' main source of income, but they also share the proceeds with other tribes who are not located near well-traveled tourist areas. I was interested in learning more about how the Masai lived, but felt that this also doubled as a tourist trap ( as there was also a high level of pressure to buy handmade trinkets from the women of this village).

We were invited to participate in a ritual dance that consists of chanting and jumping. I would've hopped in, but only men participate, leaving Matt on the hook to join the festivities. I tried to contain the case of the giggles that this spectacle provoked, but to no avail: