“In the belly of Africa, with their herds, they wander as if it were the first day of man: around them, on the rest of the Earth, millennia have passed in vain.”
L. Lain
We visit an authentic Maasai village
Imagine a place where the immense sky crosses you, where time passes and does not pass as we are used to.
A place where people greet you even if they don't know you and you can breathe lightness.
Where everything is true, even the less beautiful things, because here, in the belly of Africa, everything is life.
This is what I feel every time I travel to black Africa, to the belly of Africa.
This is not my first visit to a village Maasai: during i my travels in Tanzania on the road I had the privilege of experiencing aauthentic Maasai experience. One thing is certain: they are experiences that enrich the soul, make us reflect and confront diversity.
Almost suddenly, one morning in February, we decide to leave for the mainland to fulfill one of my wishes: another visit to a Maasai village in Tanzania. During my travels I have always brought small gifts with me, which I personally deliver to the most remote locations, where tourists do not arrive. I pack my suitcase with everything that was entrusted to me from Italy and we take the from from from towards Stone Town.
We are slightly early, the heat is sultry, and we head to the port to catch the ship to Dar es Salaam.
Road trips in Tanzania are not easy: the distances are immense and for this reason we make a one-night stop in Dar es Salaam, in my favorite neighborhood. This is not the tourist seafront with Western-style hotels, but the outskirts of the city, not far from the bus station.
We wake up early and with the bajaji we set off towards the chaotic bus station of Dar es Salaam. There are many departures for any location in Tanzania, without defined times: the buses leave when they are full.
We expect about five hours of travel with a short break in between. And this is where my favorite sight of mainland Tanzania begins: the red earth, the sunflowers, the palm trees, the banana plants, the baboons along the road to Handeni.
As you can imagine, we are far from the tourist resorts and it often happens that I am the only one white man on the bus. After about five hours we arrive at our destination.
Maasai Tanzania: in the heart of the savannah
“Welcome sister“
The first words I hear as soon as I arrive in Handeni: "welcome sister".
It is now almost evening, and in the distance the red shades of the sunset envelop the sky. You can no longer breathe the tropical air of Zanzibar, but something different, wilder. I wait for the following morning to reach my destination: the Maasai village.
Wake up early and start the journey through the immense green expanses of the savannah, in the wildest nature. The land becomes increasingly red, between corn fields and grazing cows, up to the heart of the forest.
I get off the bajaji and a myriad of children come towards me, followed by the other inhabitants. When guests arrive, everyone comes, even from nearby villages. They prepare everything for the hosts and offer me chai. Everything was cleaned and arranged for my arrival.
Little by little everyone moves away, almost as if not to disturb. For a moment I remain motionless in front of the mud hut: the silence is deafening. A multitude of wonderfully colored butterflies and birds fills the air, while in the distance only the sounds of nature can be heard. Indescribable.
I wonder what drives them to live here, without electricity or running water, amidst a thousand difficulties, where every rain is a blessing. Later I understand that there is something deeper: a united people, the family bond, the ancestral connection with the land and nature, respect. Life is regulated by ancient laws, where men and women eat separately and decisions are entrusted to the wisdom of the elderly.
The story continues in my book Tell me about Tanzania, where these encounters, emotions and fragments of life become part of an even deeper journey into the heart of Africa.
