Masai misconceptions

Today, after having been silent for 11 days! (forgive me!), I would like to share with you some of the myths about my husband's tribe.

There are many books about Masai culture but sadly, 90% of the time they are outdated. The Masai have a culture that dates back to over two centuries ago and they try to hold on to it even today in 2018, yet they have to adapt daily to the many challenges modern day planet earth brings with it.

My husband and his brothers working to inject one of our bulls.

Because of this, their culture is changing quickly and there have not been many publications that deal with these changes in Masai culture.

I would like to give you examples of some customs here and would like to ask you to comment below wether you believe they are true or false.

I will then reveal the answers and explain.

1)     To become a warrior, Masai boys have to kill a lion.  True or false?

2)     Masai men share their wives with visitors.  True or false?

3)     Masai women do not use hygiene products during their periods. True/false?

4)     Masai celebrate Christmas.  True/false?

5)     Masai girls are circumcised before marriage. True/false?

6)     The colour of the cloth a man wears, displays age or social status. True/false?

7)     Masai dance is exclusive to men. True/false?

8)     Warriors whistle to their cattle. True/false?

9)     Masai girls herd the goats. True/false?

10)   There is a hidden meaning to facial markings. True/ false?

11)    Masai live only off meat and milk. True/false?

12)    Masai don't wash. True/false

13)    Masai live close to famous National Parks. True/false?


Please click on the 'comments' icon below this blog post to type your answer for each example. Looking forward to chatting!

Please also check out my crowdfunding campaign which I am running to bring environmental education to the Masai community I live in. Thank you!

An african love story

I have not shared stories with you for a while as I am so involved in my Masai community education campaign which is leaving little time for anythung else.

It is taking me on a journey to reconnect with old friends and to also go beyond my comfort zone to ask people for support, but it has so far been an AMAZING experience and one that is leaving my heart full of love every day!

We have also had a very sad week as we lost a young warrior in a tragic accident but the amount of love and support that has and is being shown to his family is just overwhelming and is leaving everything else in its shadow.

I am wrapped in a blanket of love, in the mood for sharing this beautiful emotion with the world and this is why I would like to tell you a love story - my very personal one. The story of how I met my husband Sokoine:

Sokoine taking a break while herding our cattle

I had met him on Mafia Island. A magical place. Paradise. A haven of peace, blue seas and the most amazing diving. Mafia to me was Zanzibar’s little sister. Just as beautiful and cultured but more herself. Less altered by the hordes of tourists that befall Zanzibar so frequently.

The day I set foot on Mafia was the day I met Sokoine.

I was with a group of volunteers, exploring the village of Utende, when we bumped into some Maasai. I was enthralled at first sight. He was taller and bigger than the others, but what drew me in were his eyes. Dark and fiery, yet infinitely kind and patient.

Our wedding day.

I tried to keep him there, on the dusty road in the midst of the village, with my year’s worth of Swahili I had picked up working in Ifakara, close to the Selous Game Reserve in the south of Tanzania. I did not want this moment to end. Another one of those moments that made me feel so intensely at one with the dust under my feet and the sun caressing my skin; at one with the country I had come to love, with the Swahili flowing freely off my tongue, with the immensely beautiful and fascinatingly exotic people standing in front of me.

He worked as security for one of the hotels by the beach and everyday, when we walked past, I tried to make myself as noticeable as possible, pushing our dive cart, laughing, talking; and should I glimpse him watching me, my heart would beat a little faster.

Five weeks passed and I became more and more attached to Mafia, its people and Sokoine. I knew I would not go back to Germany.

And when my friend Michael, whose shop down by the beach was right next to Sokoine’s, told me one day that Sokoine liked me, it seemed I had even more of a reason to stay.

That this beautiful, proud, mysterious human being that comes from a world I cannot even begin to envision, should like me, this ordinary white chick, was too much for me to comprehend. But it was true and we got together and spent the most amazing three weeks under the sun and the stars of Mafia Island…

…a year later we married and moved to his traditional Masai home in the Masai Steppe of Tanzania.

Our son Yannik, Sokoine and I. 

Six years later, and I am still here with him, his parents, his grandmother and more recently with our son. I am as in love with the beautiful country as I have always been and have recently launched a campaign to bring environmental education to our Masai community to make a stand against the ongoing environmental destruction of their homelands.

If you would like to support me in saving the Masai culture along with the wilderness they live in and depend on to feed their cattle, click on this link.

A New Year's wish

The holidays are over and we have started a new year.

Well not so much us - the universe really. So, what are you going to make of it?

2017 for me was the year, where I have finally woken up. It only took me 31 years.

What I mean by that? Well, I feel that I have finally come to understand what is wrong with our planet, for one, and how everything is connected, for another.

Celebrating New Year's Day with friends and family

I have always been passionate about saving our planet - I have always had a huge amount of compassion in me, which is what made me aim towards becoming someone who would make a difference in this world.

I studied Conservation and came to Africa full of enthusiasm and my green-eyed view of our planet's issues. But I did not really SEE.

Now, 8 years later I am finally doing that. And I think what opened my eyes and my soul to the essence of things is my son Yannik, who was born beginning of 2016.

Myself, my husband's Sokoine and our son Yannik 

The biggest problem our planet faces, is human overpopulation.

I see it here on a daily basis, here in the Masai Steppe of Tanzania where I live with a tribe that tries to hold to the way they used to live hundreds of years ago.
And the struggle they face doing so mirrors everything that is going wrong with mother earth.

They used to live off the land of which there used to be so much in Africa, only a century ago. They depend on it for pasture lands for their cattle. Nowadays, there is no land left for them to herd their cattle, because the Masai themselves have become so many, as have their neighbouring tribe, the Zigua.

Here in rural Africa, people live as subsistence farmers and any one soul being born in this place wants to have a farm, a shamba on which to grow his corn which is the staple diet of most Africans. To establish farmland trees are being felled.

Huge areas of the Masai Steppe have already been deforested to make room for farmland and this deforestation is ongoing and uncontrolled. My guess is that in ten years time, there will not be any woodlands left.

The Masai Steppe - deforested farmland up close with views of untouched wilderness in the distance 

The Masai struggle to keep their cattle alive who have become so abundant that they do not even get enough grass in the rainy season. In the dry season there are repeated conflicts over grazing and farmland between the Masai and the Zigua, one wanting to graze their cattle, the other reluctant to tolerate livestock that eats their crops.
Nature is being destroyed, wild animals becoming extinct and conflicts over land becoming more frequent. And it all has one common cause: there are too many people for the land to support.

In 2017 I have finally understood how all this is connected and in 2018 I aim to do something about it.
On 21st December 2017 I launched a campaign to educate four Masai from our villge in conservation and land management to put a stop to the environmental destruction of their lands. For this, we need to travel to Kenya, to a centre for holistic management that offers courses to local community stakeholders and pastoralists.

I hope this education will encourage our community to once again care for their land and to prosecute people who fell woodlands and poach animals. I also believe it will give them the tools needed to manage their land more sustainably, introduce grazing rotas and reduce cattle numbers.

This education is meant to be an eye-opener for the Masai of the Masai Steppe. To make them see that the health of the ecosystem they live in and depend on, is in their hands, that they have the power to save it and guard it.

I believe that if we are successful in provoking change in our community,  others will follow suit.

A kudu that had died in our arms on Christmas Day, having been shot in the jaw and starved to death.

If you believe in fate and destiny then this is mine. I have never been more passionate about anything other than our planet and conservation and I know that with this project, I can finally act on what I believe in.

It is a new year, but the state of our planet is just the same as ever. It needs our help.

You might think, this has nothing to do with me, but IT DOES! We are all in this together and it is everyone's responsibility. Maybe many of you do not have the means to do something for the planet, so I am giving you the chance to DO GOOD THROUGH MY PROJECT! If you care about ours and our children's future and if you have even 5 $ to spare, donate it to my cause.

I promise you these will be 5$ well spent. I am running this project for no personal gain, but for the sake of our wildlife and wild spaces. If you care even a little bit, show it to the world - support us!

My dear readers and followers, I hope you do not mind me being so straight and honest with you - I am desperate to provoke positive change in our community but I cannot do it alone. I am relying on you to help me and my husband Sokoine to start changing the way Africans see their role in conservation.

Follow this link to see my campaign.

Watch my campaign video here.

Thank you!

Christmas Masai style

Christmas to me is about love, compassion and gratitude and I would like, on this Boxing Day, to say thank you to all of you lovely people who show so much interest and support for my blog!

Masai girls from our local choir performing on Christmas Day.

The highlight of our Christmas here in the Masai Steppe of Tanzania was the annual Christmas choir competition in our local village of Lesoit.

Choirs from nearby villages come together to sing and dance and to celebrate this Christian holiday.

It is amazing how our entire community comes together to watch the show and to enjoy a festive meal of rice and goat stew.

Traditionally, the Masai used to cherish 'Enkai', a higher spirit who gave them their cows and the keeper of balance who would make the heavens open after the dry season to bring life back to the savannah.

Missionaries invited the Masai to cherish their 'God' and although this has been met by skepticism by most of the Masai men, the women are quite taken by it and go to church regularly.

On Christmas Day, they dress up in their nicest clothes and go to church to celebrate.

Watch here a Video of our choir  run by my father-in-law's second wife.

Please also check out my community education campaign, Stephanie's Masai Education Fund, which I am currently running to raise funds to train four Masai from our village in conservation and land management in response to the ongoing environmental destruction of our village.

Thank you and Merry Christmas my Dear Readers and Followers!

Masai house building

The Masai used to live a nomadic lifestyle and have in that way aquired a traditional knowledge about hut building which is passed on from generation to generation.

This knowledge is strictly female as men take no part in any of the building process.

A nearly finished house - just leaves and sand missing from the roof.

Modern Masai houses are not round but rectangular and consist of sticks and poles and a mud/cow dung mixture only.

It takes between two and four months for a standard size house with two large beds to be built, depending on the intensity with which it is worked on.

The builder of the house is usually the one who will be living in it but older, more experienced women, often help newlywed women build their first house.

The inside of the partly finished house displayed above.

They are very sturdy and last for 7-10 years. After that they are not considered safe anymore as wood worms and other wood eating insects would have done some damage by that time.

When a house is taken down, it is not allowed to build the new house on the same spot - it has to be at least a few metres away.

The building is started by drawing the outline of the house into the ground and then digging four deep holes at each corner. This is where supporting poles will be erected. Then, a trench is dug along the outline and smaller sticks are stuck into it to make up the walls.
Thin, flexible twigs are aligned horizontally along the structure and fixed to the vertical sticks with rope. This makes everything more sturdy.

A woman carrying building material on her back and her baby on the front, followed by her older son.

Then, these wooden walls are plastered with the cow dung-mud mixture, leaving small round openings as windows,

To fix the roof, up to 10 heavy poles are erected inside the walls. These support sticks that are laid on top of them to form the roof. Others are laid on top of this first layer and then a layer of grass or leaves goes on top of the sticks. The roof is finished off with a heavy load of sand that is piled on top for waterproofing.

The house is done but the work is not yet. What is left, are the beds.

These are again made out of long sticks which are laid across short thicker poles that have been dug into the ground and cushioned with grass and leaves and a cow hide.

Using the same system, shelves are erected on which to store cooking utensils.

Myself in the house I stayed in during my very first visit to my husband's family's boma 

It is a huge task and one that leaves the women exhausted. The men, as with so many other chores, leave it entirely up to their wives to get it done.

Living here with the Masai, I have gained much love and respect for female strength and resilience.

To a large part, it is the women, who keep the Masai culture alive.

I am running a campaign to teach our community about conservation and land management to counteract the destruction of their land.
Please click on this link to find out more. Donations of any size are appreciated and help us make a difference:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stephanie-s-masai-education-fund-africa/x/17779290#/

7 great places to visit in Tanzania

Us humans have the bad habit of letting routine take over our lives - losing sight of what is important to us or what we are thankful for.

Well today, I reminded myself to be thankful for calling the beautiful country that is Tanzania my home and I would like to share with you some of my favourite places that I have been lucky enough to discover during my eight years here.

Zanzibar
Despite being a tourist hotspot, this beautiful island has my heart. The mix of Swahili culture, Arabic flair and turquoise waters off white-sand beaches makes me fall in love every time I go. I relax the instant I set foot on Zanzibari soil.

The beautiful waters of Kendwa, Zanzibar bathed in evening light.

Arusha
Gateway to the world-famous Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park, the town of Arusha is pleasantly cool and green. It has a nice chilled-out atmosphere and many little restaurants where one can find decent European food. It also has a great craft market where you can buy souvenirs.

Mount Meru, Arusha 

Kilimanjaro

Even if you are not there to climb the 'roof of Africa', visiting Marangu in the foothills of the mountain offers great hiking opportunities to local waterholes and to coffee plantation. I have also had the best cup of coffee I have ever had in the town of Moshi which is similar to Arusha.

Ruaha National Park

My favourite and the biggest National Park in Tanzania, it is a truly wild place which makes for an amazing safari experience. I once spend the night there with a friend and did not sleep a wink because a pride of lions was rumbling and roaring all night.

Lions stilling their thirst after rains in Ruaha National Park 

Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area
A world-heritage site and a natural wonder, looking down into the crater is a humbling experience. I don't think I have ever seen a more beautiful sight or one more wild and natural. It is also home to a huge number of wildlife including the Big Five.

Ngorongoro Crater as seen from above the crater rim.

Mafia Island
I worked there for nearly two years and sampled its amazing dive sites many a times. It is a place where you are guaranteed to see rays, turtles, giant groupers, dolphins and even sharks. It is also becoming famous for offering snorkeling with whale sharks that frequent its eastern shores.

South beaches Dar es Salaam
I love the fact that you can feel a million miles away from hectic city life in Dar es Salaam, when you are, in actual fact, still in the city. The ideal place to spend a weekend sunbathing and drinking cocktails.

Turquoise waters at Kigamboni beach, Dar es Salaam 

These are just a few places I visited and loved - Tanzania has so much more to offer. Just one other great place to see, is our home here in the Masai Steppe, if you are up for an adventure ❤🌍🌳🐾

A culture under threat

My husband's younger brother enjoying the views while herding our cattle.

The Masai are one of only a few tribes left in this world that try to hold on to their traditional way of life.

These days, however, it is proving increasingly difficult for them to do so.
This is mainly due to an increasing human population that encroaches into formerly wild land and thereby also into Masai territory.

Neighbouring tribes' influences take hold of the Masai's cultural heritage and threaten their identity.

Even though the Masai used to be a warring tribe (therefore the term 'moran' or warrior to describe adult, circumcised men) they are incredibly peace-loving people who are too modest to defend their culture against swahili influences and lack the confidence to value their traditions.

Their cattle suffer from a decrease in pasture lands due to deforestation for the sake of farmland. Many cows die of starvation in the dry season and the land is showing signs of desertification.

Little is being done to educate the Masai about the effects this ongoing destruction of their land will have on their culture and they themselves take little action against it.

It saddens me to hear how abundant wildlife used to be here only 20 years ago - today hardly any is left.

My background in conservation and the love and respect I have gained for the Masai make me want to do something about the destruction of their homelands.

In my opinion, the ancient cultures of this world, are worth preserving as much as Africa's unique wildlife. There is so much beauty in the diversity of the human race and often preserving them, is also the key to saving the wildlife that lives on their doorsteps.

Please watch below a video taken as part of my campaign 'Stephanie's Masai Education Fund' soon to be launched in the name of cultural and environmental conservation in the Masai Steppe of Tanzania.

My campaign is now live and open to contributions! 

Please click on this link to help me make a difference:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stephanie-s-masai-education-fund-africa/x/17779290#/