In March the lovely people at Ucango Travel (The loveliest of them all being yours truly.) will be operating a rather special 13 night group tour of northern Tanzania. As well as visiting all the amazing scenic and wildlife hotspots such as Lake Manyara, the Serengeti and Ngorogoro Crater the tour will visit a (non-touristy) Maasai village. We will be spending two nights there. It really is a unique opportunity to learn more about this fascinating tribe who are determined to keep alive their culture and way of life.
The tour leader is Sianga – a Maasai warrior now living in Brisbane and married to a member of the Aussie tribe – another group of people who are determined to maintain their way of life, especially the time honoured traditions of long boozy lunches and something mysterious called “Chucking a Sicky.”
There will be no discomfort on this tour. Most nights will be spent in the “walk-in” luxury tents of a mobile camp with real beds and linen and an ensuite toilets and hot water bucket showers. Tents will be erected by a camp attendant and meals are cooked by the camp chef. There will also be some nights in comfortable hotels and lodges. Private camp sites will be utilised to ensure a peaceful wilderness experience,
The Maasai are famous worldwide for their incredibly colourful costumes and their leaping dance. Their initiation process is also famed for the young males of the clan having to kill a lion to graduate as a warrior. This no longer happens to any great extent but it is interesting to know that lions still give the warriors a wide berth when they see them approaching in their bright red shukas (robes). It is an almost mystical sight to see these tall, elegant, scarlet clad figures striding across the shimmering plain, often alone and miles from anywhere. They have legendary powers of telepathic communication, but today you are quite likely to see a warrior whip a mobile phone out from under his shuka. Ah well, that’s progress.
Finally at the end of the tour there will be the chance to meet with a group of Maasai warriors who are doing more than anyone else to preserve the Maasai culture. They go under the name of Future Warriors. This will be a rare and intriguing insight into the Maasai way of life.
More details will appear in a later blog, but meanwhile, to express an interest in this very special tour please call me - Peter Emery on 0449 689 447
or email peter.emery@ucango.com.au
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