"We Kill Lions"

One thing about travelling is that something unexpected can arise.  The unexpected occurrences can be good, bad, or weird.  While on Safari at two lodges we needed to be escorted to our rooms from the main lodge.  At a third lodging location they used regular patrols.  The persons who provided the escort were generally Maasi Warriors.  In Zanzibar, some Maasi were used to patrol the beach, and provide guidance.  A weird unexpected occurrence was on the beach in Zanzibar when one Maasi said to me: "We kill lions."  There is more to the story.

Banana Beer in cup, and Banana wine in bottle
Courtesy of Antoinette Hovel

The Maasi are one of 125 tribes that make their home in Tanzania (although some say it is 180 to 200, but I am going with the 125 number provided by our safari guide).  A consistent note was that the Maasi seldom marry out of their tribe, and tend to stick together.  The Maasi are native to the area of the Ngorongoro Crater, the Serengeti, and to around Arusha and Mount Kilimanjaro.  They have settlements in these national parks and raise cows and some goats and dab in other agricultural activities. Their settlement, at its peak, reached into most of the great rift valley.  As an aside the rift valley (in particular Olduvai Gorge which is part of the Serengeti) is important as the site of discovery of some of the earliest human remains--think of the early hominid bones referred to as Lucy discovered by Dr Richard Leaky and his wife Mary.  Perhaps the Maasi may have a connection to some of the earliest humans.  I noticed that the Maasi are generally tall and thin.  What is interesting is how far they walk--miles in a day.  As we drove to Tarangerie from Arusha I was struck by bus stops along the highway in the middle of no where.  You may see one or two small homes or villages, but there were people all around tending to the grazing cows.  I wondered from where they came.  I also concluded that since we were at the end of the dry season, and entering the short rain season, the road sides provided some green grass due to runoff from the road, and hence why many cows and goats were grazing along the road edge.  As we were driving up to the top of the crater all of a sudden a Maasi would appear out of the thick brush along the road with a herd of cattle, or firewood, or water.

Male Lion Ngorongoro Crater
Author Photo

The Maasi are well known for their instincts and ability to defend themselves against the "wild" animals.  I use the term "wild" in quotes as our guide properly pointed out that to the animals we are the wild ones.  The Maasi will regularly graze and lead their animals to water in areas abundant with the native animals so they need to know how to protect themselves. When we took a 1.5 hour walk along the part of the top of the Ngorogoro Crater the ranger with us was a Maasi, but he carried a rifle.  The Maasi that guided us at Kubu Kubu lodge in the Serengeti carried a simple poll or spear, I did not look at its tip.  I decided to not ask if they also had a firearm.  At Sopa Lodge on the top of the crater I think they carried a side fire arm.  The Ranger on our crater walk said that he would prefer to fire the weapon in the air to distract the animal.   They practice prudence to avoid killing or injuring an animal.  While the Maasi walk a great deal, when we started our crater hike a few of us got too far ahead of the ranger, and he said "poli, poli" which means slowly, slowly. I heard that more than once on our trip.   For our own safety he did not wish us to get too far ahead.  Of course, the ranger may simply have been keeping pace with those who tend to not walk as fast.  Perhaps that is the key to their capability to walk long distances--use a measured and even  pace. At each of the three lodges we stayed that was in or near a park we could hear animal activity, but at Kubu Kubu, in addition to other animals, we could hear lions. It was neat hearing the lions, but not so neat hearing the hyenas.   This made one understand the caution exercised for the  need to walk.  If we wanted to leave the room at night, the wireless phone was to be used to call the lodge for an escort. My wife asked one Maasi who guided us at Kubu Kubu what he had seen that night and he listed off about five different animals.

My wife talking to Joshua as they walk the Beach
Author photo

Tuesday, October 22 we arrived in Zanzibar, which is quite different from the game reserves we visited earlier.  We were supposed to have arrived Monday evening, but our 4:00 pm flight from Mwanza to Dar Es Salaam was cancelled so we were placed on an 8:00 pm flight and missed our connecting flight.  By the time our plane was leaving for Dar Es Salaam on  Monday night we should have been near or at our hotel on Zanzibar.  So this was a bad unexpected occurrence.  My weird unexpected occurrence was on a beach along the Indian Ocean.  I went down to the beach to go swimming in the ocean and a Maasi struck up a conversation with me. He wanted to know if I was going swimming and if I knew how to swim.  I said I do know how to swim.  He asked where I was from, what I was doing in Africa and if it was my first time.  The mention of having been on safari peaked his interest and he asked where we had been.  The warrior then asked what if I had seen lions, and I said yes we had seen several, and in all three parks we visited.  It seems the lion was one of his favorite animals. I also wondered what he thought of mainly overweight white guys swimming.  Although, I noticed most persons preferred to swim in the pool, at which you could swim right up to a bar.

Maasi singers and dancers
Courtesy of Antoinette Hovel

As we walked the beach down to the water discussing lions, he put his finger on my rather hairy forearm and said, "you like a lion," he then said "We kill lions."  I snickered at his remark and an ability of two persons from opposite sides of the world to poke fun at one another.  As I was swimming, however, it occurred to me that the remark and his touching my forearm was kind of weird. I had been told the Maasi like to keep to themselves, so this interruption of personal space was not expected.  I had never before thought of myself as lion like. I should have given him a roar.  However,  he could have compared me to a lesser-liked animal--the hyena for example.

Banana beer brewing at a local Market
author photo

My wife went for a walk on the beach and struck up a conversation with a Maasi man named Joshua. Two days later, Joshua remembered her and joined us as we walked to a light house, which was about a 20 minute walk one way down the beach from where we stayed.  We had a nice conversation and he explained some things as we went along the beach.  I drew a map in the sand to show Joshua where we were from, and tried to explain the Great Lakes.  Joshua has a small shop  in the village next to where we stayed, and is earning money to buy 150 head of cattle as a dowry for his wife's family.    Our safari driver is of a tribe that makes banana beer and as part of his dowry his family needed to make 21 liters of banana beer, although part of that was used for the reception.

This video is part of the Maasi song and dance at Sopa Lodge.

Courtesy of Antoinette Hovel

The Maasi have a unique culture and we were pleased to able to see some present dance and song at the Sopa Lodge.  Really remarkable abilities of sound and dance.   They are not just good at walking, and song and dance, they kill lions too.