Masai, Muslim and Missionary

Common ground can be hard to come by when journeying from nation to nation. In spite of that, I was able to establish a smidgen commonality between two Masai, a Muslim and myself. 

Throughout my nineteen day, expedition from the states to Zambia the White Masai novel stole my spare travel time. I managed to view the film (English subtitles) via You Tube some months back and devoured the book in less than two days, a miraculous record if you knew my track record for reading ;)

Photo Credit: Amazon.com

For as long as I can remember avid readers consistently told me that I too will become a bookworm after locating ‘the right book’, and that I did.Corinne Hofmann's life story hit home more than once, yet other aspects of her love story were far from my own realities and kept me holding tight to each page of each book, as she has written three regarding the same story line.

Masai Tribes occupy much of the Kenya, Tanzania bush lands. They are known to be a nomadic tribe, which rear cattle and goats, while their diet is based on animal blood, milk and meat from the livestock and chai tea.  Gardens are not a common practice and tiny dome huts are constructed with twigs and cow dung. Even to the average African, Masai Warriors are respected and placed in a league of their own.

My bus booked from Kenya to Tanzania dropped me for the night in a tiny town across the border. My eyes were glued to the window of the bus awaiting another sighting of Masai along the countryside. Sure as luck would have it, the Masai were in the town of Abusha as well. My courage and boldness hid in the shadow of my fear for their response when asking for a ‘proper’ photo. I walked to and from the alleys of the town and throughout the open-air markets while gawking at their craft booths, shoes made of old tires and bold red and blue shuka's. The awe of such a people group can leave one speechless.

No sooner did I book my lodging I ran into a younger Muslim girl who greeted me with perfect English verse the Swahili that I’d become accustomed to. I offered to buy her some fresh fruit from the local street vendors and in no time we were on foot, strolling around the congested streets. My gazing eyes spoke for themselves as she took note of my fascination with the Masai’s.  She was perplexed to hear that we don’t have such a tribe in Zambia and took it upon herself to approach a couple Masai for a photo. I was had been well informed from my ‘reading’ that a bribe of some kind is a requirement for such a Kodak moment. My frugal tendencies were nowhere to be found and I was willing to pay a high price for such an encounter. Johari located a Jeanie and lamp for me to wish upon and I found myself paying very little for a one-on-one photo. (In the cloak of the night with a poor quality camera, my frugal ways don’t always pay off)

My courageous spirit was regaining its strength when I took the chance to invite the Masai to join Johari and myself to round of traditional Chia and Chipati, my treat. Much to my surprise, they accepted and guided us to the local tea-house for a late night treat! Johari was the interpreter as each one of us had many of questions for each other. They told stories about chasing lions and fighting the big-five water buffalo's as well as other fascinating near death stories to explain the scars on their body. Before long, a pair of grandmothers came to join us and was more than willing to offer ‘free’ photos. I did not have to think twice. I was lost in a dreamy Masai world.

Time seemed to stand still until Johari reminded me her mother and cousins were waiting back at the hostile. My 4:00 bus departure was far from my own worries or concern. However, we exchanged a number of farewell hugs and wished one another well before they escorted us back to our side of town for a night of sweet dreams and stories that will last a lifetime.  I even managed to come away with a traditional Masai shuka to back up the stories and photographs.

Moral of the story: Dreams DO come true and books can come to life ;)

Me and Johari enjoying a restful time and sharing our memories from the night :)