HakunaMatataTraveler

Yes, you read that title right! I lived in a mud hut for 3 days... ok, not as cool as a year or a month but TRUST me 3 days was more than enough! During my study abroad, our professors wanted us to really assimilate into the Maasai tribe. Before heading out to our new families we were taught some kiMaasai (the Maasai spoken language) and a bit about their customs. Here is some things you may not know about the Maasai: 1. Maasai people are polygamists - this means that you will often find that Maasai warriors (the men of the tribe) will marry more than one wife.  2. Maasai bomas are a conglomerate of mud huts, which are also their homes! The inhabitants of each boma are often the sister wives of one warrior. This is an advantageous set up for them, so that each of the sister wives can help each other raise their husband's children.  3. Those mud huts are made by the wives using mud and cow dung! Wives will share their huts with their children and men will receive their own huts...

Disclaimer: There are links in the blog post below. These are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click on the link and finalize a purchase. Thanks for your support! Budget safaris can be amazing experiences, if you're down to get a little dirty! Budget safaris typically include camping in non-stationary tents, three amazing home cooked meals, and most importantly incredible game drives. It also means that you get to experience what I consider the best time of safari - night time safari! Night-time safari means that you might be brushing your teeth, when a large hippo wanders near the exit to the bathroom (True Story!) or a herd of hundreds of buffalo wander onto your campsite. The craziest thing is you won't even realize they are there until you headlamp points off into the distance because you think you hear animals chewing... then you see hundreds of eyes! Despite the many amazing phenomena you might hear or see o...

  Let's talk about TANZANIA and picking safari companies! As a previous Wildlife Conservation and Political Ecology student in Tanzania, my studies taught me a lot about how tourism plays into the Tanzanian economy and why keeping money in Tanzania is important for continuing to support wildlife conservation efforts. So I get lots of questions like.... Is tourism in Tanzania bad? How do I pick a good safari company? February 2023, I went back to Tanzania and dragged my partner with me. I wanted my partner to get the most authentic experience possible and truly EXPERIENCE Tanzania. So firstly, is Tourism bad? No, well, yes, well.... it depends. Much of Tanzania and many other countries in Africa have been exploited for raw materials (i.e. gold, minerals, raw goods, etc...) to make items we use today. Places like Serengeti and many of the famous national parks also have these precious items underneath them, but it is because Tanzania decided decades ago that they would need something...