Recalling unique, memorable experience in Maasailand

I was reading this week a report by a special committee on the Ngorongoro Conservation Area saga which, among others, explained that the Maasai, who do not want to vacate the area, will stay behind and continue protecting wildlife and nature in the area.

I can understand their decision in the report which was presented to Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa.

You see, some years ago, I believe in the mid-90s, I had the privilege of visiting the area. I was with a group of British journalists who were, as journalists always are, keen on getting all the facts about Maasai life.

So we drove from Arusha to the Ngorongoro Conservation Authority Area where a friend, one Goroi Boeboe, who was then the public relations officer of the Authority, made arrangements for us to get first hand information on the life of Maasais in the area.

We drove to Kimba, a few kilometres before Serengeti and then turned left, up the Oloirobi mountain where we met with the Chief Laigwanani of the area, the towering Chief Ngatait.

After a few minutes of being introduced we sat down to some talks on the Maasai life. This was after he presented to us some very potent Maasai gin which surely made us a bit relaxed.

You see the Maasai, he explained, wandered into the area around 200 years ago. They pushed off the Datooga, also known as Barbaig, who remain as a minority in the east and south of the Ngorongoro Conservation area. Both peoples are traditional pastoralists living solely on their livestock. And the Maasai live rather harmoniously with wildlife.

Their cows and wild zebras often graze side by side and relaxed giraffes are often seen wandering right by the Maasai homesteads. And this we saw.

Chief Ngatait went on to explain that cultural taboos of the Maasai promote conservation. In their culture, it is a taboo to consume wildlife meat, kill animals that are not harmful, kill anything without good reason, and cut down trees.

In addition many wildlife species belong to certain Maasai clans, rendering them a certain respect, and protection.

And the Maasai relationship with the lion is rather ambiguous, a relationship of love and hate, fear and admiration, that goes back since millennia.

Of the large predators -- lion, leopard, hyena and cheetah -- it is the lion that run the greatest risk of being killed by the Maasai, despite the fact that other predators account for most of the killed livestock.

This is because lions are more likely to attack the most valued livestock, cattle. Further the predators are shyer and more able to slip away after a livestock attack.

In contrast, added Chief Ngatait, a lion often stays with the kill to guard it, and is more likely to go on the defensive when challenged.

On top of this, killing a lion is the ultimate show of bravery for a Maasai warrior. The warriors that set the first or second spear in a lion, get celebrated and gain special respect and admiration in the community.

Following this insightful explanation we drank more of the Maasai potent stuff. No wonder at the end of it all I was left behind and spent the night in a Maasai Manyatta, with a fireplace and goats. It was indeed a unique and wonderful experience in Oloirobi.

The author is a veteran journalist and communication expert based in Arusha