2019.06.08.3543.02 Young Maasai Showoff
This is a re-edit of a photo posted earlier on Flickr. A young Maasai warrior gets enthusiastic during a welcoming dance. Linda and I visited a "cultural" Maasai boma (village enclosure) while we were traveling back to Karatu from the Serengeti. It was a real village -- people live there as they try to keep the old ways, but open it to outsiders as a way to earn income to keep things going. These Maasai are traditional herders (and cultural interpreters) who live on the arid leeward side of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. They ask a donation, allow visitors to meet and photographic them, and they sell the excellent beaded crafts they have made. Some also work "in the outside" as guides or as workers at Serengeti and Ngorongoro lodges, Many see these show-villages as exploitation. I, and many others, see this as a friendly exchange that allowed Linda and me a very tiny window into the Maasai way of life. We came, we met, we learned, we left enriched though perhaps wanting more, and hopefully their life goes on. Technical Note: This is what an extreme wide angle is for. I was in these guys' faces and they got in mine; we fed off of each other. ©2019 John M. Hudson | jmhudson1.com
2019.06.08.3543.02 Young Maasai Showoff
This is a re-edit of a photo posted earlier on Flickr. A young Maasai warrior gets enthusiastic during a welcoming dance. Linda and I visited a "cultural" Maasai boma (village enclosure) while we were traveling back to Karatu from the Serengeti. It was a real village -- people live there as they try to keep the old ways, but open it to outsiders as a way to earn income to keep things going. These Maasai are traditional herders (and cultural interpreters) who live on the arid leeward side of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. They ask a donation, allow visitors to meet and photographic them, and they sell the excellent beaded crafts they have made. Some also work "in the outside" as guides or as workers at Serengeti and Ngorongoro lodges, Many see these show-villages as exploitation. I, and many others, see this as a friendly exchange that allowed Linda and me a very tiny window into the Maasai way of life. We came, we met, we learned, we left enriched though perhaps wanting more, and hopefully their life goes on. Technical Note: This is what an extreme wide angle is for. I was in these guys' faces and they got in mine; we fed off of each other. ©2019 John M. Hudson | jmhudson1.com