These pictures were taken around the Manyara area while I was on safari a few weeks ago. The Maasai (also Masai)are most well known for their plaid fabrics, bright colors, and pierced ears. It is said, and they will tell you, that they subsist wholly on cow products--milk, blood, and meat. I've heard that they draw the blood from a vein in the neck and clot the wound with mud, to preserve the life of the cow for future sustinence. A friend that has stayed in a similar Maasai village, however, has told me that they do indeed eat vegetables, which answered a lot of questions we had about, among other things, scurvey.
While they do live 'closer to nature' than most, they are more capitalist than they appear. They charge $10 (American) to enter the village. They do a quick performance, including the well-known jumping routine, before escorting you into the "market"--the inner fence which is covered by hand-made jewlery and artifacts. Make no mistake, they make good money and have their business plan down pat.
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Fantastic photographs.
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