Last night wasn’t the best sleep ever, but it wasn’t horrible either. The beds were literally just hard wooden planks, which didn’t help. I woke up at 7:30am and we had breakfast under this mud hut setup with picnic-style tables. We had crepes, fresh watermelon, bread rolls and a few other things.
After breakfast, we had 30 minutes to get ready for a five hour walk, yep, you read that right, i walked for 5 hours straight. It was a walking safari, which sounded amazing in theory… but let’s be so real, I’m not the biggest fan of walking. We started off from the village with some of the local tribe members leading us and honestly, despite the walking it was so cool.
Along the way, we came across this massive termite hive that I actually stood on top of. One of the men explained how termites can be used to seal wounds instead of needles. They let the termites bite and hold the skin together. crazy. A bit further on, we passed a tree that leaked this white substance when poked, it actually can be used as a natural sunscreen. We kept stopping along the trail to learn about different trees and how they’re used. One tree had leaves so soft they use them as toilet paper. Others had huge thorns used as needles or for making fires. i find it fascinating how they use their innovative mindset to turn things we would usually see as useless into useful things that’s improve their quality of life.
At one point, I started to feel tired from all the walking, but that changed fast when we saw a group of zebras right in front of us. They were so close, my photos didn’t do it justice. We followed them into an open field and while we were there, the cameraman asked me to do a short interview about my experience in Tanzania. I pulled Ellie and Phoebe in with me. He clipped a mic to my shirt and filmed me standing with Mount Meru behind me, talking about everything, the people, the culture, the houses, everything I’ve learned. I finished the interview by saying “Tanzania Unforgettable,” which is their national phrase.
As we continued the walk, we saw more zebras, wildebeests, and gazelles running freely. Eventually, we headed toward a big hill that’s usually used for animal spotting, but we weren’t allowed to climb it, only one of the tribe members did. He spotted a giraffe in the distance, and of course, we started walking towards it. It took a while but finally we saw these little ears poking above the trees… giraffes! Right there in front of us. They were so beautiful and just stared at us, it was kind of awkward but funny. We got pretty close before they got a little scared and galloped away. They looked like giant horses with long necks.
By then we were so tired. We’d been walking for 4/5 hours with just two tiny breaks. They called our driver to come get us but he got stuck in the mud. We walked to the bus and had to sit in the back while all the men pushed it out of the mud. Eventually, it worked. We finally made it back to the Maasai village and were greeted again by song and dance. For lunch we had beef, rice, vegetables, and bread. That’s when we noticed how bad our sunburns were starting to get but we didn’t think too much of it.
After lunch, one of the Maasai villagers gave us a tour of their museum. It had loads of info about their tribe, tools, and weapons. Then we got to try beading and made our own bracelets. Mine is different shades of blue and i now understand why they can tend to be a bit pricey. I wanted to buy some of their jewelry too, but apparently it’s made from rocks and I can’t bring those home.
We weren’t able to stay another night in the village since everyone’s phones (including the teachers’) were completely dead. Instead, we drove to a new hotel since the Vijiji Hotel was fully booked. When we arrived they welcomed us with juice. We had key cards for the rooms, super comfy beds, fluffy pillows, a pretty shower and a TV. As much as i was upset to leave the maasai village so early, i think we all did need a good reset.
Our sunburns had gotten a lot worse and my hands and arms are so red. We showered and got dressed up nicely for dinner at the hotel’s restaurant since we haven’t had many chances to dress up on this trip. I wore a long white flowy skirt, a white top, and a silver belt. For dinner, we had butternut squash cream soup to start, and I shared my main (steak, mashed potatoes, and veggies) with Phoebe because she ordered spicy marinara pasta, which was really spicy but so good.
After dinner, we took some pictures with our friends and then headed back to our rooms. It was already 10pm by then. Ellie, Phoebe and I chilled out in the room, reorganized our suitcases, spoke and wrote in our journals… and that leads me to now. Lying here in this cozy bed with the best pillows ever. so it feels like it lol.
Goodnight.
