This picture is taken inside a hut made of mud, sticks and cow dung in a Maasai cultural boma in Tanzania just outside the Ngorogoro crater preserve. This is a man and one of his two wives. Each wive lives in a different hut. The picture looks smokey to me but that might just be because I remember how much the small fire in the hut kept it warm but also fouled the air with smoke. Respiratory illnesses and burns are far too common for the kids who grown up in the traditional huts from what we learned in a visit to a local hospital. The Maasai are traditionally a nomadic pastoral tribe and the center of the boma is the pen for the cattle. Hw many cattle a man has determines his wealth and how many wives he can support. We had also heard that a Maasai man assumes he will have sex every night so I wonder if the polygamy was the idea of the women.
Maasai Boma in Tanzania – Photo Friday
Maasai Cultural Boma – Tanzania – Daily Photo
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Travel to Tanzania – Maasai Boma – Video Episode 10
Linda
Says:August 28th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Thanks for sharing this cultural information with us!
Caitlin
Says:August 28th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
I love your theory that the polygamy might have been the idea of the women to share the ‘burden’ of sex! LOL!
Wanderluster
Says:August 28th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
That’s really sad that respiratory issues are so prevalent but having been in small homes in Vietnam where small woodburning cookstoves are used in a small area, I can see how it would be a big problem.
And, doesn’t EVERY many assume he’s going to have sex every night? Not just in Tanzania?
Dominique
Says:August 28th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Heating up a hut constructed with sticks, mud and cow dung…no wonder the air was foul! Interesting story, though
chris2x
Says:August 28th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
I have been married for 27 years. No, I don’t assume we are having sex every night… not that I am opposed to the idea you understand.
marina
Says:August 28th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
This is amazing! It’s so hard to believe how different cultures can be and how foreign to us!
Lorraine
Says:August 28th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Posts about Africa are so interesting to me since it’s a continent I have not visited yet. I’m fixated on her white necklace, hat and jewelry – and am wondering what the other wife is wearing to differentiate herself! It also makes me aware of the trade-offs that we don’t really have to deal with in modern society, say, between warmth/food and clean air.
All Inclusive
Says:December 27th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Love travel to Africa. History and culture there are so interesting. Thank you for sharing.