Submitted by Brenna Bochow on the 2020 winter session study abroad program in Tanzania sponsored by the Department of Art and Design…
In the last week or so of the program, we spent a lot of time with the Maasai people and had the opportunity to learn about their pastoral lifestyle. We visited a boma, which is where the Maasai live in small fortified areas with their home and pens for their cows and goats, which are their wealth. Maasai men have as many wives as they can afford and have the maximum number of children that they can, because children are also representative of wealth.
The plains that we camped on during our time with the Maasai made for wonderful game drives and we watched thousands of wildebeests run across them during migration. This campsite was one of my favorites because of our close proximity to baboons, giraffes, and hyenas, and learning how the Maasai live was a lot of fun!