There are several cultural heritage sites scattered throughout the country where you can spend from ½ day to a week with one of the 120 distinct ethnic groups making up the population. At the sites you will encounter natural beauty, including: rain forests, big waterfalls, magnificent views, lots of wild life, and, of course, the charming Tanzanians themselves! Your cultural tour will directly support the villages’ desire to become more self-sufficient, preserve their indigenous culture, and aid environmental conservation efforts.
The Maasai Cultural
At the base of Mount Kilimanjaro on the border between Moshi and Arusha lies one of the many homes to one of the most famous tribes in Tanzania; the Masai. The Masai are one of only 2 tribes Tanzania, the other being the Bushman, who retain their original culture and practices. The Masai practice a type of living called Nomadic Pastoralism.
This is where people move with their cattle to find suitable grazing areas before returning to their home base. Within the Masai tribe the men and older children move with the cattle, taking care of them as they graze, while the women stay at home and take care of the home and younger children. By travelling and spending a day in one of their villages, you will get a true insight into the way that they live.
On our cultural tours, you will get to learn about the traditional Maasai way of life. We will introduce you to their culture, their stories, songs and dances, their beliefs, and daily practices. You will have an opportunity to practice milking a goat with a kalabash and sit with the elders listening to their stories. On your morning or afternoon walk around the boma, you'll be introduced to the traditional medicinal plants and trees and can witness life in the orpul, where you can also taste the special medicinal soup prepared for the warriors.
If the timing is right, you may be lucky to witness a Maasai wedding or circumcision ceremony.
The Hadzabe
The Hadza people, or Hadzabe'e, are an ethnic group in central Tanzania, living around Lake Eyasi in the central Rift Valley and in the neighboring Serengeti Plateau. The Hadza number just under 1000. Some 300–400 Hadza live as hunter-gatherers, much as they have for thousands or even tens of thousands of years; they are the last functioning hunter-gatherers in Africa. The Hadza are not closely related to any other people. While traditionally considered an East African branch of the Khoisan peoples, primarily because their language has clicks, modern genetic research suggests that they may be more closely related to the Pygmies. The Hadza language appears to be an isolate, unrelated to any other.
Hadza men usually forage individually, and during the course of day usually feed themselves while foraging, and also bring home some honey, fruit, or wild game when available.
Women forage in larger parties, and usually bring home berries, baobab fruit, and tubers, depending on availability. Men and women also forage co-operatively for honey and fruit, and at least one adult male will usually accompany a group of foraging women. During the wet season, the diet is composed mostly of honey, some fruit,fdr tubers, and occasional meat.
The contribution of meat to the diet increases in the dry season, when game become concentrated around sources of water. During this time, men often hunt in pairs, and spend entire nights lying in wait by waterholes, hoping to shoot animals that approach for a night-time drink, with bows and arrows treated with poison. The poison is made of the branches of the shrub Adenium coetaneum.