Masai

Only a few have luck and persistence to see all five. Therefore it is necessary to go to the wild before the sun rises above the opaque low grasses where between the few trees walk animals in a natural environment that you can only see in documentaries. The look on the incredible scenery imprints in memory and it certainly outweigh the sleepless night in the national park. Night guards could not erase the unpleasant thoughts of a crocodiles in a near river, and Hippos who wander at night among small huts, covered with straw. Not the king of animals, not the enormous hordes of buffalo or strong rhinoceros, it is Hippo, which requires a maximum of life in Kenya and the black sub-continent. However, the biggest fear in Kenya’s national park is certainly small nuisance mosquitoes that transmit malaria.

In Kenya's national parks animals are not the only one that attract the crowds of tourists. Masai have certainly become more known for the book by Corinne Hofmann, who describes her experiences in the African wilderness. The White Masai was global success (by book proposals the movie was made), people who went to Kenya, wanted to see if Masai’s hair is so red, if their skin is really like ebony and their behavior is so unusual to Western eye, as Hofmann described. I myself am not different from other tourists. I wanted to see the famous Masai. I must say that these, which we visited, were quite well adapted to the capitalist system and on the principle "nothing is free" charged each tourist arrival. For entry into their little kingdom charge per person was five dollars. If you did not have dollars, five euros was a good deal. For this price they showed us a dance of welcome, we walked through the village and finally were offered handcrafted jewelry, of course, the prices were Western. I could not help feeling that they are doing quite well. Women have a nice round belly, barefoot children happily jump on the red earth and men, in home-made sandals out of worn tires, in broken English explain how the Masai’s everyday life runs. Their village is situated along the road, where stop a lot of tourists, who bring them some money. That is probably why the white skin of western tourist does not fascinate them anymore. If in their homes does not encroach any capitalist, their life will not be endangered.

Totally different story is with Masai, who live in the national park. There are generally not desirable, since their way of life 'destroys' natural habitat of wild animals in the safari tourists want to see. Although park managers banned Masai’s traditional way of life, on the other hand, they want to keep part of it because of the desires of tourists. Life of Masai people is still something special for Westerns. They have patriarchal system and everything revolves around livestock. Men are owners of cattle and also of the women and their children. Nevertheless, Masai women have certain rights and if violated, may appeal to the elders. Husband buys wife with the dowry and wife speaks proudly of the fact that her husband bought. Controversial ceremony, which the Masai as well as many other peoples in Africa maintained, is the rite of circumcision and is the central event in life Masai. Both girls and boys moved to the adult period when circumcised. This rite of passage is in African societies of great importance, although the ceremony is cruel for our concepts and can also lead to many health problems. But things are improving, but slowly, little by little. Tourism is a gold mine for the government of poorer countries (as well as these more affluent), so they want to serve the desires of tourists, no matter what. Years and years Masai people have lived in harmony with the animals in the territory of which the Government has set a national park. Now they are often impoverished, malnourished, without access to health care and education.

Globalization and new technologies have led to the expansion of tourism in the most remote and inaccessible parts of the world. Tourism has brought the whole apparatus that left an outstanding mark on native cultures. Locals want to profit out of this apparatus that is why it is required to submit to it demands. These requirements came from Westerners who want to see genuine and daily life of distant cultures. Some locals see tourism as a good thing, because it brings easier life. Good example is Masai on Mayer Ranch, where the family Mayer 'sells' Masai way of life to the tourists. They dance, show their lifestyles, habits and customs. Masai themselves say that it suits them, they have everything they need, playing for tourists is just their job. It's hard to say that tourism really brought only disadvantages in distant lands. Although it sometimes caused a lot of poverty, impoverishment and malnutrition, in some cases it can be very profitable business. The question is who has the greatest benefit of this activity. The poorest certainly do not. When I saw people living in slums in Mombasa, in tattered clothes sitting in front of his shack, it broke my heart. Looking at those people who either do not have access to clean water, let alone to other goods, for the first time filled me with feel shame. I was ashamed to spend my holydays in a five-star tourist resorts where people douche three times a day, where full plates of food wander into the garbage and where locals, who earn few dollars a day, correspond to each visitor request. That is why Masai people by the road and people, living in the interior of Kenya, where they have enough water to grow crops and livestock, are not missing a thing. I hope they are aware of this and that their path does not take them in the chaotic, dusty towns where most of them could get lost in poverty.