• Arusha, Tanzania
  • +255-714 094 921/689 332 181
  • info@maasaiwanderlust.co.tz
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Cultural Tour Highlights

Tanzania is the land where tourism meets culture. In Tanzania, a land of superb landscapes and spectacular wildlife, another attraction stands equally tall- the people. Tanzania's people are among the most welcoming and approachable on earth, with a range of fascinating cultures ready to be shared with visitors. From the Wachagga of the slopes of Kilimanjaro to the now world-famous Maasai, a cultural excursion or a longer stay among local people is likely to become one of the most rewarding experiences of any holiday in Tanzania. The opportunity to see the Big Five and experience the Wildebeest Migration may be what draws many to Tanzania, but interacting with the tribes of Tanzania, you will learn more about yourself. This may well be a most valuable and lasting aspect of your safari of the tribal people of Tanzania. There are more than 120 different ethnic groups in Tanzania that have migrated over many centuries:-

  • Maasai Tribe Cultural Tour
  • According to oral history, the Maasai people are a fusion of North Africans and Nilotic tribe originating from the northern part of Turkana lake in Kenya, which they left in the 15th century, then moving south and into present day Tanzania over 200 years ago, when they displaced other tribes in order to claim rich pastureland for their cattle. A race in which warriors were the highest class and their religion claimed all cattle as theirs by gift of God, they righteously annexed all the cows they encountered. A visit to one of the many Maasai bomas that dot Ngorongoro is the easiest and cheapest way to interact with the famous Maasai people. While the Maasai people are not allowed to live within national parks, Ngorongoro Conservation Area allows these semi-nomadic people to continue living their lives as they always have. Visits to authentic Maasai villages are not easy to arrange, but these tourist-focused bomas offer visitors a chance to explore a village, see traditional dance, and even pick up a few souvenirs. The perfect stop on your way to or from the Serengeti, a Maasai boma visit is especially fun for kids who might be feeling cooped up on the long drive!

  • Hadzabe Tribe Cultural Tour
  • The Hadzabe are the original Tanzanian Bushmen with a Khoisan language of clicks. These primitive hunter-gatherers lived in valley caves of Lake Eyasi in harmony with nature for over 10,000 years. There are now just less than 1000 of them left. They live without a safety net, gathering the food they need day by day. They have no concept of religion or afterlife, nor of time beyond the phases of the moon. They live in collaborative groups with no social rules. The advent of the neighboring Datoga tribe and the development of national government together with climate change, tourism and commercial hunting, has resulted in the gradual destruction of their environment and their way of life, but their isolation has protected them from many modern diseases. They usually get sick with malaria and yellow fever from mosquitoes or sleeping sickness from tsetse fly. They are a pride but also an embarrassment to a modern nation for its failure to progressively uplift the declining community from extinction. This is one of our most popular cultural experiences in the Lake Eyasi, the perfect stop on your way to or from the Serengeti or Ngorongoro Crater.

  • Datoga Tribe Cultural Tour
  • The Datoga were nomadic cattle herders but are now subsistence farmers, growing beans, maize and millet to augment their sheep, goats, cows and chickens rearing. Consequently, they are dependent on permanent water sources and are adversely affected by increasing drought. A Nilotic people, like the Maasai, their patched leather tunics blend with the landscape. They wear collars and bracelets of beads and brass and tattoo circles around their eyes. Their attitude deters sympathy for their plight. They live in mud huts in stockaded cattle enclosures. All parts of their animals are used. Like the Hadzabe, they claim to be the oldest Tanzanian people, with a 10,000-year old culture, but they came from Ethiopia about 3,000 years ago to settle around Lake Manyara and Eyasi. They resist development and education, have high infant mortality, and are seen by other tribes as primitive, disapproved and disenfranchised. Less than 7% speak the national language, Kiswahili.

  • Iraqw Tribe Cultural Tour
  • The Iraqw migrated to Tanzania from Mesopotamia, via Palestine and Egypt, Ethiopia and Kenya. As they moved, they adapted to many different circumstances, finally being driven by the Datoga from northern Tanzania but still harassed by the Maasai as a result of which they resorted to living underground with their remaining herds. The Iraqw are a statuesque, immobile people, private and traditionalist, but they have also largely lost their songs and ceremonies. Cultural identity depends on reclaiming their music, dance and arts, and rebuilding their self-respect as valuable contributors to a multi-ethnic, multi-national cosmopolitan society in Tanzania. One group of guests sits in the courtyard, drinking home brew, and eating maize and beans, whilst another clique dines in style indoors on processed meats and bottled alcohol.

  • Wachagga Tribe Tour
  • The Chaga tribe may not be one of Tanzania's best-known, but their culture is nonetheless interesting to uncover. Their history of building intricate tunnel systems in which to shelter during Maasai raids is fascinating, and a chance to tour these pitch-black tunnels would be worth the trip to Moshi on its own. Why not combine a hike up the world most impressive mountain with a visit to its people, the historically progressive Wachagga? Visit picturesque waterfalls, organic coffee plantation tour, local lunch, and banana beer sampling also included in your day-trip.