I was going on this trip for the safaris, the giraffes, the elephants, and all the adventures Tanzania has to offer, but Tanzania is so much more! It's also home to authentic and welcoming people. Among them are the Maasai tribes. These tribes still live according to ancestral traditions, in small, isolated villages where you often have to walk for miles to fetch water, and where the soil is a mixture of earth, goat and cow dung. In these tribes, a man's wealth is measured by the number of goats or cows he owns. In these tribes, circumcision with a machete is still a warrior ritual. In these tribes, women perpetuate the tradition of beadwork. This is the tradition I discovered in the jewelry of Sidia Designs. I was captivated by the charm of their jewelry, made according to Maasai traditions, and by the values of this company, which allows Maasai women to earn a living from their art and pass on their knowledge to the next generation.
*For a safari, I recommend estafricanvoyage.com. The guides are fantastic and everything is incredibly well organized. We all loved it.
