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People, Places, Things |
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Northern Tanzania's Human History About10,000 years ago there were the Stone Bowl People, pastoralists who left stone tools, pendants, beads, and pottery. Their culture disappeared about 2,000 years ago. Sometime thereafter the Iraqw people arrived, probably from Ethiopia judging from their Cushitic language. Also pastoralists, they settled in the Ngorongoro area and their descendents now live south of there toward Lake Manyara. Three hundred years ago the Datoga arrived with their cattle. Their warriors were, and are, fierce and fight for their cattle and grazing areas. These people were displaced by the Maasai in the 1800's and today live in the Lake Eyasi basin. More than 100 different tribes of another group, the Bantu-speaking people, are found in Tanzania, mostly on the coasts and around the lakes. Trade between the Bantu peoples and others led to development of Kiswahili, East Africa's primary language. See Also: |
The Maasai
Above: The Maasai Chief welcomes our group and shows us around. Below: Some of our group's women are invited to dance with the Maasai women, both images by Lloryn Swan
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The Hadzapi People Also called Hadzabe or Watindiga, they speak what is described as a 'click' language, slightly like that used by the San or Bushmen in southern Africa. Living near Lake Eyasi, the Hadzapi live a simple lifestyle that is integrated with their environment.
Above: Three Hadzapi men sit in one of their enclosures constructed of brush. Below: Hadzapi men demonstrate a pipe used to smoke hashish (both by Terry Hansen)
The Village Near where we found the Hadzapi people we picked up our guide and interacted with the local people. One of our group, Kris, showed the children the game hackysack.
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Zanzibar! |
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| The island of Zanzibar is an exotic crossroads that in some ways is like "a whole 'nother country", even from Tanzania, of which it is part. Unlike the uplands and plateaus of the Ngorongoro region, Zanzibar is warm and humid, feeling much like the Florida my wife and I grew up in. And looking a lot like it too. I never realized how much of the introduced vegetation in Florida came from Africa. And in Africa one can see trees, also found in Florida, which originated in Australia. Zanzibar's people are extremely welcoming and friendly. One feels comfortable walking the narrow streets of Stone Town (above left), watching dhows and ferries ply the coast, and searching for an internet cafe (above right). The central market area (below left and below center) provides an incredible variety of colorful goods for sale and colorful people. And the Jozani Forest Reserve (below right) provides a glimpse of tropical forest which shelters the endangered red colobus monkey, and mangrove trails (also similar to Florida). | ||||
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