[martopix]

One of the most surreal moments of my life was walking in the bush in Tanzania near a village, two maasais passed by on a motorbike, stopped, took out a mobile phone from the folds of their red garment, took a picture of me without saying a word, and left.

At the time, smartphones were not common and I was somewhat surprised that all maasais had cellphones (non-smartphones, usually). But of course I now understand that they're essential for a society that doesn't have any other form of connection (no landlines, so fast adoption of mobile, and also poor roads and no postal service).

And of course, it must have been much more surreal for them to see a random white young man walking alone in the middle of nowhere near their village.

[sillystuff]

Everyone needs a phone for M-PESA (electronic money transfers are huge in E. Africa). In Kenya, I met people with multiple phones-- a phone for normal calling/texting on a cheaper provider, and one with Safaricom just for M-PESA (Safaricom exclusive there [at least, at the time]).

My son and I never saw other muzungu, outside of tourist areas, while traveling overland by matatu/dala dala/minibus and probox across E. Africa / the horn (other muzungu seemed to all be traveling via organized tours-- or, at least, never by public transit like we were). Lots of villagers wanted photos with us when we stopped. It is an odd feeling to be the center of attention.

Most of our interaction with Maasai was just across the border from Tanzania inside Kenya in villages surrounding the Maasai Mara. Everyone we met was super nice. Although that was our experience pretty much everywhere in Africa except some large cities (which we tried to avoid anyway).