The gift of meeting local people on your adventure holiday

Last summer I had a knock on my door. To my surprise, when I answered I found a Maasai herdsman in full regalia, spear in hand, standing my doorstep. "Habari!", he said. "Nimeamua nataka kuishi katika mtaa wako kwa miezi michache". Or some such words. Of course I couldn't understand him but with the help of Google Translate we figured it out.

"I have decided I want to live in your neighbourhood for a few months".

A strange encounter indeed

Of course I made this up. But you'd be surprised. I get the occasional phone call from starry-eyed would-be explorers who want to "live with a tribe" (their words) for a few months. Imagine the surprise of an African villager when she has a similar experience as my imaginary one.