Travel with Phrases: The importance of language - Serengeti

Arriving in a new country is the best feeling in the world, especially if it is your first time being there. All your senses are overwhelmed as you take your first step into the foreign air, shaking off your jet lag and trying to take in all the different and exciting smells, sights and climates. It overwhelms all of your senses. However exhilarating, It can also be very intimidating and even quite daunting, with so many obstacles both obvious and hidden standing before you.You spend weeks maybe even months researching, planning itineraries, drawing up a pro’s and cons list and even drawing up a budget before picking the destination that you are going to travel to.You pack up your things, catch flights, buses, and trains, you wait for layovers, delays and visas all before landing in the destination of your choosing. With so much effort and planning put into your trip before you even get there, it's important to ensure that where-ever you go you try your best to enhance your holiday. Ensuring that none of the efforts you have made while planning your trip go to waste. To guarantee that your holiday exceeds all expectations try to familiarise yourself with the countries/continents language. It's not necessary to be fluent, or even well versed but knowing a couple of phrases ensures a richer, more culturally immersed experience, one that's sure to inflict self-growth and understanding. Knowing a little bit about more about the people of the place you visit gives you an intimate glimpse into the makeup of their culture and their traditions, it gives you a little more insight into their world and they way that they choose to live in it. Trying to understand a little bit more about them will not only make for an impressional holiday but one of a substantial and sustainable impact that lasts long after you've returned to the comfort of your own home.To ensure that you squeeze all you can from your next African travel destination, here is a phrase guide, to Serengeti, one of the ten natural travel wonders of the world. Located in northern Tanzania and extending its way to its border with Kenya, Serengeti is Tanzania’s oldest and most popular national park and a world heritage site. It hosts the world's largest mammal migration in the world and is renowned for its large lion population, high diversity of species and habitat.

The indigenous ethnic people, the Maasai, named it Serengeti when they migrated there from north-west Kenya in the 15th century, translated Serengeti means “the place where the land runs forever, the endless plains.” The Maasai people are a society that is strongly patriarchal in nature. Their lives revolve around their cattle and herding them to lush, fresh vegetation. They believe their rain God entrusted them with the cattle when the sky and earth split. They live a nomadic lifestyle alongside the wild animals of the land. Maintaining a traditional pastoral lifestyle has become increasingly difficult due to the outside influences of the modern world, however, they manage to stay connected and very much in tune with mother nature. This makes the Maasai people some of the most culturally rich most interesting indigenous people of Africa.The Maasai people speak Maa but are also schooled in English and Swahili, the official languages of both Tanzania and Kenya. The world is unthinkably vast with so many cultures and languages, these are the keys to a treasure chest full of authentic and cultivated experiences, an insight to understanding what life has to offer and with just a few phrases and a little time the key to Serengeti can be yours. Put the ‘aahh’ into your official African Safari with Safari.com to ensure you don't miss all that Serengeti has to offer.Below is your travel sized phrase guide to Maa the spoken language of the people of 'the endless plains'.Hello - OleeWhat Is Your Name? - Kekijiaa erkanaNice to Meet You - Sidai KinototeDo You Speak English? - Evo e ngutuk e?Nice Talking to You - Sidai pe kiro oyeI Don't Understand - Mayelo enijoitoI Don't Know - MayeloSorry - TaparkiekiWhat is That Called in Maasai? - Kejaa eda tengutukenyi?Can I Help You? - Aamonu paretoki?Can You Help Me? - Kekidim ateretoki?Where is the Airport? - Kai etii engiwanja endeke?Water - AlanyunoniHow Much is This? - Kempesai aja ena?What is This? - Kanyoo ena?Safari.com is a leading tour operator offering trips to magical destinations and safari getaways. Please share with us your stories of safari, send us a picture, or tell us which interesting languages or phrases you’ve learnt when out and about in the wild bush.