Our travels did include some opportunities to experience life beyond just the protected areas in which the wildlife lived. When you are on an organized trip, you know that any experience you are given has an element of artificiality about it, but you do hope to see something of the real lives of people. We stopped for a visit in the town of Mto wa Mbu. We took a tuk tuk ride into the town through the streets as people went about their business. In many of the previous towns we had passed through, I felt very unwilling to photograph people as I zipped through their home. However, this visit was an organized event and involved a contribution to the community, so I felt slightly more relaxed about taking images.
We left our vehicles and were led through the market. The stalls were stacked with goods and there did seem to be people that were there shopping as our group meandered through the narrow alleyways. We stopped at a couple of places to learn more about the various commodities that were being traded. There were certain approaches that would not sit well with people with western sensibilities, particularly when it came to the meat, but everywhere has their own way of doing things. It might have been a bit of a prepared version for the tourists, but it was still good to see something a little closer to real life for people.
