I Survived 50 Hours With Africa’s Warrior Tribe

This is me next to a real African tribe, and I will be living with them for the next 50 hours. You're fat. I'm considered fat here. And you're very fat. And not just the way they see the world, but also the skills they need to survive couldn't be more different than mine. I have to walk across the street to get food from the supermarket, survive hour-long calls, catch flights, record videos. I work out to stay fit. And I'm basically online 24-7. But then I got an email saying, Hey Stan, we know you like adventure and a challenge. Do you want to visit the Maasai tribe and see if you can handle their original lifestyle? You might know them from their impressive jumping skills, but here you would have to do a lot more. I would have to build my own tools, learn how to throw a spear, survive a night by myself, help them mark their animals, and why they claim to live up to 145 years old. And there is so much more. So I packed my stuff, hopped on a 12-hour flight to Tanzania, and drove five hours to the tribe to see if I'm really fit enough to survive their world. So for the next 50 hours, I will get rid of everything with a screen. I'm gonna put this away. Because the first thing I have to do is finding a good tree to make my own toothbrush. I can find a toothbrush for this plant here. This is Nathan. He will guide me these 50 hours and introduce me to the tribe. And Nathan is one of the only ones in Tanzania that speaks English. Do you do this every morning? Every morning. Every morning? Oh, okay. Actually excited to brush my teeth. The Maasai likes to eat meat. It's our food. The meat? Meat is our food. Do you feel bad for killing? No, I don't feel bad. But if you see cattle are suffering, you feel bad, yeah. So this is your toothbrush. My toothbrush. So you have to chew here until it becomes a brush. Become like this. So this you can use even one week. For one week? Yeah, one week. That's really hard. I know what you're thinking. I don't think that. For us, we have a strong jaw because sometimes we can break bones when we eat meat. Yeah, you got a strong jaw muscles. But brushing your teeth like this is actually really difficult. Hey, hey, stop laughing at you. A bit better? It's going to be better. Not impressed. But once I got a good brush and cleaned my teeth. So where are we going now? Now we can go to the Boma for breakfast. For breakfast? Yeah. A Boma is what they call this self-made village. This is the fence. It's good for security. So when we make our fence by tons, by tons plant, it will be strong because we are living in the bush. What is the most dangerous animal here? Hyena and leopard. Leopard? Yeah. Every night? Every night is hyena. So the fence is for security. And it's the job of warriors. A warrior is someone who is protecting the community. Or maybe there are a lion, maybe attacking cow. The warrior, they are going to fight with the lion. Fighting a lion is one of the bravest and most respected tasks a warrior can do for his community. But nowadays they don't really do this anymore. But if the community or animals are being attacked, the warriors have to be ready. So you can see the warrior is supposed to be strong. Yes. Let's see if I can be a warrior with my toothbrush. Inside this Boma, no one can really understand a single word I'm saying. Good morning. So here we are speaking Maasai, my language. Oh. What languages do you speak? I speak Swahili, Maasai, English and Spanish. Can everyone here speak so many languages? No, only me. Everyone speaks Maasai. And literally the first thing I see in this Boma is a warrior sharpening his machete. You said it's family here, right? Who is this? This is uncle. Your uncle? Yeah. But now they want me to try it. Okay. How does it work? So while Nathan explains to me how to sharpen this weapon, his uncle is very interested in the camera. That's you. Because most people here rarely see their reflection and a lot have actually never properly seen what they look like. That is very different compared to our Western habits. Just like I have never sharpened a knife this big. She's laughing. She's laughing at me. Oh, more like that. They are still laughing at me and he's still laughing at the camera. Is it good? Okay, she's now approving. But this is not the only weapon that Nathan's uncle has. This was it. His uncle actually killed a lion with this spear. This is the spear you use to kill a lion. And they will show me how to throw it. This is the house of someone's wife. So if I need to sleep in this house, in someone's house, someone's wife, I will come and I will put the spear like this. When the husband will come, if he will see the spear like this, he will know that there is another man inside. So he will go to find somewhere to sleep. So you're basically letting everyone know you're busy. Yeah. And this is what a warrior house looks like from the inside. What is this made of? From wood, poop of cow, which is like cement and mud. There's no chairs, no bed, nothing. Just the ground. This is where I will sleep tonight. But apparently there is something even crazier. What is this? This is medicine, the herbs from the plants. Maasai, they do not go to hospital. They believe if you go to hospital, you will die. So Maasai, we use herbs. Even if someone is not sick, that's why you can find Maasai have 145 years old. A person 145? Yeah, 145 and above years old. And he's still strong. The oldest person ever recorded. I thought it was 130. No, here in Maasai you can find 140 something. Yeah. But this medicine also has an interesting side effect. You'll feel in love every time. So it will literally make me excited. Okay, this is going to be very interesting. Can't wait to drink that. This is how you throw a spear. Wow, that's really cool, man. And this is my first throw. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Laughing at me. I have to throw it in this area and make sure it sticks into the ground. It has to go like this. And they only give me three tries to make it. Why? Luckily, they are patient with me and they show me how it's done. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good, good, good. Yeah. Now we are in the special place where cattle, cows, donkeys are staying here. Because Maasai have their animals in the middle of the Boma to keep them safe. But also for other reasons. And because sometimes animals from other Boma stay here as well. They all have their own way of marking their animals. Yeah, their ears are cut. Yeah, so that is the mark. Every Boma, they have their own mark. And tomorrow we need to actually help and see how they cut ears and mark their animals. I am kind of scared for that. And I kind of feel bad. But I'm here to experience the real Maasai. And having enough goats is important so the women in the Boma can milk them. And I need to help them by holding back the baby goats on their least painful body part, the ears. So I'm holding this cutie right here because he can't drink from the milk yet. If they will drink all milk, we can't get milk. And that milk is needed for breakfast. Which we're having right now in a special house. Oh, it is dark in here. Yeah, so here they're preparing the breakfast. The woman who lives here gave birth to a baby three months ago. And apparently Maasai women are not allowed to leave their house or cut their hair for six months straight after giving birth. Do you speak English? Yes, I just speak a little bit. How are you feeling? Hidden here for three months in the dark. Good? Yes. This woman is making breakfast for all of us. And this will also be the only food we will eat until dinner. Taste test. I can just taste that this has a lot of carbs. And the carbs is really what gives the energy. And I got to try a drink made out of water, milk, sugar, and herbs. Not the special herbs yet, unfortunately. Wow, this is so good. Camera guy, taste test. Oh, that's so good. Really, really good. The next challenge is to make a fire by myself. But I just learned something you won't believe. If I say, I came here by plane, what did they say? They say, yeah, the funny story is not true. It's very small people, they can't be inside. They will not believe me because it looks small in the sky. Thank you so much. Thank you. And one of Nathan's friends already prepared one of the tools we need. Oh, this is for the fire. Do you think it will be able to make fire? He's looking at me like, yeah. So Nathan shows me how we get the second tool that we need to make fire. If I cut it too hard, or it snaps, or I cut it in half, I just undid all his work. I'm actually getting a forearm pump. It's heavy. He's looking at it, he's grading it. I think he approved it. Was it good? Yeah, it's good. So with nothing but these two pieces of wood. So fast. Wow, there's smoke already coming off. Crazy. Damn, look at that. But then it was my turn to take over and make fire. This is going to be not great. How do you do it? You press down my image. He's laughing. If you can drill, then the smoke will come out. You are strong. I need to create smoke. Yeah. Okay. Only smoke. If I can create smoke, I'm strong. Only smoke, only smoke. I think I will create smoke with my hands faster. I think I will get blisters from this. But the moment they take over again, there is smoke right away. How is this possible? How does that make sense? They can do it in one turn. And why is it not creating any smoke for me right now? The longer it takes me, the more pressure I feel. Because more and more people started watching. I don't understand. Yeah. Right away, boom. Look at that. I genuinely don't understand. I am full of blisters. Yeah, it's fire, fire. Okay. I don't know why I can't do it, but... Good man. No, not a good man. I can't do it, man. But you tried. Yeah, we appreciate your effort that you used. We'll try tomorrow again. Because the next test they do every single day is already waiting. Rebuilding the fence. One of the most important things they do. And to do this, we need to find the right branches with thorns on them. Is everything you wear self-made? Yeah. How did you make the flip-flops? Just by a tire. A tire? Oh, this is a motorcycle tire. Yeah. So when I step here, there is someone coming back, finding me. He will never know the direction. He would... Oh, he doesn't know the direction. Because my shoes have a clear direction. I'm giving away his position. I'm a danger. Mind your legs. He is crazy. There are so many thorns everywhere. And it doesn't take long until Nathan finds the perfect one. All right. Do I now drag it? You're going to find another one. Does that look good? No. Different tree. It's a different tree. The longer we keep going, the more warriors are joining. Even one from another Boma. So this is a neighbor. Unfortunately, I didn't find the tree myself. But I get another chance to prove that I could be a warrior. Okay, this is going to be interesting. You tell me if I'm doing well. Finally, something where my strength is helping me again. He also gives me no instructions. I've never done this before. And he just lets me whip it. Come on. Now I understand why it has to be this exact tree. Even though so many have thorns. This tree is crazy strong. It's not easy. I did it. Dad? You're sweating. That made me sweat. But once we brought them back to the Boma, there is a change of plans. What are we going to do? We are going to the dance. We're going to dance? Yeah. What's dance? And for this dance, they gave me their clothing. You look good. Yeah, do I look good? You look good. It literally started raining yesterday. So they were extremely happy that there's so much water falling out. Normally they are happy. They like to dance. Literally everyone gathered outside the Boma. And they made me stand at the front. What do I do? And I was not getting a really clear answer. What do I grab? I still have no clue and don't understand a single word, of course. So all I can do is follow and smile. And once we arrived at the animal place inside the Boma, the dance starts. You tell me if I have to do something. Now they go to dance. But it was now time for a dance battle. I was closely being observed. I was dancing for so long that I didn't want to be disrespectful and give them space to dance as well. Yeah, let's go. I go? I keep going? And for some reason I was still being laughed at. But then I found out they were testing me. I really became dissented right now. They were testing how fit I was and how long I could keep going. And they were laughing because I just wouldn't stop. They are testing my cardio. I won that battle. So I finally got the approval that I'm doing something good. And here he is making me very happy. But there is one more test. They want to test my jump and teach me how to jump higher. And this is actually what Maasai are very known for. So if I want to prove myself as a real Maasai during these 50 hours, I need to be able to jump high. He wants to show you how to jump. Okay, he's going to teach me how to jump. He can jump high. Really good. So effortless. Oh, up, up. Oh, stick up. Of course, stick up. Does he approve it? Yeah, that you're doing good. Yeah, good? He approves it. Why I sounded a little bit confused is because I haven't seen anyone drink anything since I arrived. You guys don't seem thirsty at all. I'm so thirsty right now. We are not thirsty. It's normal. After all that work, I really needed this. What is it? Extra salt, so I stay more hydrated. Normally around this time, I would use this energy for my workouts to build muscle. But to my surprise, having muscle is something the Maasai don't want. You're fat. And you're very fat. Very fat. Why is that? I see the body is huge. Yeah, but muscles grow big. Yeah, muscles grow big, but you're fat also. I'm considered fat here. So this is fat. That is fat. Yeah. That's so funny. What does fat mean? Fat means someone who is huge. Like you, you're fat. I exercise a lot. You exercise a lot and you're eating a lot. And I eat a lot. Yeah. So I'm fat. You're fat. Maybe I can now prove to Nathan that I'm not super fat. Because we have to collect as much wood as possible for tonight's fire to keep wild animals away from the camp. Everything is dangerous here. So we collected wood. Yeah, I have to carry them back home. Is this enough? No, we have to come back to find another. How many times? Three or four times. Well, let's put in the work. Normally, I would have eaten more than 2,000 calories by now. But I'm still living off the energy from today's breakfast. And I still need to prove my strength. This wood, wood is burnt. That is good, but it's heavy. Too heavy, but it would be good. Well, put that to the test. Okay, we're taking it. The sun is also going down. This guy calling me fat. Easy. I was thinking that you are fat. But now I recognize that you proved me wrong. I was finally being seen strong in the eyes of a Maasai warrior. And this hyped me up so much that we collected wood for another hour. Is this enough? Yeah, it is enough. But now it's luckily time for dinner before making the big fire for the night. Welcome. Thank you. The drink is the same as breakfast. So good. But this time they mixed in plain flour. Yeah, tastes like flour. That is unique. I'm loving my zero gram protein diet. But it makes sense. This is how you get energy. They're asking you, do you have a cow? If I have a cow, I don't have a cow. I don't have a cow. And after trying to sing it with them, they want to hear music from our world. But because I'm not a great singer, I used the phone from my cameraman and played some songs that he had downloaded on his phone because there was literally zero connection here. They're not impressed. She's asking if maybe you have Maasai songs. I don't have Maasai songs downloaded. I am so sorry. We were having a great time and they even asked me to cut my hair to look more like a Maasai. I think my girlfriend will leave me. But unfortunately, we had to leave the house. Thank you. To make tonight's fire. Why do you mainly make a fire? Fire is for defense against the predator. Once lion or leopard see the fire, they won't come around. Because I can't make fire yet, I have to do it with matches. Today, you failed to make fire. I tried. Yeah, you tried. Yeah. Let's try again tomorrow. And on top of that, I need to find the special herbs and actually try them and also experience the marking of the goats. But first, I need to survive the night alone, completely by myself. Good night. In this Maasai house. This is where I will be sleeping. But the challenge already starts before even laying down. This is how far the door closes. How does this lock work? I can't seem to lock it. And because it literally swings open by itself, this was my best solution. Close. Okay, that is hard. This is not a watch. And I got rid of all my screens, so I have no clue what time it is. But Nathan said it's already over 10 p.m., which is great because the alarm goes off at 7. So eight hours of sleep. Great for gains. Or great for getting fat. I don't know. Let's sleep. How's leather? Here we come. That is so hard. Pretty cold, which is great because it was really hot in here. Let's get some sleep in. There are so many crickets. Please let me sleep. I definitely hear something approaching. Barking dog at night means no good. That's what I was told. At home, everything would be optimized. Completely blacked out curtains, so there's no outside light. Blocking all outside noise. And regulating the temperature. I woke up more than 30 times. I am in so much pain. I've been awake every single hour. What am I hearing? Look at this. I don't think I've seen a donkey from this close ever. I slept here. This is what I was hearing the entire time. My shoulders hurt so much. It's insane. It's not easy to sleep here if you are not experienced. So for the first time, it's hard a little bit. Yeah. But it did, so it's amazing. Yeah? Yeah. And hearing this, that he's proud that I was able to sleep here, made me forget my tiredness and gave me such a confidence boost for the day that I told Nathan I want to build my own toothbrush. Gonna be a big toothbrush. You definitely get better at this if you do it every single day. Yeah. So I brushed my teeth very excited with my self-made wood. But when we walked back to the Boma, things got serious really fast. What is it doing? Smoking. This is the part I was kind of afraid to see. But it's part of being a Maasai warrior. And if you don't want to hear and see any of this, just skip the next 15 seconds. Then he gives it to the kid. Why does he give it to the kid? It's supposed to go to throw to the fence. He just marked the goats so you can actually see which goat is yours? Yeah, which goat is yours. Can we be able to mark and ship a goat? You want to give me... No, don't give me a knife. I am not marking anyone. No. But this is not the only marking they do. Because goats that are sick get this remedy. Oh, you can hear it. Does it feel sorry for the animal? It's normal. Normal, right? Yeah. So now we are going there for breakfast. As you probably guessed already, it's the same as yesterday. And that tasted pretty good. And I'm super grateful to eat something. But my body is really craving calories. But this time we do have visitors. And I was told that also these kids have never seen a camera in their life. That lens is getting so dirty. And that they've also never seen someone with my skin color. This kid is trying to touch and feel my skin because I'm white. Yeah, because I'm white. I feel like everyone here is slowly getting more and more used to me. Which I think is a good sign. But then Nathan said we have to go now. Because it's time for our biggest task, which I'm excited for. And also a little afraid about the effects they will have on my body. Where are we walking to? Herbs. And the herbs are gonna give me the best day of my life. Yeah. And because it's really far away, we first stop at a different tree. That is supposed to give you energy. So this is the kind of tree. It's called the ficus. Because the warriors are in the bush for a whole day. So sometimes they can get tired. If they sit close to this tree, they get energy. What is the oldest Maasai ever? 150 years old. 150? Yeah. And being around this tree and living the Maasai lifestyle is, according to Nathan and the Maasai, the reason that they can live up to 150 years old or older. Is that enough to become more than 100 years old? Yeah. I don't know about that. But this conversation made me realize in how much of a beautiful and different world we live. It's a beautiful tree. It's a completely different tree than all the other trees. I don't know if it was the powers from the tree, but resting for a moment here definitely helped. How clean is this water? You can drink this. You can use this. You drink this water? Yeah, because also cows, they drink this. So we share. Ah, okay. Because the cow drinks this, it's good for you guys. Yeah. I don't think my body can handle this water. So I skipped this one. Where's the herb? We've been walking for almost three hours. Only thing I've had was breakfast, which was tea. I think we're close to the herbs, but we also have to go back. That's a lot of walking. You're doing good. Yeah. But then we finally found a special herb. Yes, cleaning the blood veins. Cleaning the blood veins everywhere. Is it the inside? Outside. Oh, you need the outside. Those are the strains we saw. You need the outside. Thank you. Smells pretty good. Kind of like watermelon. We got it. Yeah. Let's go. We also walked very far. It's getting darker and darker. And I still need to try and make a fire today. We are back. I have the feeling that this is going to give me that extra performance, that extra strength, and that extra blood flow. Because once they were cooked in water for half an hour, it's finally time to taste test it. Natural. How long before I start feeling this? After three hours, you can feel it. Oh, three hours. In the night, you will not get sleepy easily. You'll keep missing someone. I'll keep missing my girlfriend. Yeah. Drink the full cup. The Maasai has good taste. So while I wait for the effect to kick in, I have one last chance at making a fire. Same spot as yesterday. You have no clue how tired I am after this night. But no excuses. I just had the best drink in the world. It is your time. I didn't expect it to do it first try. But after a few attempts and not even seeing smoke, I started to get a little frustrated. It stopped spinning. So Nathan adjusted the wood a little bit again. It's working for him. And now it's also starting to smoke a little bit for me. But I have seen smoke. I know, but I'm not happy. But we've seen smoke. That's better than yesterday. Every warrior here can make a fire. It's literally one of the things that keep them alive. I literally don't know what I'm doing wrong. And my body was starting to feel it. My hands can't take it anymore. I literally kept trying until it got dark. I really wanted to make the fire for tonight. Not just my hands. It's my knees. I wanted it so, so bad. I don't understand it. But I have to give up, man. I'm sorry. One day, yes. One day. But I noticed a part of the Maasai lifestyle is that they don't stress themselves too much. Living life as it happens. They might not know things that are normal for us. Your foot. But you can see that they don't need these things to be happy. Put it in the hand like this. Put it in the hand? Yeah. Okay, here we go. So we finished dinner, kept singing for a bit. And after another amazing night with not a lot of sleep. Can you tell her she's been amazing? She took care of us so well. For when the kid grows up, maybe fits in the shirt at some point. And a massive thank you to Nathan who is doing tours like this to help his community and helps the Maasai culture stay alive. This video is not sponsored in any way. I got the email and it looked like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. After making sure this is not destructive for the Maasai and actually helps them, I was so excited to experience this. And we did it. And I am extremely happy to go home back to my girlfriend. Of course, because of the tea. I can't wait to see her. See you in the next video.