The safari jeep stopped in front of a small group of mud huts surrounded by a hand-made fence. A few Masai men, the tribe that lives in this part of Northern Tanzania, came out to greet us. They wore thick beaded necklaces and red and blue cloth wraps, with Nike running shoes and North Face jackets underneath their traditional clothes.

We were there to see the village, a side-stop on a five-day safari.

I’d lived in Africa for two years before my parents came to visit. I’d never before been on a safari. I’d seen baboons on the side of the road in Northern Uganda, I’d seen cows strolling down the dirt lane where I live, but I’d never seen lions or giraffes or zebras.

After a few days of animal watching, we stopped at this small enclave. Our guide asked if we wanted to see the village. My mom and step-dad were enthusiastic. After all, they’d never seen an African village. The Masai guy in the Northface jacket informed them they charge $100 to visitors — money that goes to pay the school fees for all the kids.

I stayed in the car. I see villages for free on a pretty regular basis.

In a way, I think it makes sense for the Masai to charge money for a brief tour. After all, people pay money to see the animals. The parks are monitored by authorizes who profit mightily from tourist dollars. And the gazetting of parks inhibits the Masai livelihood.

When my mom and step-dad came back to the jeep, they were full of immediate observations. Everyone sleeps on the floor! The school is only one room! The kids are skinny!

All these things are true, of course: they do sleep on the floor, and the school is only one room, and the kids are skinny. But, the thing is, most people in most villages sleep on the floor. And most schools outside of major cities are one room. And most kids aren’t the kind of plump you only see in the West.

The thing is, they don’t get to see that. The $100 price tag doesn’t buy understanding. While I didn’t see the village, I can say a few things for sure: at least there’s a one-room school, at least the kids aren’t malnourished.

In an ideal world, these “at leasts” wouldn’t be enough. But in Africa, if this group of homes pulls in $100 from even just a few tourists a week, they’re doing okay.

In an ideal world, tourists who come to Africa wouldn’t see just one village. They’d see a bunch, so they’d understand the subtle differences of people who sleep without a blanket on the floor and people who sleep with a blanket on the floor, instead of just seeing people sleeping on the floor. Maybe they wouldn’t pay $100 for a tour, but maybe they’d spend more than half an hour with a group of people and understand more than can be gleaned during a paid tour. Maybe they’d stay long enough to buy fruits and vegetables, or generally contribute to the economy.

But it’s not an ideal world. And I guess that I think it’s better that tourists — my parents included — see at least one village, even one they pay to see, than if they just see safari lodges and giraffes.