Braided hair, beaded jewellery, and bold red and black checkered shukas (wraps) give the semi-nomadic Maasai tribe in Kenya a distinct identity. A visit to a Maasai Village provides a glimpse of the lives of these people, their homes and culture. There is much to learn about how they coexist with nature, survive on limited resources, and the challenges of safeguarding age-old traditions while embracing modern education and ways of life. While wildlife safaris in Maasai Mara are the primary draw for tourists, do plan a visit to a Maasai village if you have the time and want to learn more about the Maasai tribe. Read on to know how we went on a Maasai Village Tour in the Masai Mara, Kenya.
Arriving at Maasai Village
It’s around 4:30 pm that we reach the Maasai Village. Our driver, Muita, introduces us to the Maasai tour guide who will be guiding us through the village. He asks us to pay $ 25 USD per person and explains that the visit will last roughly an hour, but we can stay longer if we desire. As a couple with two adult children, we pay $ 100 USD and are all set for the visit.
Welcome Dance
No sooner do we make a payment than a group of Maasai villagers, mostly men and a handful of women, some 15 feet away, start singing. The singing is a mix of grunts and ululations, with a lead singer singing the lyrics and the rest joining in chorus. The Maasai men are dressed in red-checked shukas, with metal and bead jewellery, their hair braided, and one villager wearing an elaborate headgear made of feathers. They have sticks in their hands and keep bending forward, then tilting backwards, slowly and steadily approaching us. For first-timers like us, we did feel a little scared and intimidated watching an entire tribe almost encircle us, and I felt a sense of relief when they turned and left.
Inside a Maasai Village
Our Maasai guide then ushers us inside the ‘boma’, a circular enclosure that serves as the homestead and is the epicentre of the village. It serves as a common area for celebrations and meetings. There are several huts or ‘manyatta’ on the periphery of the boma. The Maasai women make the huts using sticks, mud and cow dung. Our Maasai guide informs us that close to 350 villagers live here with their cattle.
Maasai Women’s Dance
It’s time for the next dance by the Maasai Women. The women are wearing brightly coloured wraps layered with a printed kanga or kitenge fabric draped across their shoulders. Adorning their outfits are beaded waist belts and jewellery of necklaces, earrings, and bangles. It’s a gentle dance, characterized by rhythmic swaying back and forth while standing in one place. One or two women sing while others join in a chorus. Turn by turn, they approach us, give us a clap on our palms and leave.
Adumu-Maasai Jumping Dance
No sooner do the women finish with their singing and dancing than the men assemble to perform another dance. They invite our grown-up children to join in. The men are performing the ‘Adumu‘ or jumping dance. It is part of the coming-of-age ceremony for boys as they transition into young men upon reaching puberty. The height at which the young men jump is an indicator of their strength and vitality. The higher the young man jumps, the more women he will attract. There is a competition of sorts as the Maasai men jump and even manage to cajole our son to jump along.
Fire Making Demonstration
Next up, three Maasi men demonstrate fire-making sans matchsticks or lighters. A tribesman gathers some dung and hay in a heap. Another tribesman places a flat stick with a hole on a wide-bladed knife. He moves a stick in the hole, rigorously rubbing his palms around the stick so that it spins in circular motions. Soon sparks, then a whisp of smoke and finally flames emit, and the tribesman places small fragments of hay and dung on it. Once ignited, they transfer the knife with burning fragments onto the heap of dung and gently blow till a steady flame is lit.
I ask our Maasai guide, now that matchsticks and lighters are readily available, do the Maasai still use this traditional technique to light a fire for cooking? He replies in the affirmative, saying that every morning, fire is made this same way, and then portions of the burning hay are shared by all the houses! I find this a tad hard to believe as a city dweller. Why can’t they make life easy by adopting modern technology? But then I realize that for the Maasai, it is perhaps a part of their tradition and culture which they want to retain.
Visit to a Maasai Home
It’s now time for us to actually visit and see what a Maasai house looks like from the inside. We enter a manyatta/hut through a small entrance and turn right to enter the living area, which also serves as the kitchen. There is a fireplace where food is cooked. There is a small opening for a window, over the fireplace, from which air and sunlight trickle in. The window is positioned to allow evening sunlight to enter, while the door’s placement ensures that sunlight enters the hut in the morning. There is a raised platform, which is the so-called bed, on which the family sleeps.
Q&A about the Life of Maasais
The Maasai guide sits on the bed, and Rafiq joins him. The children and I sit on a long wooden bench. Our guide explains that a typical Maasai house is home to a family of 6-8 people. Men can have more than one wife. If there are grandparents, they live in a separate hut. If there are many children in a family, some may be sent to live with their grandparents. Children attend a nearby school.
Our Maasai guide had received a scholarship and so went on to study at a college in Nairobi. However, not everyone has the financial means or resources to attend college. Cows and livestock are wealth for the Maasai, and every time they need money, they sell their livestock. Not an easy decision to make.
When my husband asks the Maasai guide if the government is supportive of the Maasai community, he replies with an emphatic “no.” He discusses the challenges the Maasai face and how they are torn between modernization and the lure of moving to the city in search of better prospects on one hand, and on the other, continuing to support the Maasai tribe and retaining its traditions and culture.
Visit to the Masai Market
Our Maasai guide leads us to the Maasai market next. There is a cabbage plantation in the centre, with small stalls on the periphery where handmade beaded items, shukas, and other knick-knacks are for sale. The Maasai women have been engaged in beadmaking for generations, creating jewellery, accessories, and home décor items.
So how does it work? Our Maasai guide explains that prices are not mentioned on the items. We can select what we like and then hand it to him at the end—he will total it up and provide a quote. We can negotiate based on whether we want to pay in shillings or US dollars and purchase the items. This is a very unusual way of making purchases; we have never encountered it before. While it’s important to support local artisans and not shortchange them, we also don’t want to pay unreasonably more than what is due. So, we purchased some beaded bracelets as a token of appreciation. (There is a separate blog on things to buy in Maasai Mara which you can read here.)
As we prepare to leave, we see children playing with ‘Five Stones’, a game we played as children. Today, urban children no longer play these traditional games but prefer to spend hours on their cell phones. We reflect on how very little is needed in life, and we are privileged to have so much more. How much do we take life and all that we have for granted?
Is a Maasai Village Visit worth it?
Many visitors think that the Maasai village is not a genuine village, but rather a staged setup designed for income generation. We personally found it hard to believe that 350 people lived in the village. We didn’t see any cows or women doing beading or making crafts. The dances, houses, and beadwork were authentic traditions, but the entire experience was clearly curated for tourists with set performances, an entry fee, and a nudge to buy souvenirs to support the community. The visit doesn’t fully reflect the everyday challenges and life of the Masai people. Yet, we feel that if one has the time, it is an experience which will at least provide you a glimpse of what life in a Maasai village is like. Please take it as an experience and enjoy the dances, interact with the Maasai and click pictures. Collect memories, not material possessions.
Maasai Village Tour Cost:
25 USD per person.
How long is the Maasai Village tour?
The Maasai Village tour is roughly an hour or so.