Tour of a Maasai Village in Maasai Mara, Kenya

Tour of a Maasai Village had been scheduled for our second day at Maasai Mara. But since our drive from Naivasha was a rather quick one, we reached dot at noon. We weren’t very hungry yet. Danielle therefore suggested we stop by the Maasai village. He reasoned that this way, we would have the whole day for the Maasai Mara game drive the next day. We readily agreed with him.

The Maasai Village is right outside the Maasai Mara National Park. Therefore, it does make sense to tour the village just before you enter the Park or post your stay at the Park.

Clearly, the Maasais are used to visitors. No sooner do you get out of your jeep, than the Maasai women swarm you with offers to buy their traditional jewellery and wares. We politely turned them down saying that we’d look at their stuff on our way back from the village tour.

As we made our way towards the village, Danielle explained that the village is actually a cluster of about 10-15 huts, with a courtyard in the middle and belongs to the extended family of the village chief. Soon we were joined by the chief’s son – a tall, lanky fellow with a broad smile, carrying the Maasai spear and dressed in the blazing reds of the Maasai land. About 6-7 of his friends accompanied him and stayed with us until the end of the tour.

What can you see on a tour of the Maasai Village? From how the Maasais live to what they eat and drink, to how they pray and sing and dance. The chief’s son actually took us inside his hut and showed us how they cook and where they sleep. We couldn’t believe our ears when he told us that they actually drink the blood of buffaloes, and explained to us in detail how they cut the vein of the buffaloes to draw out the blood and nurse them back to normal. Basics. We realized that Maasais use for survival whatever resource they have in that vast Savannah grassland filled with wild animals.

Once outside, the Maasai men danced to a traditional Maasai song (Video of the Maasai dance), showed us man’s first discovery – how to light a fire the Maasai way. Here is the video showing exactly how. Boy! Were we completely mesmerized!

The chief was an old man, hunched, walking with the help of a stick and oblivious to the interest he was generating. His son told us that he had 13 wives and 36 children. And all of them lived in complete harmony in this village! Around us, we found most of the women either busy cooking, managing kids or helping with the repair of the huts. The men-folk wandered around the tourists as guides.

We were in for luck that noon. The village was celebrating the wedding of two of its boys. The brides had already arrived and were sitting under the marriage tents. We were ecstatic. Not only could we see a Maasai wedding, but also see its men and women in their wedding regalia. These photographs are a testimony of that elation!

Maasai Village Tour – Information you may find useful

• The tour usually lasts for about an hour or a little more.
• It cost us 3000 Kenyan Shillings. They had quoted 5000 though.
• Buy the artefacts and jewelry from the Maasai women. Negotiate well. Almost 50% of what they quote. Even then, they are cheaper than the handicrafts shops elsewhere.

Check out more photos of the Maasai Village tour on our Facebook page — Wheels On Our Feet on FB