The Maasai culture

When one hears about Kenya, one thinks about wildlife, safaris and national parks. Our little corner of Africa is known for its incredible wildlife, especially the migratory spectacle that occurs during the peak season between July and October. Tourists flock our country in high numbers to experience the wonders of our national parks and the surprising twists of nature when a giraffe wants to protect her young from the unyielding predators. But let us not forget what else puts Kenya on the top of the map – the Maasai.

The Maasai people have become one of the world’s most popular cultures. They migrated from the Nile valley around the 15th or 16th century and settled into Kenya over the next few centuries.  The world out there pictures a Maasai as tall and elegant with muscular features, and brave with their distinctive appearance of holding a spear, and wrapped in their bright red shoulder cloak, also known as a Shuka. We are fascinated by the colourful beads around their neck, and the earrings that sit on large holes in their ear lobes. The completely shaven women with their numerous children, the braided hair on the Maasai Men – all lend to a fascinating culture. On one fine morning, I paid a visit to a Maasai Village in Amboseli.  This was going to be a right dip into the Maasai culture.

My visit began in the middle of nowhere. The guide dropped us off in the bush, and we were greeted by a group of young men, dressed in their traditional Maasai attire. A young man comes forward – he is soft spoken, with a good command on English. He introduces himself and starts giving us a background on the Maasai culture. We walk. Up ahead, there are the beginnings of a boma (an enclosure with a fence made from thorn bushes), bleating goats and sounds of little children. The group of young warriors go up ahead and start singing their welcome song. It is a reverb of what becomes an interesting music mix. The Maasai lives a simple life. A woman sits by a small fire cleaning a calabash with smoke and getting it ready to store milk. Another concentrates on weaving a belt with colourful beads. A young girl has a pile of firewood on her head. Two elderly men play their own version of the famous mancala board game.

The men are gathered in a circle and are singing their hearts out, with the young ones imitating the Maasai dance, which is widely known as the ‘Jumping Dance’ – where the men leap into the air to show their strength and stamina as warriors.  This made us slow down in our journey and dance along the way.