They walked in a line from a gateway of their village. A group of men came first, followed by a group of women. About 40 of them stood about 20m away from visitors, including me, who travelled to Maasai village to experience their culture.
A Maasai woman with beadwork jewellery. Karnjana Karnjanatawe
The community is named Endasikira. It is located in Masai Mara, a 1,510km² national reserve in southwestern Kenya.
"We will perform a welcoming dance for you. The dance is to show our happiness. When you come inside our village, that's your home," said Masue, our first guide who gave the first introduction to the village. He told us to stand beside one another in one line.
A lead singer started to sing and followed by the rest of the men. Then it was the turn of the woman who sang the chorus. They all walked and moved their necks forward and backward according to their song. The song was accompanied by the sound of a kudu horn.
When they reached us, we were told to walk with them and passed through the gate to the inner part of the village.
In front of me were mud huts. They were built next to one another inside a circular fence. The fence was thick and made of thorny Acacia branches to protect the community from predators.
Maasai means people who speak Maa language. They are a semi-nomadic ethnic group living in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are the only ethnic group that can freely cross borders of the two countries. The Maasai also have a distinctive culture. Men wear black and red chequered clothes and wrap their shoulders with shuka, an African blanket in red or a chequered pattern based on red. Women wear many colourful clothes and shawls. Both men and women decorate themselves with colourful beadwork like necklaces, bracelets, rings, belt (for men) and earrings (for women).
When we were inside the village, the group of women performed their dance and invited female visitors to join. They sang and moved their upper body forwards and backwards. The song ended when they walked in a line to greet us by slapping one of their palms against each of ours.
The bush fence and entrance to the village. Karnjana Karnjanatawe
"We have many dances and songs for celebrations like wedding ceremonies and boy circumcision," said Carl Leitato Naurori, 21, our second Maasai guide. After the circumcision, boys become warriors who have a duty to protect their community and farm animals like cows, goats and sheep.
The last performance was the highlight. It was the Maasai Warrior Dance. The men gathered in one line. The leader sang and the rest shouted something like "hey a" in different tones. They also swayed their bodies back and forth. Two of them stepped out of the line and jumped. When they returned to the group, other warriors took their place to jump.
Their jumping was quite amazing. They jumped as if the ground were a trampoline.
"Every year we have the warrior jumping competition and the reward is not money, but 50 cows," said Carl.
In Maasai culture, a cow is more valuable than money as the higher number of cattle means the wealthier the man is. When a man gets married, he will offer a number of cows to the family of his bride-to-be. The age for a man to have a family is 25. After having his first wife, he can have as many wives as he wants.
Women are not allowed to have a divorce. They have duties to have kids, milk cows, get water and firewood, cook food and wash clothes. They are also responsible for making their huts. The Maasai houses are made of a mixture of red mud, sticks, grass, cow dung, cow's urine and ash. It has only one door and no window. Carl led us inside his home. It was quite dark and compact. He showed us the sleeping area which was a raised wooden platform. In the middle of the house was a dining and cooking station.
Above A kudu horn used during the welcome dance. Karnjana Karnjanatawe
"You are welcome to spend a night in my house," he said, adding but he was not quite sure if we could take his food because they drank cow blood and milk. When I asked about toilet, he said: "It is in the bush."
Maasai men used to hunt lions as a sign of bravery and a status achievement. It was an old tradition that a warrior had to kill a lion with his short sword, which is a double-edged spatulate blade. "In the past, we also hunted other animals like gazelles for game. But the hunting for lions and other animals was stopped about a decade ago. We see benefits of having animals alive much more than killing them," he said.
Before leaving, our guide led us to a shopping area in the village where they offered beadwork, shuka blankets and carved wooden animals. However, the products were terribly overpriced.
Carl walked us out from the community and said: "We wish to see you back to our village. Perhaps, next time you will be interested in staying with us." And then we said goodbye.
Souvenirs from the Maasai village. Karnjana Karnjanatawe
Children playing in front of their home. Karnjana Karnjanatawe
Below Maasai women are skilful in beadwork. Karnjana Karnjanatawe
Carl demonstrates how to make fire without matches. Karnjana Karnjanatawe
TRAVEL INFO
- Kenya Airways provides a daily direct flight from Bangkok to Nairobi. The departure time from Suvarnabhumi International Airport is 1am and the arrival time in Nairobi is 6.05am. The flying time is about nine hours. Visit kenya-airways.com or call 02-630-4545 for more details.
- The most convenient way to travel from Nairobi to Masai Mara is to fly. The flying time is about 40 minutes. Choices of service are AirKenya (http://airkenya.com) or a luxurious charter flight of SkySafari by Elewana (ftp.skysafari.com) which offers the service for guests who book a room at either Sand River Masai Mara or Elephant Pepper Camp (http://elewanacollection.com).
- From the airstrip in Masai Mara to a hotel, the shuttle service is provided by your hotel. Each hotel has two rates. One is a game package including safari game drive, a guide, food and drinks. Another price is full board which is designed for guests who drive with a guide from other towns. The price is lower and includes only room, food and drinks.
- For more information, visit Kenya Tourism Board's website at http://magicalkenya.com
