Maasai Village

I managed to get in a sunrise run through the town of Naivasha before a 5 hour drive to a Masai Village.

Our campsite is owned by Helen, a Masai lady who became a widow and has now gone on to open a widow’s village, empowering Masai women to take charge of their lives and livelihoods. She has also opened a school in the same grounds that runs on the money from the camps. She also has other projects to stop child marriage, female genital mutilation and assist with sanitary pads for menstruation. I am so glad Intrepid supports her with using her campsite and bringing tourists in to spread awareness.

The campsite in itself is so well set up with eco toilets and showers, a bar made of recycled material and the coolest of all were the animal skulls used as soap dishes.

We were received by a welcome song and dance, then went for a walk where we shown their spear throwing skills along with archery. The boys got to try it too but with sticks as they have to reach puberty, be circumcised and become warriors before they can handle spears.

Next up was the jumping which symbolises multiple things- bringing the sky closer to them, having many girlfriends and looking for cows.

We then were welcomed by the widows to their village. The houses are made by women and there is a manner in which they are built in a Masai village based on which number wife you are with the first being closest to the entrance. Polygamy is practised by the men and 8-9 year old girls are sold for marriage to much older men. Girls are sold for cows and are considered a source of wealth for the family. There is a campaign by the government to try and change the practise but there is a resistance by the tribe. 

At night we had a campfire lit with sticks and zebra dung and then sat around listening to stories of their culture. So many similarities to the Indigenous people of Australia.

The bit that had the children fascinated was that they drink the blood of the cows to sustain themselves when on long walks and there were no vegetables in their diet. They were giggling when the Masai man said they mix blood and milk and it looks like strawberry yoghurt! 

It was very informative and interesting but I had a tired kid so headed to bed before it finished for the night.