The people of the land
A visit worth doing properly.
The Maasai have shared this landscape with its wildlife for centuries. A village visit can be one of the most moving hours of a trip, or a hollow performance. The difference is entirely in how it is arranged.
Being honest about this.
Cultural visits on safari have a poor reputation, and often deserve it. Too many are staged transactions: a dance performed for a bus, a jewellery stall, thirty minutes, gone. Nobody involved is enriched by it.
We arrange these differently, and we arrange fewer of them. We work with communities we have long relationships with, we agree the terms in advance so the money reaches the village rather than a middleman, and we keep the groups small. You go as a guest, not an audience.
What you'll actually do.
You will be shown the enkang, the homestead, and how it is built from what the land gives. You will hear how cattle sit at the centre of Maasai life, how age-sets work, and how a people who keep livestock have coexisted with lions for longer than any conservation programme has existed.
Ask questions. That is the whole point, and your hosts would far rather answer them than dance for you. The best of these visits end with the traveller quiet, thinking.
Straight answers
What people ask us.
- Isn't a Maasai village visit exploitative?
- It can be, and often is, when it is run as a staged transaction. We only work with communities we have long relationships with, agree terms in advance so payment reaches the village directly, and keep groups small. If we cannot arrange it that way in a given region, we would rather not arrange it at all.
- Can I take photographs?
- Usually yes, but always ask first, and your guide will help you navigate it. Treat it as you would photographing a stranger's family anywhere else in the world, because that is precisely what it is.
- Can this be added to any itinerary?
- It can be added to most journeys through the Mara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro regions. Tell us you want it and we will build in the time to do it properly rather than squeezing it between drives.
Tailor-made
Meet the people of this land.
Tell us you want a cultural visit done properly, and we will arrange it with a community we know, on their terms as much as yours.