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Alongside iconic wildlife experiences like Reteti Elephant Sanctuary and some of the best safari destinations in the world, Kenya is home to the Maasai. You’ve probably seen photos of them, wrapped in red checkered cloth, walking herds of cows through the African savannah. They are Kenya’s most prominent tribal community (although certainly not the only one). Most tourists, whether they planned to or not, visit a Maasai village during their time in Kenya; it’s on nearly every group safari itinerary. Visiting a Maasai village that’s not just a tourist trap, however, takes a little insider knowledge. Fortunately, I did the digging for you.
If you’re visiting Kenya independently, you can book this directly with the tribal chief. It’s super easy to add into any self-drive safari itinerary in Kenya. If you’re visiting with a group tour, you can ask your safari operator to choose this village for a visit; it’s not a guaranteed yes, but they might oblige.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Maasai and why it even matters where you choose to visit.
Who Are the Maasai and Why You Should Visit
They are a semi-nomadic Nilotic ethnic group native to Kenya and northern Tanzania. Specifically, you’ll see them most often around Amboseli National Park and the Maasai Mara ecosystem in Kenya, as well as Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. Zanzibar gets a good amount of them too, but that’s for a different reason entirely; they aren’t indigenous to the party island.
The Maasai culture has been documented since the 15th century, but it’s probably gone on LONG before that. In their traditions, they were gifted all the cows in the world directly from god and today, their entire way of life still revolves around cattle.
The Maasai warrior trope and unique traditions like bloodletting of their cattle (similar to the way the Karamoja in Uganda do it), have made the Maasai famous. But that also hasn’t stopped them from being relocated and disenfranchised by the Kenyan government. You can read all about the current issues facing the Maasai here.
What I want to show you is how visiting them in their ancestral land is a great way to support the Maasai communities today. The Maasai are excellent advocates for wild spaces and wildlife, and have been living alongside animals since the dawn of time. You should visit (in a way that actively supports them) to learn about thier culture, but also to help protect the few strongholds they have left.
How a Typical Maasai Village Visit Works
A typical Maasai village visit lasts about 90-minutes. Just enough time to get a jumping demonstration (you’ll understand when you see it), see the inside of a traditional home, and then spend the majority of the time perusing their souvenir tables adorned with every beaded product you can imagine. Some of which aren’t even made by the Maasai but are carted in from other places around Kenya and sold by them for profit.
This is not a very exciting visit for you, and it costs somewhere in the realm of $50-$100.
But it doesn’t have to work this way.
Why It Matters Where You Visit the Maasai
Because not all Maasai camps actually benefit the Maasai people. And of the ones that do benefit the Maasai, some of them are little more than cheesy tourist markets meant to scrape as much money off of you as they can. Like the experience I was describing above.
You also shouldn’t be able to profit from the Maasai without giving back to them. Unfortunately, many brands and luxury tourism operators do.
If you’re looking for an authentic village stay, where Maasai actually live, that isn’t centered around you buying lots and lots of beaded products that also genuinely benefit the community you visit, you’ve come to the right place.
Enkereri: Mathew’s Village
This Maasai village is located just an 8-minute drive outside the Oloololo Gate of the Mara Triangle Reserve. It sits on the top of the escarpment, overlooking the entire Mara Valley. It’s not on the well-trodden tourist trail despite its close proximity to the Mara because this is the “back” of the ecosystem, and pretty much only people staying in the luxury lodges here or self-driving the Mara Triangle come through here.
Mathew’s Contact: +254 795 813737
Mathew is not the chief, but he can help to arrange all visits to the community. Recently, they have allocated a traditional house for tourists to stay in (right within the community) and made a camping area for those who prefer their own lodging.
How Much It Costs
This can be negotiated with Mathew based on the kinds of things you would like to do during your stay. We stayed overnight in the traditional home as well as ate dinner and breakfast here. For this, we paid $50 per person. We also brought donations.
If you plan to camp or are just dropping by the village (not recommended) you can get away with paying less.
What You Can Do Here
One thing I really loved about this Maasai village visit was how much there was to do here and how STUNNING the camp was. Aside from sitting around the campfire chatting with Maasai and learning about their culture, you can also…
- Tour the whole village and see the school or the boma where the cows are kept.
- Enjoy the most spectacular sunset in Kenya, with panoramic views over the Mara.
- Walk with giraffes, zebras, and other critters on a morning walking safari.
- Eat traditional Kenyan food like Ugali.
- Sleep inside a traditional mud home.
- Buy real traditional goods, made by the Maasai.
We only stayed for a single night (about 24 hours in total at the camp) and I wish we had longer to hang around.
What Our Stay Was Like
We arrived after a full-day safari in the Mara Triangle, and via WhatsApp, Mathew guided us up the escarpment to his village. We went on a nature walk across the edge of the escarpment and watched elephants and giraffes exit the boundaries of the park and filter into the hills beneath us. The sunset was a spectacular array of pinks and yellows.
In the evening, we were served a massive dinner of ugali, meat, greens, and potatoes while we sat around the campfire learning about Maasai culture through our questions. When we eventually got tired of looking at the stars, we retired to our traditional mud hut. The hut was huge and easily fit all four of us, as they had separated it into three distinct rooms (2 sleeping rooms, 1 living space). In the early morning, we rose early to find the zebras in the boma with the cattle. Apparently, this is a common tactic they use to get away from the Mara lions late at night.
Before breakfast and coffee, we wandered back along the escarpment on a walking safari with the giraffes who were returning to the Mara. Then, the women brought out their wares, and we got some neat souvenirs. There’s not really any way to visit a Maasai camp without a little pressure to buy something. It’s where a vast majority of their income comes from and you can’t blame them for trying.
More importantly than the activities, however, was Mathew himself. He’s just an all around lovely person and I feel like we learned so much from him during our very short stay.
Getting to Enkereri Village
As I mentioned, this village is literally a 8-minute drive outside the Mara Triangle’s Oloololo Gate, which makes getting there quite easy. You’ll also find it marked on iOverlander.
We took the road C13 despite warnings that it was a “bad road” when leaving the area and found it to be a slow dirt road, but actually really lovely and scenic. It was in no way a rough road. Even without a 4×4 (but I’m sure you’ll have one) you could reach this Maasai camp all the way from Nairobi.
Want a More Luxurious Stay? Maji Moto Eco Camp
Enkereri is quite far for people who aren’t following my self-drive itinerary. Or too budget-conscious for people who don’t want to camp or stay in a traditional home. In that case, I would recommend Maji Moto Eco Camp. It’s located directly on the route to the main Mara ecosystem entrance gate, it’s still affordable, it benefits the Maasai, and there are also loads of activities both cultural and wildlife-related to do there.
You can read my full blog post detailing our stay here and the activities definitely worth doing here.
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