ZARA Maasai Adventure

Do you want to know how the Maasai really live? Do you want to spend a day and night with them, accompanying them on their daily routine? Would you enjoy walking with the Maasai's cattle in the savannah and spend an evening at the campfire while watching the Massai's traditional dance?

Now you can enjoy this meaningful adventure. Just add it as an extra day and night to your safari or Kilimanjaro climb!

After arriving at the village in the morning, Laizer and Leronjo, two Massai who can speak English, will show you their "Boma" which comprises of fenced areas where they keep their cattle at night and of several houses which are built from dung and clay. Some Maasai women will explain you how they design their traditional bracelets and necklaces from colourful beads. They will also show you how to make shoes from old car tyres. You will help them cut the rubber and fabricate your own Maasai shoes!

After a lunch box at the Massai Boma – wearing your new shoes – you will accompany some Maasai men on a walking safari in the East African savannah. While keeping an eye on the cattle, you can discover lizards of various colours and other interesting small animals. The young Maasai men will show you the 13 different types of Acacia trees that grow in the area and explain you their use for fencing, which is an important skill for the Maasai. They will also show you other plants which have medical properties. Everything they explain to you is Maasai knowledge which has been passed from generation to generation during many centuries. You will get deep insights into the Maasai culture, including aspects such as the reasons why Maasai men go to an "Orpul", how they progress from one age group into another, and how the circumcition rituals are performed.

Returning to the boma, you can have some tea or (if you are brave enough) try some fermented milk with blood, the Massai's traditional drink. You can then assist preparing a barbecue including beef and goat meat. While the meat is pure Maasai food, for dinner, Zara Tours will provide other food including vegetables, beer and soft drinks.

The Massai will then show you another highlight of the day – the performance of their traditional "jumping" dance and singing. While sitting at the campfire with the Maasai, you will feel that you are truly in the middle of Africa, hearing elephants trumpeting far away and other sounds of the savannah.

Finally, you will spend the night at a typical Maasai house. This is not a hotel with a "Maasai theming", but an authentic Maasai house built from clay and dung around a woven frame construction. It was Laizer and Leronjo's initiative to show their village to tourists and provide this adventure you will never forget. The next morning, ZARA will provide a delicicious breakfast, and you will leave the Maasai village to continue with your safari, Kilimanjaro climb or flight back home.

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Further links about the Massai:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maasai
http://www.bluegecko.org/kenya/tribes/maasai/