KENYA CULTURE SAFARIS

A truly unrivalled cultural adventure that offers so such more beyond that of your regular safari. Wildlife galore and breathtaking scenery and luxury are but one facet of this safari. The safari embraces the warmth of the African tribes, their culture and traditions while visiting Kenya’s best game parks.

The Masai Culture

There was an age-grade system, in which the males were divided into three groups: youths, warriors (moran), and elders. When youths became warriors, they moved to a different type of village, called a manyatta. In the manyatta lived the warriors, their mothers, sisters, and uninitiated girl lovers. In contrast, the kraal was made up of families of married elders.

The warriors constituted the standing army of the Masai. Males were youths until they were circumcised, at about the age of 13 to 17. A year or two before circumcision, the e-unoto ceremony was held. This ceremony signifies the handing over the defense of Masai country to the incoming warriors. The ceremony lasted from three to six months in each division, and, at the end of it, the outgoing warriors started to get married and take their place as elders. The warriors of a single age-group in a single area live in one such village. A warrior company that lived in a single village was called sirit. It is known that there was a council of elders in each village, but apparently they had little power to compel the warriors to do anything

Little is known of the religion of the Masai, and those who have studied it are in disagreement with each other. Evidently the Masai were monotheistic, and prayed often. The central figure in the religious system was a "medicine man," known as laibon. The laibon were involved in shamanistic curing, along with divination and prophecy. Their positions were inherited along "clan" lines.