Cultural tours in Amboseli National Park
Cultural tours in Amboseli National Park : Amboseli national park is more than wildlife and game viewing safaris, cultural tours are other amazing Kenya safari activities to do during your safari to the popular Amboseli national park. This extra-ordinary and enlightening safari activity is done around the Masai Villages which are situated near the park- along the boundaries of the park.
Cultural tours in Amboseli national park helps tourists/visitors to witness, learn and understand the way of life of the locals and their traditions and get to appreciate life differently. On this experience tourists are accompanied by a tour guide who at the same time acts as a translator, he will be with you all the time and will try as much as possible to ease the communication between you (visitors) and the locals.
When you get to the Masai villages, you are welcomed with the songs and dance from the locals and after that you are free to move around the villages, take to the locals, participate in some of the activities like dancing, milking the cows, interact with the locals and also take photos with them. The elders of the villages are always around to tell the history of the Maasai people for example how they used to track and hunt down the animals, collect fruits and leaves as food among other things.
The Cost of the Cultural Tour in Amboseli National Park
The cost of the cultural tour in Amboseli national park depends on the village that you are visiting during your Kenya safari, the entrance fee to the Maasai village is paid to the chief and the cost ranges from US$80 TO US$90. This money is money helps in the day to day running of the village, each visitor to the village is expected to pay a fee before they are allowed to interact with the locals.
The Maasai Tribe
The Maasai people are the most famous tribe in Kenya and are the most visited trip in the whole Kenya, the Maasai people belong to the Nilotic group of people and are believed to have migrated into the Great Rift Valley of Kenya and Tanzania in the 15th century. They settled in the Rift Valley area and started raiding cattle from their neighbors, this made them the most feared tribe because of the long spears that they used during the raids.
In the Masai Community, the elders are extremely important because they know the traditions that need to be passed down to the younger generation, the traditional rites of the Masai are carried out by the elders and it is very rare to see outsiders being allowed to participate in the traditional rites of the Masai people.
Masai traditions
According to the Masai traditions, in addition to the elders children are also important in carrying out the rituals in Masai villages and these normally participate in the rainmaking ceremony which is carried out when the drought sets in. Children can be heard singing songs calling upon the rains with some older people joining in.
The Maasai people are best known for their brightly colored clothes and their unique hair designs, their hair plaint made by the different people is a symbol of belonging and tradition. There are rituals which boys must attend if they are to be considered mena, one of them is circumcision. They are circumcised when make 15 years and this is considered a passage to manhood, the Masai warriors were initiated after fighting and killing a lion but at the moment this has been stopped as a way to protect the animals in Amboseli national park.
One of the most famous traditional rites in the Maasai people is the drawing of blood from animals, Masai people drink blood that is mixed with fresh milk. The mixture is believed to make the body strong and healthy but there is a process of drawing out the blood from the animal, a sharp arrow is used to create a small wound on the jugular vein and the blood is drained out. The animal is not allowed to breed out completely but after collecting the needed blood, the animal is well taken care of until it gains its full health.
The Bomas
The Masai people live in small houses that are constructed using local materials like mud and sticks and they are commonly known as the Bomas, every Masai village consists of about 15 huts or more and even though they are natural. One Boma can be a home to six people inclusive of animals.
Natural materials used in construction of the Bomas include cow dung, urine, Grass, Branches, Twigs, Mud, Cement and animal skin on the inside.
Every Boma is surrounded by a thorn fence of tree that acts as protection from the invaders and wild animals, the beds in the Bomas are woven using dry grass and the animal skin and the dry cow dung is used to fuel the fire that is always blazing in the huts. The Bomas have only 2 openings that are the front door and the opening on the roof that lets the smoke out, you will get an opportunity to enter the Bomas during cultural in Amboseli national park. You will not be able to stand up straight and to enter you have to bend down a little bit.
The Masai women and girls
In the Masai homestead, women do most of the work and they are helped by the girls. Still the females are minority in the community and they belong to the Father’s clan the moment they are born, they are not supposed to own any possessions such as land and cows. At first they are owned by their fathers and at a later stage by their husbands. Some of the activities that women are supposed to do include constructing the hut, fetching water which is got from long distances milking the cows, decorating the gourds, making the beads and headgear, picking and cleaning the gourds.
When should I go for the cultural safari?
This is a frequently asked question, you can go for cultural tours in Amboseli national park all year round, however the best time is during the dry season when the roads are not muddy.
Book yourself a cultural safari to Amboseli national park and get a fascinating and memorable experience with the Masai people.
