Maasai Culture

Angama Mara is in the heart of Maasailand, and our journey is interwoven with the Maasai people. There are many moments during your stay where you will meet and interact with Maasai, discovering the many fascinating aspects of their ancient culture.

Friends and neighbours

  • According to their oral history, the Maasai moved south from the Nile region into the Great Rift Valley around 300 years ago, living as nomadic pastoralists in what is today Kenya and Tanzania
  • Despite challenges, the Maasai have retained their traditions and remain a proud and indomitable people: Their tall stature, red shukas and ornate beadwork are among their hallmarks
  • Our landlords who we rent this land from, as well as all of our neighbours, are Maasai
  • The majority of the people at Angama come from local Maasai communities — guides, naturalists, chefs — you’ll get to spend time with them in and around the lodge

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Learn About Maasai Culture

Walk with a Maasai

This is an opportunity to get out onto the Great Rift Valley on foot with one of Angama’s resident Maasai naturalists. They love sharing stories of their childhood, culture, and deep knowledge of the natural world around them.

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Celebrate the Maasai Way

If you have a special occasion to celebrate — vow renewals, wedding blessings, anniversaries, milestone birthdays— do it here in a traditional Maasai setting. Let us know if you have a celebration coming up; we’d love the privilege of doing so Maasai style.

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Sundowners at the Boma

Every few evenings at sunset, Maasai warriors and some of the maidens perform in our traditional boma, where you can photograph — and even join in — this time-honoured celebration of song, dance, and of course, jumping.

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Angama Foundation

In addition to the Maasai Mara, many of East Africa’s most famous wildlife reserves are in Maasailand, including Amboseli, the Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Lake Manyara. The future prospects of the Maasai people and these protected areas are deeply intertwined — it is crucial that the Maasai benefit from the tourist economy but are still able to maintain their pastoral lifestyle.

 

Angama Mara is founded on the belief that running a good business helps make a sustainable difference to the surrounding communities, the land and its wildlife. The Angama Foundation, supported by nighty guest donations, has been set up to support this guiding principle in conservation, education and healthcare.

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Our Neighbours

Angama Mara is surrounded by many traditional homestead manyattas, allowing both friendship and commerce to take place. Much of the foodstuffs and other goods are purchased from our Maasai neighbours.

 

Our guests have the opportunity of gaining a deeper understanding into the everyday lives of the Maasai, their ways, their fascinating culture and what daily challenges they face in maintaining the fine balance between preserving their ancient ways and embracing the new.

 

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A Year in the Map Room

Leshan Nadallah

It has been a year since Angama’s Map Room opened, and a year since I began my new career as both the ‘Map Room Officer’ and as a naturalist — a double blessing for me. Before this, I was a tent steward but my heart had always been in nature. Here, I give our guests…
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The Sacred Hills

Alison Mitchell

When Mama Jane was a young girl, the area where Angama Mara stands and the surrounding hills (or kopjes) were used for grazing cattle. They were also home to fruit trees which attracted many bees; as children, they loved coming here to fill their tummies with both the fruit and honey. The bees had built…
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When The Warriors Went On Safari

Robert Kiprotich

One beautiful morning, Daniel Njiriri and I had the opportunity to take the warriors from a nearby Maasai village out on safari in the Mara Triangle. When I asked them what animals they were most eager to see, their reply was simple – “We want to see everything!”  [f 5.0, 1/1000, ISO 250, +0.67] When…
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