Ol Malo - Samburu Village

Our evening drive would culminate with a visit to a local village. Each “village” is really a family compound. A fence made of branches surrounds the huts and protects the goats at night. Each hut belongs to one of the wives and is only used for cooking and sleeping. We took a tour of one of the huts where we saw the kitchen with one bed off to the side for the wife so she and the husband have privacy when he chooses to sleep with here. The other room is for the children.

Our guide talking to one of the children

The cooking pot

A headrest for sleeping

The villagers raise goats for milk as they are only allowed to eat meat from cow-like animals. They have chickens but do not eat the eggs. The chickens make themselves useful by eating the fleas, ticks, and ants the otherwise might overwhelm the village. We were told that they choose to continue to live in the old ways with no running water or electricity. As always, one wonders how true this is, but they certainly could take advantage of modern technologies if they wanted to. I suppose the real question is what percentage of the tribe really feels this way and what opportunities there are to choose differently. Our guides and some of those who worked at other jobs for the safari camp were choosing a different life than traditional even as they went home to their village. Our guide already had two wives and was looking to add a third and increase his goat herd.

In the foreground is the village fence to protect the flock at night

We had arrived in time to see the nightly dance performed by the young men and women from the area. Each night they dress up and gather at one of the villages to perform a Manyata, as they dance and show off for each other. The boys dance in a circle and from time to time one of more of them will show off their jumping ability.

They have worked hard to have good relations with the Samburu employing them and working with them as they manage the ranch. They employ over 100 people including several from other parts of the country. They close down during the dry months of April, May, and November. During that time, some of the employees will be sent to workshops to learn more about guiding or other jobs at the camp.

We returned to camp for a nice shower and dinner in our room. Just like at Ol Pejeta, we are the only guests.