Kenya: A Visit to the Samburu Tribe

Our trip to the Samburu Reserve included a visit to the Samburu tribe--these are semi-nomadic pastoralists who live on the park's territory and survive by tending to their cows, camels, goats and sheep and gathering roots and vegetables... They also survive on tourists' visits and sale of trinkets, but who can fault them for trying to make ends meet? Their huts are very primitive since they are dismantled every five to six weeks and are being made of mud, hide and grass mats. The Samburu usually live in patriarchal groups of five to ten families, presided by a hoary village elder, seen on my right in the picture. As soon as we arrived, the elder set about teaching Misha how to make fire from two sticks in the ground, an experiment that failed, putting Dalberg's whole economic consulting team to shame...

Their striking appearance sets them apart from any other ethnic group we saw in Kenya, including the Masai--with whom they share their cattle-herding tradition and habit of drinking cows' blood. This tribe is known for its striking beauty and the bright dress they wear to accentuate it--a red cloth wrapped around the body, tied with a white sash and decorated with rows upon rows of bright bead necklaces.

Like the Masai, the Samburu have an ungainly, yet entertaining dance that basically consists of jumping up and down very high in one place, accompanied by some chanting and knocking of their long sticks into the ground. There are also male and female circle dances which Misha and I both participated in. We left the Samburu village with a wooden comb decorated with a human figurine and some beads and carrying away an impression of a friendly, peaceful people. It may be a false impression--the Samburu are being driven off their precious park land by the government and losing their self-sufficiency. Yet on this perfect sunny day in Kenya, our somewhat cliched visit did not seem to have any clouds hanging over it.