About the Maasai and their village:

The Masai (or Maasai, Maassai) are nomadic herders that immigrated  from northern Africa to East Africa towards the middle of the 16th  century. This most well-known ethnic group in East Africa is now located  in the Kilimanjaro region, both in southern Kenya and northern  Tanzania. Currently, there are about 1,000,000 Maasai, equally divided  between the two countries.
 

Originally, the Maasai were known  primarily as a warriors and shepherds; the culture of the Maasai is  mainly based on cattle. The rain god Ngai, perched on the summit of  Mount Kenya, is said to have left to them by their faith, all the cattle  of this earth. The Maasai believe this, and until until very recently,  forcibly expropriated cattle from others. Even today, the cattle is the  most important part of their diet.
 

They feed primarily on the  meat, milk and blood from cattle, for their protein and caloric needs.  The milk - blood mixture is a traditional Maasai specialty. Vegetable  dishes are typically not eaten by Maasai. However, one can see Maasai  who live outside the protected areas, resort to agriculture for their  income, growing wheat, corn, beans, tea and potatoes. The traditional  Maasai however, do not cultivate these but, buy them from other tribes.
 

There  are no chiefs or leaders for the Maasai; they are organised by the age  group of males. The transitions from one age group to the next are  crucial moments in the life of a Maasai man and his reputation is very  dependent on the number of cattle and women. It is not uncommon for a  Maasai to have 50 cattle and five women. Numerous ceremonies, including  the much criticised female circumcision, mark the life if the Maasai.
 

The  traditional Maasai houses are round or rectangular depending on the  region - but definitely built from a clay-manure mixture, which is  similar to a half-timbered house attached to a wooden skeleton structure  around. A fire is used for cooking and heating as there is no fireplace  inside the Maasai house.
 

The Maasai speak among themselves  their own language, Maa, which belongs to the group of Nilotic  languages. However, most can also communicate in Swahili, which they  have learnt in schools since the 60's.
 

In addition to language  and food, many more features of the west are found in the everyday life  of the Maasai. Maasai who go to college, download ringtones on their  mobile phone, drive a car, write emails and play billiards and dance  hip-hop in the city, are no exception. They do not give up their  traditions, but mix them with others. Like no other tribe in Tanzania,  the Maasai are faithful to their traditional way of life and benefit  from tourism.

Two Maasai villages, Laizer and Leronjo, started  this initiative and have received approval by the Tanzania Cultural  Tourism Programme for the Reception of Foreigners in April 2009; they  are familiar with the needs and practices of foreign tourists.

 You can take a day trip from Moshi to an authentic Maasai village near  Kilimanjaro airport. As opposed to other Maasai villages where tourist  visits are possible, this particular one was not set up for tourism  purpose.

 You can take a day trip from Moshi to an authentic Maasai village near  Kilimanjaro airport. As opposed to other Maasai villages where tourist  visits are possible, this particular one was not set up for tourism  purpose.

At the village, you experience many traditional aspects  of Maasai life, but also see how the Maasai adapt to development and  contact with modern civilization. All visits are planned and arranged by  the Maasai themselves; they will show you their traditional Maasai  dance and singing, different types of Maasai houses, traditional beard  ornaments, the O’Brien School for the Maasai; and you can also walk with  their cattle on the plains.