Kenya Cultural Safari Holidays

Kenya Cultural Safari and cultural safaris Kenya, Cultural Safaris, culture,Kenya culture, Maasai Culture, Samburu Culture Cultural walking safaris, Wildlife Safaris, Special Interest Safaris, Cultural Safaris Kenya

KENYA CULTURAL SAFARIS

Kenya Cultural Safaris | Cultural Safaris Kenya
Kenya has a culture born of countless sources. This region has been crossed by the paths of a long and complex history. From the prehistoric records of early man to the present day, Kenya has been a land of unending change, contrasts and diversity. The early tribal states saw cycles of migration and shifting power, with Kenya as a meeting place for peoples from the plainlands of the south, the forests of the West and the deserts of the North. The sea brought influences from the outside world, and the passage of the spice trade created the unique coastal culture, where lines between Africa and Arabia blurred. The open coast brought European influences into this world of change and began a turbulent struggle for control whose exotic history lingers today. The first explorers discovered a land of great peril and greater beauty, and their great adventures created the most unique colony in the British Empire. This was a meeting place of cultures, where adventurers and soldiers of fortune mingled with a complex tribal society, and the arrival of labourers and merchants from India brought new and pervasive influences. The colonial legacy lives on in the traditions of the great safari, and the pursuit of adventure and freedom.
MAASAI CULTURE
One of Kenya best known tribes, the Masai believe that God gave them exclusive rights over all cattle in the world. They were a warring tribe and may have dominated Kenya at one time, had there not been three catastophes that brought them under British rule. In the 1880s there was a Rindepest outbreak that dwindled their herds. This was followed by an outbreak of smallpox and finally, their great leader Mbatyany, died and they could not decide on a new leader. This led to a great deal of fighting amongst themselves durring which time the British were able to gain control of the land. The Masai people do not hunt wildlife but they can be lethal killers of Lions, as a tribal custom as well as to protect their livestock.
SAMBURU CULTURE
The Samburu are part of the Masai group and have common customs and language (Maa). They range from Laikipa to Mt Nyiro and these graceful people are charming, beautiful and witty. Their lifestyle is very similair to that of the Laikipia Masai living in a mud and wattle style houses with the livestock enclosure in the middle of the boma. Steeped in tradition, the Samburu mark each stage of life with a ceremony and like the Masai, these ceremonies observe large age groupings
TURKANA CULTURE
The Turkana are also a Nilo-Hamitic people and like the Pokot migrated from Eastern Uganda. The Turkana occupy land in the northern section of Kenya. They take great pride in their elaborate Ostrich headresses and are generally thought of as a very tough people, surviving off a harsh, dry land. The Turkana keep camels, goats, cattle and sheep and supplement their diet with Nile Perch that they net and spear from the shallows of Lake Turkana.
RENDILLE CULTURE
The Rendile are a handsome people ranging from Lake Turkana to Marsabit and are always on the move with their camels and livestock. The Rendille are Mohammedan and they are the only tribe in East Africa whose women wear a coxcomb hairstyle. They live chiefly on camel milk, blood and occasionally meat and for water they often must travel great distances. A long time ago the men were circumcised between twenty to twenty five years, but now the age is between fifteen and twenty and each young man has to present the circumiser with a goat.
POKOT CULTURE
The Pokot are a Nilo-Hamitic peoples who migrated from the Nile Valley of Sudan about 200 years ago. They occupy north-eastern Kenya, stretching from Lake Baringo to Lake Turkana. They are nomadic people and live of the land in this remarkably dry area. Some Pokot are sedentary while others keep livestock. Some Pokot farm on the steppes of the Rift Valley while others herd livestock in semi arid lands.. They are very decorative people, often wearing plumes of ostrich feathers in a mud and wattle cap that is moulded on the back of their head.

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Kenya Cultural Safari and cultural safaris Kenya, Cultural Safaris, culture, Kenya culture, Maasai Culture, Samburu Culture Cultural walking safaris, Wildlife Safaris, Special Interest Safaris, Cultural Safaris Kenya

Kenya Cultural Safari
Kenya has a culture born of countless sources. This region has been crossed by the paths of a long and complex history. From the prehistoric records of early man to the present day, Kenya has been a land of unending change, contrasts and diversity.

The early tribal states saw cycles of migration and shifting power, with Kenya as a meeting place for peoples from the plainlands of the south, the forests of the West and the deserts of the North.

The sea brought influences from the outside world, and the passage of the spice trade created the unique coastal culture, where lines between Africa and Arabia blurred. The open coast brought European influences into this world of change and began a turbulent struggle for control whose exotic history lingers today.

The first explorers discovered a land of great peril and greater beauty, and their great adventures created the most unique colony in the British Empire. This was a meeting place of cultures, where adventurers and soldiers of fortune mingled with a complex tribal society, and the arrival of labourers and merchants from India brought new and pervasive influences.

The colonial legacy lives on in the traditions of the great safari, and the pursuit of adventure and freedom.

Kenya has drawn on all of these influences to develop its own unique culture. This is the nations greatest strength- the ability to blend the best of many worlds into a strong, singular identity.

Today, Kenya welcomes the world to its shores and continues to evolve a modern culture that is born of endless variety, and yet purely, proudly Kenyan.

Take a Cultural Safari through Kenya's Wilderness ad enter a world where mankind and wildlife have lived in harmony for an eternity.

Kenyan Music and Dance
Traditionally, Kenyan music originates from several sources.

Many of the Nomadic tribes of this region share some common ground in the use of songs and chants, particularly among Maa speaking groups.

Maa song has always played a large role in ceremonial life, and continues to. One of the best known Maasai ceremonial songs is the Engilakinoto, sung after a victorious lion hunt. Structured around a deep rhythmic chant it is accompanied by a spectacular dance in which warriors display their strength and prowess by leaping directly and vertically into the air.

Elsewhere, the use of drums became widespread and central to elaborate traditional dances. The word Ngoma (drum) is still used to describe most forms of traditional music and dance.

A variety of drums were used throughout the country. The Luhya of Western Kenya developed a very distinctive dance style called Sikuti after the local name for a drum. This extremely energetic dance is usually performed by paired male and female dancers, and accompanied by several drums, bells, long horns and whistles.

The Kamba and Chuka people both developed a distinctive drumming style, in which a long drum is leant forward and clasped between the thighs. The Kamba were well known for their athletic, almost acrobatic dancing.

Other instruments were developed, including reed flutes and basic stringed instruments. One of the finer of these was the Nyatiti, similar to the medieval lyre. The Nyatiti is commonly played throughout Kenya�s West. It has a gentle, relaxing sound, and is usually played solo with a single singer, and sometimes accompanied by light percussion or bells.

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