Safari

All Things Maasai - 2 Days Signature Experience

All Things Maasai is a tour in the Magical Kenya Signature Experience Collection – curated, unique, authentic and exceptional once-in-a-lifetime Kenyan travel experiences accredited by the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) On this One Horizon 2-day cultural safari you visit a traditional Maasai village to engage with these amazing people who make up the colorful tapestry of tribal life in Kenya. This interactive experience allows you to meet the infamous warriors, village elders and Maasai women, and take part in some of their daily activities to learn about their traditional way of life that has not changed for centuries. You will be invited to become an honorary member of the Maasai, and learn how to throw a warrior’s spear, create decorative jewellery, and join in their vibrant singing and dancing. It’s a wonderful opportunity to gain an insight into Kenyan rural life and share and listen to stories and beliefs with individuals from a completely different world and culture.

Building Manyattas with the Maasai - 1 Day Signature Experience

Meet members of one of the most well-known surviving tribes in the world, the Maasai, and learn a quirky new skill in the process. Ever built a hut before?! Well, you will find out how to do just that on this tour, picking up tips from the Maasai masters themselves. You will spend the day in the beautiful Kenyan countryside, getting to know some of the friendly members as they teach you how to build manyattas; mud and thatched homesteads usually surrounding a cattle enclosure. Most are built by female family members and are a vital source of income for local women. A traditional lunch is included on the tour, which will offer another chance to chat to your hosts and compare life stories. This is a unique opportunity to spend a day with the Maasai, a proud semi-nomadic pastoral people who have age-old traditional cultural practices and rituals.   Build a home the Maasai way Your One Horizon guide will pick you up from your hotel for a scenic hour-long journey to a Maasai village in the hills around Kiserian, a settlement in the Great Rift Valley southwest of Nairobi. You will be introduced to the elder Maasai women who will be supervising the day’s events and will also meet the women of the family whose home you will be helping to build. Over a cup of delicious Kenyan tea, they will share with you what it's like to live in a village, Maasai tribal values and how the Maasai manage their environment. Once we’re all acquainted, it’s time to get stuck into your project for the day—building a manyatta. You’ll be shown all the skills that are required including how to replicate the intricate weave of the branches, sticks, and thatch, and make walls and ceilings out of mud. These instructions are very special as you will see and take part in traditional home-making skills that have survived for centuries and are passed down through generations. After also building up an appetite, enjoy a hearty lunch of local ugali, (a maize flour porridge), vegetables and fruit, eaten with your hosts, giving you more time to get to know them and find out more about their way of life and how it might compare to your own. The afternoon continues with the building of the manyattas, and while a home like this can take up to three weeks to build to wait for the materials to properly dry out, you helping the women can reduce this time significantly. Before returning to Nairobi, they will dress you in traditional Maasai-style in a red shuka cloth or 'African blanket' and you will be treated to an infectious display of singing and dancing.

Celebrate Your Milestone With the Maasai

When in Kenya, why not celebrate your lifetime event with the Maasai? One Horizon can organize a special party with our Maasai friends in their traditional village, to celebrate a:

• birthday
• anniversary
• retirement
• memorial, or simply
• a get-together for a group of friends or family travelling in Kenya together.

And to give these a uniquely Kenyan flavour and be a guaranteed holiday highlight, the Maasai will make it a wonderfully joyous occasion.These proud semi-nomadic pastoral people have age-old traditional practices and rituals, and they honour milestones in their own culture and respect how important they are.

The Maasai will welcome you warmly and help you celebrate with the lively singing and dancing they are renowned for. Your party, or a friend’s surprise party, with the Maasai is something that few travellers ever get to experience, and it will certainly be something to talk about when you get home.

Celebrating Rites of Passage with the Maasai

Rites of Passage day toursare experiences about as grassroots as they can ever possibly be and One Horizon are honoured to invite you to special days to celebrate important life events with our Maasai friends.

The Maasai are proud semi-nomadic pastoral people who have age-old traditional cultural practices and rituals. The core values embedded in their rites of passage are respect and responsibility, safe guarding the lineage of their clan, transferring powers from one age set to the next, and teaching of indigenous legends, traditions and life skills. Important occasions could include:

• Maasai weddings
• coming-of-age events that mark the transition from a young boy to a moran, or warrior
• naming ceremonies

Empowering Mothers - 1 Day Signature Experience

Empowering Mothers is a tour in the Magical Kenya Signature Experience Collection – curated, unique, authentic and exceptional once-in-a-lifetime Kenyan travel experiences accredited by the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) This immersive One Horizon tour is an uplifting day spent with an inspirational group of Kenyan single mothers who are breaking free from the cycle of poverty and forging a brighter future to be able to support their families. You’ll visit a women’s vocational and lifestyle training centre on the outskirts of Nairobi, which is a hive of activity as the women are busy sewing, making candles, beading jewellery, and studying entrepreneurial skills to start their own small businesses. As you connect with the women on a personal level they'll share their stories that will give you a deep insight into Kenyan culture, traditions and extended family relationships.   Kenyan women turning their lives around We drive you to a developing area in Ngong to the west of Nairobi, and take in sights such as the eclectic Ngong Road markets where you can buy anything and everything. Then you visit the Women's Empowerment Centre, where One Horizon supports an 18-month program to help struggling mothers undertake skills training and get access to microfinance to open small businesses. Not so long ago these marginalised women had very little hope, few resources, and no support, and many are HIV-positive and have suffered discrimination and been ostracized by their own husbands and families and were forced into homelessness. But with the support of One Horizon, and the travellers who visit them, the centre helps them get back on their feet by providing rent-free housing and vocational training, as well as lifestyle skills that focus on building confidence and rejuvenating body and soul. They become independent as small business owners — perhaps as a seamstress, or a pig or chicken farmer – and crucially, are able to feed, financially support, and keep their families together. The women’s inspirational stories will teach you about family life in Kenya, the practice of marrying multiple spouses, the dynamics of being a single parent, and the relationship between Kenyan mothers and their children. You will walk away from the experience of meeting these determined and resourceful women, with much admiration and a new perspective on how teaching empowerment skills can lift people out of poverty.

Family Ties – 2 Days Signature Experience

Family Ties is a tour in the Magical Kenya Signature Experience Collection – curated, unique, authentic and exceptional once-in-a-lifetime Kenyan travel experiences accredited by the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) The One Horizon 2-day Family Ties cultural tour is a rare opportunity to visit families in their homes from two different Kenyan ethnic groups – the Maasai and the Kikuyu. You’ll also see how Kenyan families are merging their traditional culture with contemporary ways to build new, bright and sustainable futures. You’ll be warmly welcomed into a Maasai village and your hosts will show their age-old way of life and rites of passage. Then, while visiting a Kikuyu family, you’ll see how a farming enterprise assists grandmother-headed households provide food and financial support for the many generations they care for. This tour will give you deep insight into the customs and structures of rural Kenyan family life and the highlight is the genuine interaction you will experience by sharing stories and laughter.

Go Granny Go - 1 Day Signature Experience

Go Granny Go! is a tour in the Magical Kenya Signature Experience Collection – curated, unique, authentic and exceptional once-in-a-lifetime Kenyan travel experiences accredited by the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) On this enlightening One Horizon day tour, you meet some endearing and entrepreneurial grandmothers who are beating their generational cycle of poverty. Many Kenyan grandmothers play a vital role in raising their grandchildren and extended families, and you’ll visit a pig farm, which is a project supported by One Horizon to improve the livelihoods of grandmothers by empowering them through small-scale farming. They invite you to assist with farming activities, help cook a traditional meal, and by sharing lots of laughter and listening to their inspirational stories, you’ll get a real insight into the strength and resilience of these remarkable Kenyan women.   Help a grandma become a pig farmer We drive you to a Kikuyu village on the outskirts of Nairobi, where Kenyan grandmas are often responsible for raising their grandchildren and others in their family when parents can no longer look after them. Sometimes up to 20 family members live in a grandmother’s one-room corrugated iron home, and the financial constraints are extremely challenging. But thanks to a pig-farming small business program supported by One Horizon and the involvement of travellers like yourself, the grandmas earn a sustainable source of income from pig-husbandry to feed their families, while the bio-gas system creates energy out of the waste to power their homes which means that the family no longer has to cut down trees for cooking and heating purposes. You meet the community’s warm and welcoming grandmothers, be shown around a pig farm and pitch in with the chores if you like, join in some joyful singing and dancing over a cup of local tea or chai, help cook lunch of beans and ugali (a maize flour dish eaten across East Africa), or learn how to make a chapati (soft layered bread). Your tour fees and visit support their training, as well as veterinary care and feed for the pigs, and this is a rare opportunity to support a grassroots social enterprise. The grandmothers narrate their powerful stories about how the program has helped them run a sustainable business that keeps their families together, and you learn how resilient people can be. The future of our grandmothers is as bright as their engaging personalities

Heroes and Heroines – 3 days Signature Experience

Heroes and Heroines is a tour in the Magical Kenya Signature Experience Collection – curated, unique, authentic and exceptional once-in-a-lifetime Kenyan travel experiences accredited by the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) This unique 3-day community and cultural safari will take you on insightful visits to two of the sustainable projects that One Horizon supports in Nairobi, and then into the traditional Maasai heartland to meet members of this fascinating tribe. You will team up with the various local leaders and social workers who are dedicated to improving the life of Kenyan people at both a women’s vocational and lifestyle training centre and a farm project to help grandmother-headed households. Then immerse yourself in the midst of the daily hustle and bustle of Maasai village life as you take part in the rituals of the Maasai warriors, sit with the women as they perform their daily tasks, and listen to stories and folklore told by village elders. These wonderful interactions show you day-to-day Kenyan culture and connect with people on a personal level.

Insights of Life – 6 days

Insights of Life is a tour in the Magical Kenya Signature Experience Collection – curated, unique, authentic and exceptional once-in-a-lifetime Kenyan travel experiences accredited by the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) This eye-opening One Horizon 6-day cultural safari gives travellers the opportunity to meet Kenyans from various walks of life and hear their inspirational stories. At some of the worthwhile projects One Horizon supports, you’ll see that it’s possible for people to gain the strength and courage to break free from poverty. Give the gift of time at a soup kitchen to feed hungry children, meet the steadfast grandmothers who run enterprises to support the younger generations, and see how a vocational training project empowers women and keeps families together. Additionally we have also included some sightseeing and some delicious meals out for an all-round Nairobi experience, and you visit a Maasai village and become an honorary member of the tribe, and enjoy some relaxing time at beautiful Lake Naivasha.

International Women’s Day in Kenya

International Women's Day is a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. Each year on March 8th, One Horizon celebrates this special day by holding parties for the wonderful Kenyan women at the projects we support and you are invited. This is a rare opportunity to visit remarkable groups of women who are instrumental in building new, bright and sustainable futures for themselves, their families and their communities.

There are two options to choose from; a visit to a Maasai village where the women will show you their age-old customs and their responsibilities for the familyin the very patriarchal Maasai society, or a Kikuyu community where you’ll see how a farming enterprise assists grandmothers to support the many generations they care for. These experiences will give you deep insight into the customs and structures of rural Kenyan family life, and the highlight is the genuine interaction with these amazing women as we applaud their achievements at our events on International Women’s Day.

It's Happening Now – 5 days

It’s Happening Now is a tour in the Magical Kenya Signature Experience Collection – curated, unique, authentic and exceptional once-in-a-lifetime Kenyan travel experiences accredited by the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) On this 5-day tour we invite you to become involved in the sustainability programs that One Horizon supports, which are helping Kenya’s most vulnerable people step away from poverty and towards brighter futures. You visit a children’s feeding centre, an innovative city farm, and a women’s empowerment project, where you’ll have the opportunity to meet and engage with project leaders and various members of the communities who are making wonderful progress in creating a better life for all. This will give you fascinating insights into Kenyan culture that few tourists ever experience and connect with people on a personal level. Also on this tour, visit a traditional Maasai village to learn about Kenyan tribal life, and enjoy a spot of wildlife-watching on a relaxing day trip to beautiful Lake Naivasha.

Light on the Horizon - 1 Day Signature Experience

Light on the Horizon is a tour in the Magical Kenya Signature Experience Collection – curated, unique, authentic and exceptional once-in-a-lifetime Kenyan travel experiences accredited by the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) On this energetic One Horizon day tour, we combine visits to two of Nairobi’s best-known wildlife conservation centres with a small-scale farming program that is changing the lives of Kenyan grandmothers. You get up-close to giraffes from a raised walkway at the Giraffe Centre, which has been instrumental in saving the Rothschild giraffe from extinction, and watch adorable baby elephants and hear about the complex process of returning them to the wild at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, the most successful elephant rehabilitation program in the world. We then spend an insightful afternoon as guests of endearing and entrepreneurial grandmothers at a grassroots social enterprise project supported by One Horizon in a rural Kikuyu community.   Wildlife conservation and changing lives Our first stop is the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife’s famous Giraffe Centre, which has pioneered an innovative breeding programme to grow the population of the endangered Rothschild giraffe in the wild. You’ll meet the giraffes at eye level from the centre’s raised walkway, and get a comprehensive education about how we can all play a role in the conservation of habitats and the preservation of wildlife. We then go the short distance to the elephant orphanage at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust on the edge of Nairobi National Park. The trust has hand-reared hundreds of baby elephants that have been orphaned, often due to injury and poaching, and rereleased them back into the wild in Tsavo National Park. You’ll learn more about this fascinating venture and see the baby elephants being fed by their keepers. You then spend an engaging afternoon in the rural homes of Kenyan grandmothers, who are remarkable and inspirational women that have taken on the responsibility of caring for their grandchildren and extended families. You’ll look around a pig farm where a grandmother proudly explains pig-husbandry and how her bio-gas system powers her home; an initiative supported by One Horizon and the involvement of travellers like yourselves that aims at improving the livelihoods of the grandmothers by economically empowering them through small-scale farming. Then sit down with the grandmothers while they cook traditional meals and narrate their powerful stories about how the program has helped them run a sustainable business that keeps their families together.

Maasai Eco Tour - 1 day Signature Experience

Maasai Eco Tour is a tour in the Magical Kenya Signature Experience Collection – curated, unique, authentic and exceptional once-in-a-lifetime Kenyan travel experiences accredited by the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) This One Horizon 1-day tour enables you to connect with nature and engage with a local Maasai community as they teach you about matters of conservation and the preservation of their precious lands where they have lived a semi-nomadic life for centuries. You will see how the Maasai are managing the grazing of their herds of cattle, embracing biogas systems for fuel to enable them to preserve precious forests, and learn how they use local plants and herbs for medicinal remedies. It is one of One Horizon’s most authentic and in-depth experiences of an indigenous community who have generations of environmental lessons to impart.   Conserving the Maasai’s natural environment On this interesting day we drive into the rural Maasai heartland in the Great Rift Valley where you learn about Maasai tribal values and how the Maasai manage their environment from the herdsmen and young warriors, and the women and elders of the village. A Maasai's herd of cattle is one of their most sacred and treasured possessions, and they are the only tribe in Kenya who are permitted to graze their herds on public land and specifically in Nairobi. They have for centuries had to protect their land so that they do not deplete the coverage of natural pastures for their animals. But as with most indigenous communities, they have been subject to many modern pressures and for the Maasai community this has meant that their traditional nomadic way of life is progressively challenged. You will help herd the cattle, see how herbs and plants can be used to make natural medicines, and learn about the importance the Maasai place on their natural resources like land and water. Perhaps one of the most absorbing adaptations that the Maasai are making is in the use of biogas systems; a clean, non-polluting energy source generated from cow dung which means the Maasai do not need to forage each day for firewood, and which in turn protects forests and wildlife habitats. And in the more sedentary lifestyle being forced on the Maasai, biogas provides high quality organic fertilisers that enable them to embrace crop farming. This is a unique and richly rewarding day that combines the opportunity to meet and interact with people who are part of the fabric of Kenyan tribal life, with a fascinating insight into how the Maasai are surviving on the lands that are so important to them.

Maasai Magic - 1 Day Signature Experience

Maasai Magic is a tour in the Magical Kenya Signature Experience Collection – curated, unique, authentic and exceptional once-in-a-lifetime Kenyan travel experiences accredited by the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) This One Horizon day tour is a magical opportunity to connect with Kenya’s proud Maasai people in an authentic and interactive way by becoming part of the hustle and bustle of Maasai village life. Having maintained a semi-nomadic way of life on their communal lands for centuries, the Maasai are well-known for their distinctive dress, valued customs and unique social and family structures, which include rites of passage and revered respect for elders. On this fun and insightful day, you'll take part in the rituals of the warriors, perform daily tasks with the women, and share much laughter and many ideas as you listen to fascinating stories and folklore. Live one day the Maasai way From Nairobi, drive into the rural Maasai heartland where one of the elders will take you on a tour to explain how the Maasai manage these precious lands. You learn about their tribal values, native herbs and plants that are used for medicinal remedies, the importance the Maasai place on their natural resources like land and water, and help herd the cattle, which is their most sacred and treasured possession. A warm song and dance welcome awaits you at the village, and the wife of a village elder will offer to dress you in traditional Maasai shuka cloth or ‘African blanket’. You’ll also be invited to help out the women and learn their skills of constructing a new manyatta – a traditional Maasai homestead. Time for lunch when you join the Maasai mothers to cook up a traditional Kenyan meal over an open-fire, and they'll share stories as they show you how to create your own piece of highly-decorative Maasai beaded jewellery. Then meet the young Maasai warriors, or morans, who explain their rites of passage as they become warriors, the defenders of the tribe. They teach you how to throw a traditional spear, climb speedily up an acacia tree in the event there are predators in the bush, or even the extraordinary jumping dance, or ‘adumu’ which is how they demonstrate their prowess. Your hosts impart the knowledge of their ancient ways and are just as interested in your life as you are in theirs. This is why we call it Maasai Magic because we're constantly astonished by the magical moments that unfold as our guests and the villagers connect throughout the day.

Mother’s Day in Kenya

Mother’s Day is a tour in the Celebration Tours Collection, curated, unique, authentic and an exceptional once-in-a-lifetime Kenyan travel experience.

Mother’s Day each year in May is a big event in Kenya because mothers are highly revered in Kenyan society and they are considered as the heroes in their local communities. One Horizon holds village parties to celebrate Mother’s Day and you are invited. It’s a private eventat the projects we support, so the party guests are you and your friends and a crowd of assorted mothers, grandmothers and their families.

There are two options; you will meet either entrepreneurial Kikuyu grandmothers who support multigenerational families through farming enterprises, or young Maasai mothers who are pivotal innurturing communal prosperity in their village. These mothers take time out from their usual activities to celebrate Mother’s Day, and by joining in our parties you will get a deep insight into the customs and structures of rural Kenyan family life. Enjoy great food and conversation, lively singing and dancing, and if you are a mother or grandmother yourself, this is a wonderful opportunity to share many stories and much laughter.

Ololo Wildlife and Community – 5 days

This varied 5-day tour combines visits to One Horizon's community-driven projects with wonderful wildlife-watching, relaxing accommodation and delicious food at Ololo Safari Lodge & Farm overlooking Nairobi National Park. Join One Horizon for four nights at Ololo Safari Lodge & Farm, located in pristine bush right on the boundary of the renowned Nairobi National Park. Relax in excellent safari-style accommodation, eat delicious home-grown organic food, and enjoy a number of thrilling game drives. Nairobi National Park is home to a staggering amount of Kenyan animals and birds despite its proximity to the city and there’s an excellent chance of spotting rhino, buffalo, lion, cheetah and numerous antelope and plains game. While the park itself is too small to sustain elephants, a visit to the Sheldrick Trust on its perimeter is an unforgettable activity, and a Nairobi highlight, to watch endearing baby elephants at the world-famous orphanage. This exciting safari experience is combined with two of One Horizon's inspiring tours in and around the city; you will spend time getting to know the intriguing and majestic Maasai people in their village, and meet some warm and welcoming Kikuyu grandmothers that are making a sustainable business work so they can keep their families together. This tour is ideal for those who have a limited time in Nairobi but still want to see amazing wildlife and there is the added privilege of meeting Kenya's extraordinarily friendly people in their own communities.

The Future Leaders - 1 Day Signature Experience

Future Leaders of Kenya is a tour in the Magical Kenya Signature Experience Collection – curated, unique, authentic and exceptional once-in-a-lifetime Kenyan travel experiences accredited by the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) Getting involved in helping disadvantaged communities is both an opportunity to engage with local people and a rewarding way for socially responsible travellers to ‘give something back’. On this One Horizon tour you visit a community centre on the outskirts of Nairobi supported by One Horizon. You lend a hand by helping to prepare and distribute nutritious food, and witness firsthand how communities work together to help people.   A sustainable program for Kenyan families While there are many wealthy areas in Nairobi, other districts have very high unemployment levels where challenges for the population are based around getting enough to eat. One Horizon initiates sustainable development programs in conjunction with local community leaders in needy communities, and today you will help to prepare and serve a hearty and nutritious Kenyan lunch for the community. We work alongside Kenyans who take ownership of these programs and you'll stand shoulder to shoulder with Kenyans who warmly welcome you into their community. And as part of this day, you will get to meet the local community leaders who are helping to change the future for their fellow citizens and helping to create future leaders. You will have a energetic day pitching in with the chores like peeling and chopping fresh fruit and vegetables and cooking lunch of beans and ugali (a maize flour dish eaten across East Africa). You can share lunch with the community and have the opportunity interact with them and you’ll discover that they are just interested about you as you are about them. This is a uniquely personal hands-on experience and travellers meet a grassroots community that they would never typically interact with on a Kenyan holiday. And it is immensely satisfying to know that by donating your tour fees and precious time, you are part of helping the community.

The Resilient Women of Kenya - 1 Day Signature Experience

In Kenya women play an important role in society and are not only care-givers and protectors but are often responsible for key events in a family's life. In Maasai communities women build the homes and ensure their young sons and daughters make the transition into adulthood in the traditional way. Other resilient Kenyan women include Kikuyu grandmothers who play a vital role in raising their grandchildren and extended families, and One Horizon supports a pig farm initiative to improve the livelihoods of grandmothers by empowering them through small-scale farming. By the end of this One Horizon day tour, you’ll have visited two local communities most travellers never get to see. Not only that, but you'll get to hear their stories, see how they live, and gain a greater understanding of the strength of Kenyan women.   Meeting Maasai Women The Maasai are proud semi-nomadic pastoral people who have age-old traditional cultural practices and rituals. Every member of the family takes on certain roles and responsibilities and it is the women that build the manyattas (homesteads), care for the children, ensure their young sons successfully make the transition from a young boy to a moran, or warrior, and their daughters are prepared for their weddings. Your One Horizon guide will pick you up from your Nairobi hotel in the morning and we go to an area known as Kiserian, the traditional homeland of the Maasai and you might catch a glimpse of herds of cows and goats being herded by the tribesmen. Here you will be invited to visit a village and meet some amazing Maasai women, and in one of the manyattas your host, partly through traditional verse and song will give insight into what being a Maasai woman means, with all its rituals and obligations. You’ll also get the opportunity to try some traditional food, join in the infectious singing and dancing, and the women will show you how to make a traditional Maasai beaded wristband to take home with you as a memory of your day.

Together We Can – 4 days Signature Experience

Together We Can is a tour in the Magical Kenya Signature Experience Collection – curated, unique, authentic and exceptional once-in-a-lifetime Kenyan travel experiences accredited by the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) On this 4-day One Horizon cultural exchange, join us for the opportunity to visit four grassroots Kenyan communities that tourists rarely have a chance to genuinely engage with. Take an active role in helping at some of the projects One Horizon supports, and meet the people who are coming together and bringing change to their social and economic welfare. Donate your time in a local soup kitchen, meet the strong and courageous women at a vocation and lifestyle training centre, and be inspired by some entrepreneurial Kenyan grandmothers. This experience will leave you humbled and heartened and you will finish the tour by spending time with the Maasai and learn about their fascinating way of life that hasn’t changed for centuries.

Walking Safari and Communities Tour - 8 Days Tour

This fascinating One Horizon 8-day cultural and wildlife tour will appeal to anyone that wants to both meet and help Kenyan people in grassroots social enterprises, and go on a safari in a sustainable way at a conservancy where wildlife flourishes and communities thrive.