Practicalities

Guides, Drivers and Camp Staff

We carefully select your guides for both their knowledge of the area and their experience in leading wildlife safaris by car and on foot. During the course of your walk your guides will not only keep you safe, but also impart some of the knowledge they have gained through a lifetime of living in the bush, starting by tending the family herds as young boys, ranging far and wide as warriors, before becoming safari guides. You will find their ability to spot wildlife uncanny and be fascinated by what they point out to you during your walks.

The cooks and other camp staff are also local and extremely knowledgeable about the area. They will break camp in the morning after you have left, prepare camp prior to your arrival each day, putting up tents, lighting fires, setting up ablution and dining facilities, ensuring there is enough water and, of course, cooking meals.

At night askaris (guards), recruited from neighbouring villages, will make sure any dangerous animals don’t stray into camp to interrupt your night’s sleep.

Safety

During the day your guides will lead you through the bush and make sure you don’t have any accidental encounters with large and dangerous animals. The guides have grown up in this environment and are alert to the inherent dangers of life in the wild. At night we will be employing night watchmen to try and make sure the camps are not visited by any curious animals. Having said all that you will be walking through land where wild animals roam freely, which is one of the challenges of Walking the Maasai Way.

Snakes, Spiders and Creepy Crawlies

Many people assume that because they are walking in Africa they will be constantly bumping into snakes and spiders and pestered by swarms of biting insects. The reality is quite different. The majority of Kenya’s snakes are non-venomous and rarely seen. None of the spiders are deadly and the bigger, hairy ones tend to hide away in holes in the ground. Scorpions are uncommon and are generally only found in the drier parts of Kenya although even here are shy, secretive and hard to find. If you see any of these things you should count yourself lucky.

Camp Facilities

On the walk you will be camping in two person tents, which will be supplied by us and erected by the camp staff each day. You need to provide your own sleeping bag and mat.

The campsites all have trees providing some shade and there will be a mess tent if it rains, which can be used as a lounge area, as well as for dining.

In some of the camps there are long drop toilets but some have nothing in the way of facilities and you will need to use bush toilets and the camp incinerator to dispose of toilet paper and other sanitary products. Your camp team will provide water for you to wash in and rudimentary bush showers will also be available at each camp but the water supply will be strictly rationed. You may find wet wipes and anti-bacterial hand gel useful supplements.