Longido Maasai Village | Longido Tours

Longido Maasai Village: All too often a visit to a Maasai community can be more of an uncomfortable, touristy experience. What most travellers would really like is a chance to get a proper insight into the Maasai way of life without it being a hassle and without feeling like you weren’t wanted around unless you were going to buy lots of necklaces and spears! 

A visit to Longido is the kind of experience you’d hope for, and you can either do this as a day trip from Arusha or you can choose to stay for a night or two if you want more time. If you take an overnight trip, you don’t stay IN the village, but just on the outskirts so that everyone gets their own space – you get a comfortable tent and good food of the kind you’re used to, and the community don’t have someone to host overnight (which would be very difficult for them). 

You have a senior Maasai from the village who becomes your guide, your interpreter and your way of meeting local people. Sambeke speaks good English, and is a friendly, informative man who is keen to introduce you to members of his family, tribe and wider community. You can visit a family’s boma and see how they live and sit and chat for a while. If the market is on, this is a nice place to wander for a while. 

Sambeke’s friends often come up and introduce themselves and want to know a bit about you. Sambeke will give you an insight into various aspects of the Maasai culture. He can tell you about customs and teach you a bit of the Maa language. Trying some Maa on the Maasai will have them splitting their sides when you, inevitably, get it wrong! It’s a great ice-breaker. You can also learn about some of the plants which are used by the Maasai as food and medicine. Ask about the treatment using a bees nest!  

If you fancy heading out into the surrounding bush, Sambeke will take you out on a bush walk to spot giraffe, lesser kudu and gerenuk which are all quite common around here. Don’t worry, predators are not common. The other walk you might like to take is up the slopes of Mount Longido. He will take you to a waterfall and to the place of ‘orpul’. Orpul is a place of retreat for Maasai warriors where they join to feast on meat for days on end – drinking herb concoctions now and again to help digest. 

A trip to Longido really is a gentle and friendly way to get an insight into Maasai life, and spending time with Sambeke is frankly a pleasure.