The image of a fierce warrior with long hair wrapped in red cloth looking intently the African savannah is one of the more easily associated to Africa and to the proud Masai people.
The Masai live in large areas in Northern Tanzania and Southern Kenya, these are the territories where we can find the most iconic, and beloved by nature photographers, parks of the entire Africa.
In Tanzania, Masai can be met in the Serengeti National Park and in the Ngorogoro Conservation Area, where they live following ancient traditions passed down orally through centuries.
Villages are made up of rudimentary huts built with wood, mud and dung; at the centre of the village there is always a fence where livestock is locked up at night, to avoid attacks by predators, such as lions and hyenas.
Even clothes and jewelry have remained unchanged over time, the red fabrics are used both by men and women; besides the Masai wear numerous bling and jewels, that make them so recognizable, on wrists, ankles and neck.
The jewelry is made using wire and colored beads; the colors used have a specific meaning and help to identify the social status of the wearer.
The Masai are semi-nomadic shepherds and livestock is of vital importance to this people, in fact, it represents the wealth and status of a man; they are a monotheistic population who believe in one god, Enkai, who, according to the traditional tales, in ancestral times, gave them all the cattle on earth.
This population practices numerous rituals of passage from one age class to the next, as well as there are numerous rituals to celebrate important life events such as marriage and death.
The Masai originate from the Nilotic ethnic group and speak the Maa language, a Nilotic-Saharan language, Masai means "people who speak the maa", but they use English and Kiswahili, as well