Mara Triangle Maasai Villages Association

What is the Association?

The Association is the joining of five villages outside the Mara Triangle, who welcome tourists visiting the reserve to also come and experience and learn more about the Maasai way of life. Watch the above video to learn more.

Why was the Association formed?

In 2006, the Travel Foundation and Tribal Voice Communications were concerned about the level of exploitation in our villages north of the Mara Triangle, Masai Mara, and supported the Maasai in working towards a situation where they could benefit directly from tourists who visited the villages.

How were villages being exploited?

Before the initiative, tour drivers would take 93% of the ticket price as commission for bringing guests to the manyattas, which meant only a small amount of money would ever reach the villages. Dr Cheryl Mvula worked with the Maasai to overturn this system, and to introduce instead a transparent ticketing and payment system that is supported by the lodges and camps in the area.

Have things improved now for the villages?

Despite a huge drop in visitor numbers - because drivers were no longer interested in taking their guests to the villages - in the first year of the Association there was an 800% increase in revenue, which was able to be put towards projects that benefit the community.

How have Communities benefited?

The communities can now pay to send all their children to primary and secondary schools, and every village was able to construct long drop toilets to help with sanitation. Each community is able to decide for themselves on how they will use their share of the money:

Enkereri Village have expanded their community school to two classrooms and employ two teachers at pre-nursery school, and pay for the salary of a third teacher for adult education classes; teaching Swahili, English and Mathematics. Classes are also now able to go on into the evening after the recent installation of solar panels for the school.

There has also been the construction of a rainwater harvesting system, the commission of a survey to assess the potential for the construction of a borehole in the village, and the ongoing bio-gas project.

The village have also sent Ben Longisa and Ben Ramet to driving schools in Kisumu and Kisii, and have also sent James Kipiko to a Tanzania Guiding School in 2007, who is now a driver guide at Kichwa Tembo Camp and winner of the Most Responsible Safari Guide 2008.

Enkutoto Village have built a nursery for all their pre-school children, and have also dug a bore hole for water. They have also developed twelve community bee hives in the nearby forest and sell the money to Kichwa Tembo camp. They have plans to send some of their young men to guiding school and are also saving up to buy a car so that if need be they are able to take their sick to hospital.

News from the other villages will follow shortly.

How can we make sure that the Association remains a success?

The Association will continue to be a success as long as visitors buy their tickets before visiting the villages. Nearly all of the camps and lodges around the Mara Triangle support the scheme but we can increase on our success if tour operators in Nairobi are also encouraged to sell tickets, which can be purchased from KATO (Kenya Association of Tour Operators) in Nairobi and Mombasa.

Are any other villages outside the Association involved in similar schemes? 

Yes. Tribal Voice Communications have worked tirelessly to bring together villages across the whole of the Masai Mara Ecosystem, and as well as the Mara Triangle Maasai Villages Association there is now the Cultural Villages Tourism Association (CVTA) for the Narok side of the Mara and the Northern Mara Maasai Villages Tourism Association (NMMVTA) for Mara North Conservancy.

KATO offices in Nairobi and Mombasa sell tickets for all of the villages in all of the Associations, Mara Intrepids Camp also sells tickets for CVTA.