Samburu Kenya

The Samburu area of Kenya includes parts of Mt. Kenya National Park and Samburu National Reserve. It has extensive ranch and communal lands.

The area is just above the equator south of Lake Turkana in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya.

The region covers amongst others: dry cedar forests, acacia-grassland, Loroki plateau grassland and the Ewaso Nyiro River.

The Samburu area is an important elephant migration corridor. Other animals in this area include the reticulated giraffe, Somali ostrich, beisa oryx and gerenuk.

There are lions, hyenas and leopards as well as avifauna, wild dogs, Grevy's zebra and black rhinoceros.

Samburu Tribe:
The Samburu are part of the north Kenyan tribes. Other tribes in this area are the Rendille, Turkana and Borana.

The Samburu are a proud warrior tribe. They are cattle owning semi-nomadic pastoralists and part of the Maa-speaking people. Amongst the Maa-speaking people, the Maasai are the most popular.

The Samburu people wear bright clothing and jewellery like the Maasai and have the same cultural beliefs. They also put on multi-beaded necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

Their lives revolve around their cows, sheep, goats, and camels. Milk plays a major role in their diet. Sometimes it is mixed with blood. Meat is normally eaten on special occasions. They also make soups from roots and barks and eat vegetables if living in an area where they can be grown.

The Samburu tribe developed from one of the Nilotic migrations from the Sudan. The language of the Samburu people is called Samburu. It is very close to the Maasai dialect. It is however spoken in a more rapid manner than that of the Maasai. Many words are common to both languages.

Among the Samburu, adult men take care of the grazing cattle. The cattle are the major source of livelihood. Women are in charge of maintaining the huts, milking cows, fetching water and gathering firewood.

Boys help herd cattle and goats and learn to hunt and defend the flocks. Girls help fetch the water and firewood and cook. Both boys and girls go through an initiation into adulthood. This entails training in adult responsibilities and circumcision for both sexes.

The Samburu huts are of made of plastered mud or hides and grass mats stretched over a frame of poles. A thorn fence surrounds the family's cattle yard and huts.

The Samburu society was organized around cattle and warfare. This tribe resists change to a modern lifestyle. They remain more traditional in lifestyle and outlook than the Maasai.