A Rite of Passage

At the age of 15 or 16, male members of the Masai tribe go through a traditional manhood ritual that will forever determine the course of their lives.

For about three months before and after their ordeal, they wear distinctive white facial paint, meet with village elders and contemplate their lifetime roles in the tribe, determined by their reactions to the ceremony.

What happens is that they are circumcised at this age by a village elder wielding what can hardly be described as a modern surgical instrument.

If they so much as flinch during the protracted operation, they are destined to a lifetime as a cowherd, tending the cattle that are the Masai’s sole source of income and most of their sustenance. But if they comport themselves with bravery and dignity, they become junior warriors, the first step on a ladder rising to the decision-making level of a tribe elder.

Families of the less-intrepid young men are disgraced, sometimes stoned, and its reigning patriarch loses whatever position he holds in the tribal oligarchy.

Here to there: Fly British Airways, Pan Am, Lufthansa, KLM or Air France to Nairobi, all with European stops, Air Kenya’s DC-3 on to Masai Mara in 40 minutes.

How long/how much? Give it two full days, with morning and afternoon game runs on both. Good lodging is reasonable, considering the full-pension and daily game-viewing arrangements.

Few fast facts: Kenya’s shilling recently traded at 17 to the dollar, about 6 cents each. Game viewing is a bit uncertain during the March through May rainy season, short rains in November-December.

Getting settled in: Kichwa Tembo ($205 full pension for two in your own tent) is about as swank as it gets. Raised flagstone flooring in the tents, an adjoining bath zipped off from the main room by flaps. Kichwa Tembo (Swahili for elephant head) has a spacious and open-sided main building with dining room and huge bar, also a pool and excellent shop. For $259 daily they will toss in a round-trip Nairobi flight, all meals and game runs for two.

Mara Serena Lodge ($140 double with same arrangements as above) is a recreation of a Masai village with a twin-bed room and private bath in each “hut.” There are five Serenas throughout Kenya, all first-cabin operations with pools and such, and you’ll be happy here.

Regional food and drink: Unlike Tanzania, serving wild game that was hunted is not allowed in Kenya, only the domestically raised variety. But they barbecue a lot of suckling pig, lamb, pork and chicken. Nile perch is a huge fish from Lake Victoria less than 100 miles to the northwest. It’s delicious grilled or deep-fried.

African dishes you might try include irio, beans, maize and potatoes cooked together, then mashed and served with various meats and vegetables, and ugali , a thick maize porridge usually accompanied by the same. Curries are popular, going back to the days of Indian railroad laborers and early British colonials.

Kenya’s Tusker beer is excellent and inexpensive because it’s price-controlled. Papaya white wine is refreshing.

Moderate-cost dining: All meals are taken in the lodge or tenting camp, which means good if not very exciting food, give or take an occasional African dish. At Kichwa Tembo, dining is under the trees overlooking plains of the Mara.

Highlighting the meals of our Kichwa Tembo stay was a sumptuous outdoor barbecue and a dinner of a 100-pound Nile perch caught at Lake Victoria by a guest from Atlanta. Delicious.

Our friends at Mara Serena Lodge said the food was good, but again, not exciting.

On your own: Masai Mara means “kingdom of the Masai,” their mud-hut villages dotting the plains and escarpments of the game reserve. The Mara is an extension of the Serengeti Plain that runs over the border and deep into Tanzania.

You’ll make two or more game runs daily, almost surely seeing the big five of lion, elephant, rhino, cape buffalo and leopard, plus more zebra and ungainly wildebeest than you can count. Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelles are gorgeous creatures, waterbucks great posers for your camera.

Two popular pastimes in the Mara are the early morning balloon rides and fishing trips to Lake Victoria, the latter a short flight by small plane. Lodge or safari operators can arrange a visit to a Masai village, which can be either enjoyable or very trying, depending upon how aggressive they are in trying to sell their handicrafts.

Going on safari: Booking safaris before leaving the United States is the most sensible way because operators in East Africa vary widely in performance and the logistics of going alone border on the impossible. Abercrombie & Kent, call (800) 323-7308, practically invented the safari business, its top-of-the-line outings covering Kenya and Tanzania. Ask for a 68-page brochure on Africa. Travcoa, phone (800) 992-2004, also will send you a handsome booklet on its East Africa safaris.

For more information: Call the Kenya Tourist Office at (213) 274-6635, or write (9100 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 111, Beverly Hills 90212) for brochures on Kenya including the Masai Mara.