SPECTACULAR VIEWS. COMPLETE PRIVACY.

AUTHENTIC CULTURAL CONNECTIONS.

Situated at one of Laikipia’s highest points, Ol Lentille consists of four luxurious villas which can host a maximum of 16 guests. Each villa is complemented by its own private staff, guide and safari vehicle. The lodge overlooks 40,000 exclusive acres of breathtaking African wilderness. With the land (and the lodge) owned by the local Maasai communities, guests enjoy unparalleled access to a deeply immersive cultural experience.

Ceremonies are an expression of Maasai culture and self-determination. Every ceremony is a new life.

They are rites of passage.

Every 15 years or so, somewhere near Ol Lentille, the Laikipiak Maasai hold a ceremony to mark the passage from one age set to the next. Junior warriors become senior warriors, when they are allowed to marry and assume new responsibilities. The warriors then elect two lifelong leaders, the "guanami", who are each given a specially blessed "rungu" (wand of power) and will lead that age set until their death.

That ceremony just took place last week and opens the way to the major event of that season, the "Orgesher": the graduation of senior warriors to "junior elders", when they are entitled to start a family and participate in the governance of the community.

This 3-month long event begins with the building of a village of 39 houses, laid out around a specially planted sacred olive tree. Each Maasai family then designates several representatives to live in the house appointed for each respective family in the village. During that 3-month period, all graduating senior warriors will spend time in the village to be mentored and trained by the elders. They also receive knowledge of Mysteries and participate in numerous celebrations. At the end of that training camp, each newly minted junior elder will receive a tobacco pouch and his stool, which he will keep all his life, a symbol of his new status as a community leader (only elders are allowed to sit on a stool at meetings, all others sit on the ground).

A select group of senior elders have been meeting for several months now to plan the ceremonies and decide on the location of the village. That location will remain a secret until the morning of the first day of the ceremony, when it is revealed, on April 26th.

This is the most important event in the Laikipiak Maasai calendar and will be attended by representatives from Maasai communities from all parts of Kenya and Tanzania, all visiting in their finest attire, bearing gifts and blessings for their Laikipia cousins. It is a complex, intense and emotional series of events which offer a deep and rare insight into a rich and ancient culture.

Ol Lentille safari lodge is owned by a Maasai community. Our guests are first and foremost guests of the local community, and as such, are welcome to attend most of the events which make up this once in 15 years passing of age ceremony. This deeply immersive, raw, and authentic rite of passage is not something that visitors can ordinarily experience on a safari. Ol Lentille's unique model of community ownership is what gives our guests that extensive and unfiltered access to Maasai culture.