Because the Maasai are a semi-nomadic, pastoralist community, their relationship to their homelands has always played an important role in their culture and livelihoods. Being semi-nomadic means that they sometimes move from one place to another (whereas nomadic communities are constantly on the move). As pastoralists, they raise livestock for a living.
The Maasai live in northern Tanzania and southern Kenya. One of their ancestral homelands includes today’s Ngorongoro Conservation Area--a beautiful 3,200 square-mile savannah landscape within the Ngorongoro Crater. Within the crater, you can find all kinds of wildlife, including zebras, giraffes and lions.
The Maasai often live in small communities, with each family having a small boma, or mud-thatched house, and a corral (pen) for their livestock (cows, sheep and goats). As pastoralists, the Maasai men travel with their cattle herds in search of good plains for their livestock to graze on.
