RIGHT
The Maasai in Orboma,
Kenya, welcome tour-
ists who pay to visit
the village and learn
about traditions such
as the adumu, or jump-
ing dance, a rite of
passage for young
men. They compete to
see who can jump the
highest straight into
the air—and to win the
admiration of potential
brides. “It’s easy to be
cynical about tourism,”
photographer Charlie
Hamilton James says,
but he sees perfor-
mances like this as an
exchange of cultures.
Tourists get what
they’ve come to see,
and the Maasai get
money to support
their communities.
BELOW RIGHT
At the Koiyaki Guiding
School west of Nairobi,
students prepare for
a driving test. Several
dozen aspiring guides,
about half of them
on scholarships, take
a one-year course to
learn every aspect of
guiding a safari, from
driving to camp man-
agement to first aid.
PHOTO ESSAY: THE PEOPLE
GUARDIANS OF THE LANDPAGE
NO. 9 0MAKING A LEAP FROM VILLAGE LIFE
TO CAREERS IN TOURISM,
YOUNG MAASAI TRAIN FOR THE FUTURE
WHILE KEEPING TRADITIONAL WAYS.