Photos of Oloitokitok, in Maasai country, Kenya

Oloitokitok (or Loitokitok) is a small town in Kajiado County, about 255 kilometres southeast of Nairobi and on the border with Tanzania with a view of Africa’s highest mountain, the Kilimanjaro.

It is Maasai country, with, near the town, a traditional boma or family homestead. In the early 1970s, this was the place of Ole Partiye. The village was surrounded by a fence of thorny bushes to protect the livestock, brought in for the night, from predators. Cows were milked in the morning; the milk was a favourite drink of the “moran”, Maasai young men.

The Maasai here mainly had a very traditional lifestyle, although some had adopted a non-traditional life and lived in separate houses in the town. But customs and traditions remain very important.