The Nomad team recently visited Emboo River Camp where we had the pleasure of being guided by two young female Maasai guides, Naserian (21) and Emily (23). We spent every morning and evening in Emboo’s 100% electric vehicles spotting everything from birds to leopards. As we silently drove through the Mara, we would often see other vehicles look back at us with a sense of surprise and maybe even amusement; seeing female safari guides, particularly as young as Naserian and Emily, is uncommon. We sat down with both of them to learn more about their story and experience.
Both Emily and Naserian experienced resistance to their desires to pursue their education. Emily felt challenged living and helping around in her grandparents’ home as her grandfather hoped she would get married instead, so that her and her husband would care for the livestock together. On the other hand, Naserian faced resistance when she wanted to pursue her passion for wildlife and sustainability by studying at Koiyaki Guiding School.
When Emily’s uncle had his first born son, she was asked to take him to school then return home to her duties. At the age of 12, Emily decided she too would go to school and started attending in secret. One evening, on her way home,her grandfather caught wind of this and told her she was to leave home and not return if she was going to disobey their ask. Still determined to pursue her education, Emily kept going to school for two months, living with neighboursand even resorting to living in a neighbours’ cattle pen. Eventually, her grandparents agreed to allow her to go to school on the condition that she would eventually marry.
Emily joined Class 1 at Imperial Primary School in 2007 and was consistently at the top of her class. In 2018 she graduated from highschool passing her KCSE with ambitions to become a nurse. However, she came across a guide from the Maasai Mara in her community and learned about his experience and felt inspired to pursue a similar path. She enrolled in Koiyaki Guiding School in 2020 but when COVID struck, students were sent home, pushing Emily’s graduation date to December 2021 where she again graduated top of her class.
Naserian grew up herding sheep and often encountered evidence of wildlife which she observed in awe, but her passion for wildlife bloomed in primary school when she heard a Swahili poem that chronicled the story of a God that created wild animals and the importance of caring for them as we do humans.
Naserian’s parents supported her through primary and secondary education, but after high school Naserian’s father wanted her to get married for dowry. On a similar path as Emily, Naserian secretly interviewed at the Koiyaki Guiding School and once she received her acceptance letter, she took it to her dad who refused to support her in her pursuit of higher education. In spite of this setback, Naserian pushed forward and approached her uncle who agreed to take her to school.
A fairly short-lived win, Naserian’s pursuit for education came under threat once again after her initial four months had lapsed. She was called into the schools’ administration office and told she needed to have her tuition paid or she’d be asked to leave. Fortunately, Naserian had a good relationship with her primary school head teacher who she reached out to and he connected her to an Australian woman who had supported children from the region before. The woman agreed to pay Naserian’s tuition and Naserian graduated from Koiyaki Guiding School in 2019.
The next year, Naserian stumbled upon Emboo River Camp. The eco-friendly camp caught her attention and aligned with her passion for sustainability. She particularly was interested in the 100% electric vehicles that Emboo uses for game drives. Upon inquiry, she learned of a waitressing opportunity. Due to COVID, she did her first interview via Zoom, knowing very little about waitressing but keen to get her foot in the door. When she submitted her CV to the Emboo team, they immediately knew she was meant to be a guide, not a waitress. Naserian got the job as a waitress and continued to express her interest in guiding so, after a month, she was transferred to the guiding team.
Shortly thereafter, Emily also joined Emboo River Camp in August of 2021 for an internship and in a few months she was offered a position as a guide. Emily recognizes how fortunate she is to be working with Emboo as she was able to become a guide at such an early age. Out of her graduating class of 43, 15 were women and she is the only one currently working.
Emily and Naserian both credit William Santian, the co-owner of Emboo as a visionary who has encouraged and mentored them in this journey. They feel supported by the team at Emboo especially when they feel intimidated or have a sense of imposter syndrome. The team always has their back reminding them of how strong and capable they both are especially since there aren’t many female guides in the Maasai Mara often due to pressure and tradition to move back home and start a family.
They both continue to grow in their individual journeys as guides and want to keeping pushing boundaries and changing norms by finding partners and starting families while continuing to guide and pursue their professional ambitions.
