Born on the Crater floor, these modest women grew up surrounded by the Big Five. They never went to school and their days were spent gathering supplies, building their traditional mud and stick homesteads and raising their families.
In 1974, when the Crater floor was officially zoned for conservation, Papei, May and their families all moved up to the Crater rim, where they still reside today. Years later, when &Beyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge was being built, both Papei and May’s husbands worked on the construction team, while the two entrepreneurial wives carried water and sold milk to the builders.
When the lodge was redesigned and reopened in 1997, the initial concept included a lawn area just outside the fort-like hub near the entrance that houses the services for the lodge. Keeping with &Beyond’s ethos of conservation and community development, the aim was to create an income stream for local Maasai women, who are often the least empowered within their communities.
We hoped to showcase Maasai craft in an authentic, yet easy-to-reach setting, connecting our guests directly with these talented women. During this time, the Maasai women were also engaged to make all the beaded lampshades for the chandeliers and light fittings in the lodge. They were also tasked with making coasters, water bottle holders and Christmas decorations.
Unfortunately, the often chilly and misty weather on the Crater rim was not conducive to a market. The ladies also had to travel quite a distance to get there every day, so the Maasai numbers dwindled quickly until it was only Papei and May that diligently showed up every day, come rain or shine, to sell their beadwork.
Needless to say, the group market was done away with and the Maasai Mamas moved their two-person beading business to the steps leading up to the Safari Shop. Each and every day for more than a decade, these ladies have been hard at work on those steps, fastidiously creating the most beautiful necklaces, bracelets, rings, belts, keychains and other beaded keepsakes.