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Laikipiak Msai
Women of the nomadic Gabbra tribe prepare to move their familys possessions by camel. The long sticks are the structures for their dome-shaped houses
Lake Baringo, one of only two freshwater lakes of the Eastern Rift, lies in a shallow basin surrounded by hills where poor agricultural practices have led to bad soil erosion
Ole Senteu Simel, grandson of the famous Msai Laibon Mbatian (after which the highest peak of Mount Kenya is named), was the most respected laibon of the Msai until his death in 1986
Msai warriors draw water from a deep well. The depth of wells is measured by the number of men required to bring water to the cattle troughs at the top of them
A Msai warrior, his face and body decorated with red ochre and clay, wears an ostrich feather headdress. This singular adornment was once worn by warriors going into battle
A Msai warrior with his long braids and body coated with red ochre mixed with animal fat. He has put ochre dust round his eyes to enhance his appearance ready for a dance
Detail of a Msai warriors ear ornaments and other beaded or metal adornments. The Msai practice of piercing ears in adolescence and gradually elongating the lobes is gradually dying out
A Msai warrior in full battle cry, his long-bladed spear at the ready
Kenya, Kajiado, lpartimaro. Two Msai warriors in full regalia. The headress of the man on the left is made from the mane of a lion while the one on the right is fringed with black ostrich feathers
Two Msai warriors in full regalia. The headdress of the man on the left is made from the mane of a lion while the one on the right is fringed with black ostrich feathers
During an eunoto ceremony when Msai warriors become junior elders, their heads are shaved and they daub themselves with white clay
A young Turkana man with a braided hairstyle
The traditional weaponry of the Turkana warriors consisted of a long-shafted spear with a narrow blade, a small rectangular shield made of giraffe or buffalo hide
A Turkana man with a fine clay hairstyle, so typical of the southern Turkana. The black ostrich feather pompoms denote that the man belongs to the ng imor (black) moiety of his tribe
Turkana elders wear decorative ivory lip ornaments, secured in position by a spigot which is inserted in a hole pierced below the mans lower lip after initiation
A Turkana man strides purposefully across the treeless Lotagipi Plains as an Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) watches him atop a termite mound
The Turkana spear-fish in the shallow waters of Lake Turkana. The wooden shaft has a detachable metal tip with a sharp barb, which is secured to the end of a long piece of rope
In their dances, Samburu warriors take it in turns to leap high in the air from a standing position without bending their knees
Samburu warriors, spears in hand, jump into the air without bending their knees during one of their dance routines
A Samburu boy in reflective mood after his circumcision. A day after the ordeal, he will hang in his pierced earlobes copper earrings normally worn by married women
A Samburu youth, his head freshly shaved, has milk poured over him from a wooden gourd-like container decorated with green grass prior to his circumcision
A Hamar woman blows a tin trumpet at a Jumping of the Bull ceremony. The Hamar are semi-nomadic pastoralists of Southwest Ethiopia whose women wear striking traditional dress
The Karo excel in body art. Before dances and ceremonial occasions, they decorate their faces and torsos elaborately using local white chalk, pulverised rock and other natural pigments
In the early morning, a Dassanech man puts on his serval cat skin cape and ostrich-feather headdress to participate in his Dimi ceremony, an important initiation ceremony
A Dassanech man with a shock of hair.; The Omo Delta of southwest Ethiopia is one of the least accessible and least developed parts of East Africa
In the late afternoon, a group of Dassanech children hurry home along a bank of the Omo River in Southwest Ethiopia. A small grain store, raised off the ground in case of flooding
Nyangatom men their faces and bodies with stylised patterns using natural pigments obtained from chalk, ochre and crushed rock prior to a dance
A young Dorze boy winds cotton onto a bobin for his father. Dorze men are synonymous with weaving the best cotton cloth in Ethiopia
A Dorze man sits outside his home smoking locally-grown tobacco using a traditional long-stemmed pipe. Living in highlands west of the Abyssinian Rift Valley
A Borana man at Mega in southern Ethiopia wears a phallic Kallaacha on his forehead. Made of cast aluminium and ivory or bone
Warriors of the nomadic Afar tribe wear their hair long and carry large curved daggers, known as jile, strapped to their waists
A Mursi man smears his body with a mixture of local chalk and water and then draws designs with his fingertips to enhance his physical appearance.The Mursi speak a Nilotic language
A Mursi woman wearing a large clay lip plate. Shortly before marriage, a girls lower lip will be pierced and progressively stretched over a year or so
A Karo man with braided hair plays a traditional stringed instrument beside the Omo River near Duss. Young men settle disputes by fighting with hippo hide whips
A Dassanech man in full tribal regalia participates in a dance during a month-long ceremony. He wears a cheetah skin draped on his backs and a black ostrich-feather headdress
Portrait of young sisters girls with braids, Asaita, Afar Region, Ethiopia, Africa
Afar man looking at the smoke coming out from Erta Ale volcano caldera, Danakil Depression, Afar Region, Ethiopia, Africa
Children running in Melabday ethiopian village, Asso Bhole, Dallol, Danakil Depression, Afar Region, Ethiopia, Africa
Two Msai men silhouetted on a hill at sunset
Towards the conclusion of a Ngetunogh ceremony, an initiate must put on his mothers jewellery for a day before removing the wild sisal face mask he has worn for 2-3 months
During a Ngetunogh ceremony, the mother of a Pokot initiate sings and dances holding high the cowhorn container she used to smear fat over the masks of her son and other boys as a blessing
At the start of a Ngetunogh ceremony, the mothers of Pokot initiates will smear animal fat on the boys masks as a blessing
After 2-3 months seclusion, Pokot initiates leave their camp in single file to celebrate Ngetunogh. They must wear goatskins
For two to three months after their circumcision, Pokot boys sing and dance in a special seclusion camp while undergoing instruction from tribal elders
A Turkana man herds his goats in the semi-desert terrain near the southeastern shoreline of Lake Turkana
Samburu children water their familys goats at a waterhole dug in a seasonal river bed
The Pokot have a small ceremony called Koyogho when a man pays his in-laws the balance of the agreed dowry for his wife. This may take place many years after he marries her
