Maasai Market
Sprawling open-air stalls of hand-strung Maasai beadwork, carvings, and textiles that rotate across the city by the day.
Location
About this audio guide
The guide to Maasai Market in Nairobi opens with a name most Saturday shoppers never hear: William Ole Ntimama, the minister who opened this car-park market in the early 1990s so Maasai women could sell their own beadwork directly. It walks through what the beads actually mean inside Maasai life, black for a newly circumcised boy under sacred protection, blue for a married woman, each pattern a private language rather than decoration. From there it turns to who is really behind the stalls in front of you today. Look closely before you haggle over any necklace here.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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