Getting in touch with Maasai culture and the natural beauty of southern Kenya

Michael Benanav shares his stay at Maji Moto Maasai Cultural Camp with his readers at the New York Times:

Though the camp is highly rated on Trip Advisor, I wasn’t really sure where the experience would fall on the spectrum between “farcically touristy” and “viscerally authentic” (which aren’t official review categories, but perhaps should be). Before we even left Narok, I got my first indicator, as Salaton loaded a brown and white ewe, which he had just bought at the market, into the taxi with us; liking the sheep’s looks, he had decided to add it to his flock.

Become a WWOOFer and Travel The World For Next to Nothing

WWOOF — an acronym for Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms — offers you a way to travel the world for next to nothing. (Normally, you pay only to get there.) At the organization’s website, you can search the database of organic farms around the world to see who’s looking for someone to help out.

WWOOF hosts are those with farms or gardens that need tending or other types of work. They don’t pay volunteer workers, known as Wwoofers. Instead, they typically offer free meals and accommodation, which can range from rustic to luxurious. Wwoofers needn’t have any serious experience. But a willingness to take on agreed-upon tasks is a must.

Besides planting, tending, or harvesting organic gardens, Wwoofers may be asked to milk goats, build chicken coops, or in the case of small hotels, help with cooking, cleaning, or with guests.

WWOOF requires that hosts and volunteers agree in advance on the details: time commitment, type of work to be done, accommodation, etc. You pay a minimal fee to join one of the 50 WWOOF independent country organizations and gain access to databases. For example, a Costa Rica membership costs just $16/year. A joint membership that gives you access to opportunities in Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Belize costs just $33/year.