Anyone who goes on an East African safari quickly learns the answer to this question!
Adumu is the world famous traditional jumping dance performed by the iconic Maasai tribe of Tanzania and Kenya. Co-founder of Adumu Safaris, David, a proud Maasai from the village of Lengijave near Arusha, Tanzania, vividly recalls being a child, standing near the bonfire and watching the morani, or young warriors and protectors of the village, performing the adumu at special occasions like initiations, rites of passage, and weddings. David remembers the hypnotic song the morani would sing—the deep, guttural, droning base call and piercing tenor responses. Women and children would chime in, too, adding high-pitched layers to the polyrhythmic ensemble. The morani stood in a circle, bending at the knee and bouncing steadily to the downbeat of the chanting. One at a time, a moran would enter the circle and perform the dance, a flat-footed jump, feet into the air, repeated over and over. The dance was really a competition, David recalls, whereby the moran to jump highest received the greatest esteem and bragging rights for his display of strength and masculinity. Somehow the dance performed at night, when the morani seemed to reach the multitude of stars above, seemed the most impressive. Admiring the dance as a child, David would soon be initiated as a moran and perform the dance himself!
On Adumu Safaris tours, you have the opportunity to visit an authentic Maasai village, like David’s, and witness adumu firsthand. You can even participate yourself!
Part of our mission at Adumu Safaris is to provide opportunities for enriching cultural visits alongside sublime wildlife safaris, not only to add variety and excitement to your holiday itineraries, but also to help create cross-cultural understanding and appreciation of the many cultures that comprise the nations of our region of the globe. Come for the wildlife, but gain much more!