Nairobi, July 29 -- On the edge of Meru National Park, where the savannah meets the Borana grazing lands, a group of huts has become an unlikely setting for one of the most compelling cultural stories in northern Kenya.

The Malka Bisanadi Cultural Centre is not a resort in the conventional sense. It is a living village where visitors trade polished hotel corridors for grass-thatched huts and the hum of pastoral life.

"Most are drawn by the opportunity to immerse themselves in the Borana way of life by sleeping in traditional huts, sampling indigenous cuisine, learning about pastoral traditions, and buying locally made handicrafts, either before or after visiting the neighbouring wildlife parks," says Hussein Gonjobe, the vice chair and ...