IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012
6
TRAVEL
Conservation Tourism in Kenya Benefits Local Communities
By Lauren R. Giannini • Photos by Michael Stevens
ing money off the wildlife as an attraction for
Who hasn’t yearned to experience the ancient
paying visitors. The benefits are extensive. Loand exotic land of Africa with its amazing landcals will be trained and employed in the lodge
scapes and wildlife? Now you can indulge your
and the conservancy – for every person employed
travel fantasies even as you support the growing
there are eight others dependent on that wage
trend of Conservation Tourism. Kenya, very arid
earner. Plus, the lodge will buy local eggs, chickexcept for the Highlands and some of the Rift
ens, goats, whatever the people produce or cotValley, is looking much “greener,” thanks to
tage-craft, such as lovely baskets or woven goods,
Nairobi-based New African Territories (NAT),
which will improve the local market.
which supports a group of lodges and camps that
“East Africans are very entrepreneurial, and
give back to the communities. NAT-conducted
we’re trying to provide sound alternatives to diseco-safaris encourage local Kenyans to be stewcourage the harvesting of the wildlife and money
ards of the wild game that is such a major attracis the best thing to help them to afford to feed
tion for visitors from around the world.
themselves,” said Corcoran.
“Saving wildlife is what triggered my inAnother major benefit, in addition to the anvolvement,” stated Tamsin Corcoran, New
nual lease payment, comes from the “bed night”
African Territories’ managing director, during her
account: $60-70 per night is taken from the fee
June visit to the USA. “Unless every elephant,
paid by each guest and it is deposited into the
every wildebeest, every bat-eared fox has a dolTented camp luxury, overlooking hippo pool, at Finch Hatton Lodge, Tsavo West.
community’s coffers. The Kipalo lodge alone will
lar value to the local communities, that’s it – it
have 16 beds when it is running at capacity and
will be gone. Poaching is a huge, on-going problem. They take the tusks and leave
that translates into substantial financial reward for protecting the wildlife that stimthe rest of the elephant to rot. There are very few rhino left in Kenya, because of
ulates eco-tourism. That bed-night account can only be used to benefit the entire
poaching. I tell the people: ‘you have to look at the wildlife, all of it, as if it is your
local community: they must decide whether to get electricity connected, to build
own livestock.’”
schools or medical dispensary, buy a fridge for the clinic or a generator. The possiCorcoran, who has 30 years of experience to the field, literally, was partly inbilities are exciting, to say the least, because what they earn from Kipalo, they will
strumental in pioneering an eco-tourism spin on the traditional (gun-less) safari,
put back into their own community.
which is designed to return a healthy portion of the monies paid by guests back into
the local communities associated with their various lodges. For the past four years
Protecting the Elephants = Safeguarding Their Homesteads
she worked to secure 11,400 acres bordering the western edge of Kenya’s Tsavo
“The people of Mbulia (Teita tribe) have agreed to a long and very tightly written
National Park to “host” a lodge.
lease agreement,” explained Corcoran. “The Mbulia Group Ranch Conservancy and
Lodge has given new hope to these people and about 700 elephants threatened by
Persuading The People of Mbulia To Go Green
relentless and indiscriminate poaching to supply illegal ivory traders. We have put
“I had to sit down under a tree and talk to the community about the land, which is
a barrier protecting their gardens and bomas (livestock enclosures), open on the
a dry season dispersal area for 700 elephants, and get them to think about how they
Tsavo West side to allow the elephants access to natural migratory routes. There
were benefitting from the wildlife,” recalled Corcoran. “The people were not benwas a real wildlife/human conflict, because the elephants were coming in from
efitting from agriculture or ranching. They were eking out an existence. The inTsavo and taking out whatever small crops the Mbulia people had managed to grow.
habitants of the countryside had to become aware that they couldn’t continue to
They began to hate the elephants. We raise funds through the Conservancy and
take out the game. They are very poor: if cutting down a tree means three meals,
Lodge and that helps to protect the wildlife and inject vital money into the local
they’re going to cut it down. If hunting a dik-dik, bushbuck, or eland means feedeconomy.”
ing their people, that represents a lot of money but it’s also poaching. You’re not alThe elephants, in some instinctive uncanny way, save the “dry season disperlowed to kill the game. Even when hunting was allowed, it was very controlled and
sal area” of Mbulia for the very driest periods of the year. They move in when there
you had to pay for a license and a hunting block – there were strict regulations in
is no grazing or water to be found anywhere else, but due to the extreme aridity of
place – and pay, often dearly, for the game. They had to become aware about thinkthe westernmost edge of Tsavo, the elephants stay there for most of the year: July
ing about tomorrow.”
through October and December through March.
For many in Africa, thinking about tomorrow is a luxury, because of the level
“We had to do something to protect both the local people and the elephants,
of poverty. Corcoran’s “tree talks” – she is fluent in Swahili, a beautiful and exwho have no real natural predators, besides humans,” said Corcoran. “The babies
pressive language – helped to educate the people about a viable alternative: makare at risk from lions but the mothers are so good – they’re always right there. You
might see a lion trying to take a baby in a desperate situation, but there’s nothing
fiercer than a mother charging a lion to save her young.”
The Laimbeer family, students and parents from Highland School and headmaster and staff of
the Enkejiape School, Kenya.
Viewing elephants at sunset, Ol Donyo Was EcoLodge.
IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012
Excitement From A Safe Distance & Education Go Well Together
Even with this very wild side of Kenya, the safaris conducted by New African Territories provide safe yet thrilling views of the local fauna and flora. During walks
from the various camps and in the conservancies, a guide goes ahead, just in case
buffalo or other surprises lurk in the brush or around the bend. Spectacular photo
opportunities abound for guests, no matter how basic their cameras might be. People who have visited Africa often admit
that they fell in love with it and can’t wait
to return.
“Once African dust gets on your
boots, it sticks and there is no way to remove it,” quoted Corcoran.
Alice and Rick Laimbeer might
agree: they started going to Africa in 2001
and have gone every other year, including
several trips with their offspring, Parker
and Margot. They first met Corcoran in
2002 and forged a strong friendship based
on shared values about conservation and Alice Laimbeer draws a diagram for the stucommunity. Rick is joint-Master of War- dents on the outside wall at Enkejiape School.
renton Hunt (Virginia) and Alice teaches art at Highland School, which affiliated
with a Masai school in Kenya. Last summer, the Laimbeer “party” included a number of Highland students, alumni, and their families.
“We loved the safari that Tamsin organized and the opportunity to interact with
the people in the local villages,” said Alice. “It’s about so much more than the beautiful views and the incredible wildlife, which are reason enough on their own to
visit Kenya, but it’s about
helping people who live in
poverty that we can’t even
imagine. By staying in
these amazingly comfortable lodges, we’re putting
money into the community, and I love the days
we spent last summer
with the children at the
Masai School.”
Education is as important as employment in
Kenya, and Mike Stevens,
who lives with his wife
Margrete in Catlett, VirMasai Crafts displayed at an informal al fresco market; but the
ginia, knows this very
wares are bright and lovely and visitors tend to buy.
well from living in Africa
during the 1960s and ’70s and several return visits over the years when he worked
for the World Bank.
“We really enjoyed ourselves,” he said, harking back to last summer’s NAT
eco-safari with the Laimbeers and Highland School contingent. “Tamsin was great
and what they’re doing will only help the local people, even though this is a difficult economy. I learned a lot from her husband Chris, especially about birds – more
than 1,000 species from magnificent eagles, majestic herons, to colorful rollers and
sunbirds. For three days Margrete and I
taught geography at the Masai School – we
brought National Geographic materials,
books, and maps for the students.”
The Laimbeers, obviously, were instrumental in getting Highland involved initially, and their contagious enthusiasm for
east Africa as a travel destination carries a
lot of weight. Best of all, people are influenced by their wholehearted support of education on both sides of the big puddle. It’s
really a win-win situation on many levels.
Corcoran confided that many guests
have been happy to donate $50, sometimes
more, to the student sponsorship program.
This allows promising students who haven’t
the money to continue their education. It
costs $1,000/year for a Kenyan to attend
secondary school. The student fund helps
the local people in far-reaching ways. In
fact, one of Corcoran’s latest pet projects is Goliath Heron, the largest heron in the world.
7
a mobile lending library. A
complex “for the greatest
good of all concerned” enterprise is being cultivated
in Kenya: a combination of
filling bellies and heads to
save the greatest natural resource the 42 Kenyan tribes
possess: their wildlife.
Eight Stunning “Oases”
By the time you land in
Nairobi, both adults and
youngsters have had all the
required immunizations to
visit Africa and your visa is
in order. Guests are met by
NAT staff and transported
by vehicle and by plane to
their first camp, because the
distances between the
lodges are so vast. A few
safaris offer a “day hop” by Rick Laimbeer, Jt-MFH Warrenton Hunt (Virginia), taking time
vehicle, and guests will off in the bush – but on a horse, of course! Last summer, during
enjoy a picnic somewhere their NAT-safari, members of the Highland/Laimbeer contingent
enjoyed a trail ride from Ol Donyo Was, an eco-lodge in the
scenic to break up the long
Masai Preservation Trust Area.
drive.
Imagine spending two or three weeks in Africa, staying at camps called: Masai
Trails (Loita Hills), Delta Dunes Lodge (Tana River Delta), Alex Walker’s Serian
(Masai Mara), Sabuk Lodge and Camel Safaris (Laikipia), Desert Rose (Northern
Frontier District), Sleeping Warrior Camp (Rift Valley), Alex Walker’s Serian
(Serengeti, Tanzania), and the newest, Kipalo (Tsavo West). Kipalo’s tented camp
complex will be an on-going work until a room replaces each tent. Rest assured
you will be comfortable: the New African Territories’ idea of a tent is quite spectacular, to say the least.
You’ll just have to book an eco-safari and find out for yourself. To find out
more, visit www.africanterritories.co.ke.
Partnering With Wildlife
Wildlife in Africa can be found in national game parks, which are run by governmental agencies, and designated, in most cases, as wildlife-only habitats.
The parks attract the most tourists. However, the eco-tourism embraced by
Corcoran and New African Territories concerns the wildlife management
and/or conservation areas that are situated, for the most part, outside of the national game parks or adjacent to them in areas where the local people, either
traditional pastoralists, such as the Masai, or agriculturists, co-exist with
wildlife.
This second source of “up close and personal” access to Africa’s wildlife
is why the long-term lease and working agreement with the people of Mbulia,
who live adjacent to Tsavo National Park, is so important. Both the national
parks and community lands suffer from poaching. The national parks have
game rangers who do their best to protect the animals, but they may be hampered by various factors, and the poaching continues.
Outside the national parks, there are no rangers and this fact makes the
communities key to the survival of wildlife. The people are beginning to see a
way forward, thanks to Corcoran’s efforts, and with seven of the eight lodges
already established and booking guests for eco-safaris with New African Territories, the locals are better able to appreciate that when their wildlife partners
with eco-tourism, the animals become a healthy source of “wealth” to the village via being employed by lodge and conservation, sale of local handicrafts,
and “bed night” accounts directly funding community projects.
This change of mindset by local people to view their wildlife not merely
as predators (lions) who kill their cattle or foragers (elephants) who devour
their gardens or flatten their shamba (farm in Swahili) is life-changing. Who
will not protect the wildlife when it brings them the means to feed their families, educate their children, train their people and administer medicine to their
sick?
Conservation Tourism signals a new age for Africa. Always an exciting
country, now parts of it, at least, can look to the future.