Volunteer vacation in Kenya
| country: | Kenya |
| location: | Masai Mara |
| departures: | The itinerary below is an example of what we can offer. However, the trip can be also be arranged on a tailor-made basis for 2 or more people and altered to suit your requirements. This trip can depart any time to suit you but some set departure dates are available |
| price: | From £1375 (14 days) excluding flights |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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the amazing things you'll be doing
Explore the wonders of Kenya while helping those less fortunate than you. This two-week journey gives you a wonderful introduction to the famous safari country whilst also providing you with the opportunity to help some of the abandoned children of the area.
On this trip, you will spend your mornings working at the nearby Children’s Home, The Children of the Rising Sun home (CRS). CRS is a children’s home located near Malindi, Kenya, currently housing thirty-one abandoned boys and girls, ranging from five to sixteen years old. The children live in dormitories, furnished with small wooden beds. They have access to drop toilets, water and basic showers. There is limited clothing, medical supplies and no school transport.
This permanent home was built in January 1997 on eleven acres of land donated by a generous Kenyan hotelier. Two acres of the land have been used for the facilities which include one dormitory for boys, one dormitory for girls and arts and crafts, one kitchen/store/dining verandah, three showers and four drop toilets. The remaining land is used as a fruit and vegetable farm. The CRS committee needs help with their plans to add a vocational training center, including a commercial farm and wood carving shop, for the home and local community.
When you’re not helping CRS, you’ll stay in a clean, but basic hotel in the Watamu village. Your meals are of western standard; your rooms will have air conditioning and running hot and cold water. Located directly on the Indian Ocean beach, there is also a lovely swimming pool and friendly staff to help you to enjoy your stay.
Your afternoons are spent exploring the wonders of the Watamu area, which has been named a United Nations biosphere. Watamu itself is a small village located on the coast of Kenya, approximately 120 km north of Mombasa and 25 km south of Malindi. The area has developed an international reputation for its white-sand, reef-protected beaches, which line the Watamu National Marine Park.
Established in 1968, this Marine Park is the oldest in Kenya and has developed into one of the best snorkeling and dive spots of the world. The Marine Park boasts over 600 species of fish in just 10 square km, although the reserve area itself spreads out over more than 32 square km in total. It is virtually impossible to snorkel without seeing a least a few dozen species inside the main reef and divers outside the fringe reef stand an excellent chance of viewing the magnificent whale shark and Manta Rays that are seasonal visitors.
On this trip, you will spend your mornings working at the nearby Children’s Home, The Children of the Rising Sun home (CRS). CRS is a children’s home located near Malindi, Kenya, currently housing thirty-one abandoned boys and girls, ranging from five to sixteen years old. The children live in dormitories, furnished with small wooden beds. They have access to drop toilets, water and basic showers. There is limited clothing, medical supplies and no school transport.
This permanent home was built in January 1997 on eleven acres of land donated by a generous Kenyan hotelier. Two acres of the land have been used for the facilities which include one dormitory for boys, one dormitory for girls and arts and crafts, one kitchen/store/dining verandah, three showers and four drop toilets. The remaining land is used as a fruit and vegetable farm. The CRS committee needs help with their plans to add a vocational training center, including a commercial farm and wood carving shop, for the home and local community.
When you’re not helping CRS, you’ll stay in a clean, but basic hotel in the Watamu village. Your meals are of western standard; your rooms will have air conditioning and running hot and cold water. Located directly on the Indian Ocean beach, there is also a lovely swimming pool and friendly staff to help you to enjoy your stay.
Your afternoons are spent exploring the wonders of the Watamu area, which has been named a United Nations biosphere. Watamu itself is a small village located on the coast of Kenya, approximately 120 km north of Mombasa and 25 km south of Malindi. The area has developed an international reputation for its white-sand, reef-protected beaches, which line the Watamu National Marine Park.
Established in 1968, this Marine Park is the oldest in Kenya and has developed into one of the best snorkeling and dive spots of the world. The Marine Park boasts over 600 species of fish in just 10 square km, although the reserve area itself spreads out over more than 32 square km in total. It is virtually impossible to snorkel without seeing a least a few dozen species inside the main reef and divers outside the fringe reef stand an excellent chance of viewing the magnificent whale shark and Manta Rays that are seasonal visitors.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrive into Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi Kenya. Met and transferred to the domestic airport for your flight to Malindi. At Malindi met and taken to the Hotel, Watamu. Overnight at Hotel. | |
| Day 2: | After breakfast, your driver and the CRS Director will take you to the home, introduce you to the children and the staff and give you a guided tour. The ongoing projects with which you will help, such as farming, building, cooking, home repairs, sewing and just spending time with the children, will be explained and chores designated to each volunteer. You’ll return to the hotel in time for a late lunch. The afternoon is at leisure to ensure you are fully recovered from jetlag and can acclimatize to the heat. | |
| Day 3: | After breakfast, it’s back to the home for the start of your projects. You’ll work until lunchtime at which point you’ll return to the hotel for a quick shower before climbing aboard your glass bottom boat for a guided snorkel trip in the Marine Park with a marine expert who has studied the park for over 20 years. The evening is at leisure. | |
| Day 4: | Once again the morning is spent at the home on the various projects. A picnic lunch is taken with you today though, as on your way back to Watamu we’ll stop off at the Gede Ruins for an afternoon guided tour through this mysteriously abandoned town. Dinner and overnight at Hotel. | |
| Day 5: | Back once again to the children for the morning before a return to the hotel at 2pm. The afternoon is at leisure before we collect you at 6.00pm and take you to the village home of Nelson Bashora for an introduction into the local Sanye tribe’s culture and a traditional African meal. | |
| Day 6: | Today you have a day off to explore the area at your leisure or to simply relax on the beach and enjoy the coastal ambience. All meals and overnight at Hotel. | |
| Day 7: | At your leisure, relaxing on the beach or lazing around the pool. Dine and overnight at the Hotel. | |
| Day 8: | Continue your volunteer work at the home. Lunch is at the hotel where you have a few hours rest before heading to the Sokoke Forest for a nature walk with one of the local guides. Keep an eye out for the Sokoke Six – six birds that are found nowhere else in the world! Dinner and overnight at hotel. | |
| Day 9: | This morning you jump aboard a boat as you set out beyond the outer reef to search for the dolphin pods in the area. Your guide will ensure you learn about these playful, intelligent mammals as your boat travels gently along beside them. Lunch at the hotel before returning to the Home to finish up those projects. (Please note that the dolphin watching is only available if the weather is calm, December – March is the best time for this). | |
| Day 10: | It’s the last working day today. The morning will be spent in a frenzy of activity no doubt as the last minute final touches are put to your projects. The afternoon is spent at leisure, shopping, relaxing or snorkeling in the park. | |
| Day 11: | The morning is spent at the home with the children having a small celebration and saying your goodbyes. Lunch is at the hotel before you head to Mida Creek for a sunset dhow cruise and return to the hotel for your last night in Watamu. | |
| Day 12: | You’ll fly to the Masai Mara, via Nairobi, this morning and game drive enroute to the camp. Spend the rest of the day exploring Mara. Dinner and overnight at the camp. | |
| Day 13: | This whole day is spent in your safari vehicles game driving though the Mara in search of the animals, birds, plants and insects that make up this fascinating eco-system. All meals and overnight at the camp. | |
| Day 14: | After breakfast, enjoy a game drive enroute to the airstrip where you catch your flight back to Nairobi and your onward international connection. |
travellers' tales
Really having the opportunity to get to know the staff and children at the orphanage where we were volunteering - they are incredible and inspirational (more)
volunteer travel - what's it all about?
Are you looking for an adventurous trip with a purpose, or on a gap year or career break? If you want to make a difference in some of the world’s most important conservation areas - and in community projects - then volunteer trips are for you! Volunteers tend to have a sense of adventure, and come from a range of different backgrounds and from all over the world. Edward Abbey said 'sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul'.
how this holiday makes a difference
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Animals and people both need land. Ecotourism provides an alternative income for the people, leaving space for the migratory animals. We actively support the villages and projects that are protecting East Africa's environment and culture. We develop self-help eco-projects, which promote wildlife conservation. We also educate both our consumers and our partner camps with two free ezines. We use renewable energy products, reduce paper and plastic consumption in our office and have left the natural vegetation unscathed, resulting in duiker and monitor lizards visiting the office! We donate 10% of all post-tax profits to fund community and/or conservation projects. Community projects are operated with the local villagers as the operators and managers; We provide advice and guidance when requested, but abides by local beliefs and traditions.
Our current projects include: The Children of the Rising Sun Orphanage, which provides accommodation, meals, medicine and schooling for 28 street-children. Our goal is to have a vocational job-training center operational at the home, for the kids and local villagers. The Arabuko Sokoke Forest Reserve, the last remaining tract of coastal lowland forest in Kenya, which provides the only refuge for several endemic birds and mammals, such as the golden-rumped elephant shrew and the Sokoke Pippet. Designated as one of Conservation International's 26 global bio-diversity hotspots (www.conservation.org) and surrounded on all sides by an ever increasing human population, the Forest is in danger of disappearing as trees are cut for carvings, land cleared for subsistence farming and animals trapped for food. We hope to ensure that the local villagers become the greatest supporters of the Forest. One of the many projects in the Forest trains the local villagers to breed forest butterfly species for export to the live butterfly market. With two local butterfly farms already in operation, over 400 people in the area bordering the Forest now have an income that relies upon the continued health of the Forest. Our goal is to employ another 100 people. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |