Kenya safari & Lake Malawi holiday
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
The Porini camps are run on environmentally sound principles, specially designed to have minimum impact, with no permanent structures, using solar power for electricity and heating water with special eco-friendly sustainable charcoal briquettes.
Wildlife viewing is unrivalled on the conservancies and attention is not just on the Big 5 but the smaller wildlife and birds, giving guests a much more rounded safari experience. Guides have strict guidelines on viewing animals and spend time at each sighting, rather than racing round to tick off the list.
As a result of the establishment of the Conservation Area, wildlife numbers have recovered significantly in recent years and elephants are now seen frequently after an absence of nearly 20 years. Selenkay Conservation Area lies in the heart of Maasailand, well off the beaten track. It has not been visited by tourists until very recently. The animals are truly wild and tend to behave more naturally than those in the parks, which are often habituated to the presence of vehicles.
Ol Pejeta Conservancy is a 90,000 acre wildlife conservancy situated between the foot hills of the Aberdares and the magnificent snowcapped Mount Kenya. Ol Pejeta Conservancy boasts an astounding variety of animals including the non-indigenous chimpanzees and the big 5 (the endangered black rhino, leopard, elephant, buffalo and lion). The combination of amazing wildlife and stunning views across the open plains of Ol Pejeta guarantees an unforgettable safari experience.
Olare Orok Conservancy: The 20,000 acre Olare Orok Conservancy borders the Masai Mara Game Reserve is home to an abundance of animals including the Big Cats for which the Mara is famous. Olare Orok has vast open savannah plains that are teeming with wildebeest during the migration period and has several resident prides of lion as well. The Olare Orok Conservancy is exclusive to the 3 camps and minibus vans are not permitted so the only vehicles are the few 4x4 safari vehicles from the 3 camps offering visitors an exceptional wildlife experience.
Nkwichi Lodge is built out of local materials, in a sustainable way and fits in unobtrusively beside the lake. Great care is taken with the use of chemicals for washing etc. and they are using naturally decomposing "long-drop" toilets.
Community
The local Maasai communities have set aside the Selenkay Conservancy and more recently the Ol Kinyei Conservancy as reserves for wildlife, and in return receive an income from tourism activities. This is used to fund community projects such as schools and water supplies. Employment opportunities have also been provided for the local Maasai people in both conservancies as game rangers, trackers, and camp staff. Apart from the management and Head Cook, all other staff in the camps and Conservation Areas are members of the local community.
The 70 kms of roads in the Selenkay Conservation Area were constructed using local labour so that members of the community gained employment. Forty scattered Maasai homesteads have a family member earning an income from working in Selenkay.
Community is at the core of the Porini ethos. Guests enjoy being looked after by Maasai from the local community, who work in the Camps and also have been trained as fully qualified Guides.
Nkwichi Lodge helps provide local employment, funds for well-needed local priorities such as education, transport and medical care, whilst also giving the traveller a wonderful welcoming glimpse of life in rural Africa. Visitors can enjoy the fact that they have contributed in conserving the wildlife and habitat that they see, as well as assisted the local people who are so keen to interact with people from the rest of the world.
The lodge aims to provide guests with a special stay in a unique place. Carefully introducing international tourism to a beautiful yet undeveloped part of Mozambique, it offers many local people an alternative income to subsistence farming and fishing, whether through direct employment, the production of food and supplies for the Lodge, or the preserving the unspoilt environment.
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