Kenya family safari, tailor made
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
Daphne Sheldrick was the first person to successfully hand-rear newborn and thus fully milk-dependent African Elephant orphans. It took 28 years of trial and error to achieve. By 2004 the Sheldrick Trust had successfully saved and hand-reared over 55 infant African Elephant calves, 2 from the day of birth. Several of the Trust's hand-reared elephants are now fully established and living free amongst their wild peers in Tsavo, some returning with wild-born young to 'show' to their erstwhile human family. The Nairobi National Park Elephant and Rhino Nursery has a trained team of competent Elephant Handlers who replace the orphans' lost elephant family until such time as the transition to the wild herds has been accomplished, something that can take up to 10 years.
The Giraffe Centre has a herd of Rothschild Giraffe, a rare species originally found in Western Kenya. By 1980 loss of habitat to agriculture had reduced their wild numbers to less than 140. Funds were raised to captive-breed the animals and eventually 4 herds were reared and released into suitable National parks and Reserves including Lake Nakuru National Park. Today the wild Rothschild Giraffe population in Kenya is over 300, and the site remains a breeding centre and even more importantly, an education centre for the public. Every day groups of local school children visit the centre free of charge, and for most it is their first time to see a live giraffe. In recent years, over 55,000 children have had this remarkable experience.
Community
Many of the staff at both the Samburu and Mara Intrepids Clubs hail from the respective local Samburu and Maasai community, and each camp has established a Community Development Fund receiving a portion of their visitor fees for supporting local schools, training initiatives, clinics, women's groups and more. In Samburu they use solar power for water heating, and in the Mara hot water is generated from burning used coffee-husks as opposed to charcoal from the local area. Biodegradable waste from both camps is mulched for use in their gardens as compost, whilst other waste is returned to Nairobi for proper disposal. The waste-water at Mara Intrepids is recycled through a wetland scheme.
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