Text : Luca Belpietro
Campi ya Kanzi (camp of the hidden treasure in Kiswahili, the franc language of East Africa) lies on the slopes of the Chyulu Hills, in front of the majestic Mount Kilimanjaro, still in Kenya, but just few kilometers from the border of Tanzania.
The camp is the result Luca Belpietro thesis in economics, “Sustainable development and conservation, wildlife as a natural resource in Kenya”. As 75% of the entire wildlife population of Kenya lives outside the present area of Game Reserves and National Parks, it is crucial for conservation to involve the landlords.
By making the wildlife profitable for the landlords trough a sustainable tourism, is possible to dedicate large area of wilderness to the wild animals, reducing pressure of ranching and avoiding destruction of animals of prey such the lions.
Campi ya Kanzi represents one of the first experience of total involvement of the local population in an enterprise of ecotourism. The camp lies in Kuku Group ranch, 280,000 acres of land owned by the Maasai.
The whole project has been run and completed by Luca Belpietro, his wife Antonella Bonomi and the Maasai of Kuku. The Maasai have participated in all stages, from buildings to the management and running of the camp.
All the buildings have been realized with local materials, such as lava stones and grass for the thatched roof.
State of the art technology has been applied to have the lowest impact on the environment. Everything is solar : 16 solar panels supplied 220 volts electricity in the whole camp, trough an inverter. Solar boiler supplies hot water. No firewood is used, except for the fire place in the Tembo House in the chilled nights. The stoves in the kitchen burn a special ecological charcoal, made by UNEP (United Nation Environment Project) from coffee husks.
Water is the most precious resource : the rains are collected from the roof of the workshop and from the staff accommodation. The water already utilized passes through natural filter of lava and charcoal, to be recycled and utilized again in the vegetable garden and in a pond for the wildlife.
All the waste of the kitchen are utilized to form a compost for the vegetable garden.
The camp is composed by 6 double tented cottages and the Hemingway suite tented cottage, built on a wooden platform, with ensuite bathroom and under a thatched roof.
The camp accommodate up to 14 guests.
Contact
Luca Belpietro
PO Box 236 -90128 Mtito Andei, Kenya
Tel : +254 45 622516
Fax : as above
E-mail : lucasaf@africaonline.co.ke
Internet : www.maasai.com
Languages : English, French, Italian
Organization Information :
In just few years of operation the camp has already achieved great results. Income was generated by the lease that the camp pays to the Maasai community and by the conservation fee of $30 per day that each visitor pays to the Group Ranch. This money has helped to reimburse who lost cattle from the wildlife, has helped to decrease the overgrazing and has motivated the Maasai to increase their action of conservation.
The concession area stretches from the Chyulu Hills to the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, passing in very many different environments, from the rain forest of the Chyulu Hills trough the bushes of whistling thorns, to the savanna of Kuku plains. Therefore very many different species inhabit the ranch, beside the famous big five (elephant, rhino, leopard, lion and buffalo) many other uncommon animals are present, like the wild dog, the cheetah, the lesser kudu, the klipspringer, the fringed eared oryx, the mountain reedbuck and many other. The array of bird life is tremendous, especially the one of birds of prey : the uncommon Verraux eagle can be easily seen.
Campi ya Kanzi is proud to have tried a new way of conservation, trough the complete involvement of the local landlords, in a very important wilderness area of East Africa. Not only this responsible ecotourism is preserving the wildlife heritage of this part of Africa, but is also giving an opportunity to the Maasai not to abandon their traditional way of life, more than a millennium old.
The Ecotourism Society of Kenya has presented Campi ya Kanzi with its highest award in recognition of our efforts for sustainable tourism through preservation of Kenya’s environmental/cultural heritage.