Kenya safari and beach by train

Planet

CARBON REDUCTION

On this trip you will travel by public train between Nairobi and Tsavo for your safari and then reboard the train to the coast. The majority of safaris across Africa take light aircraft flights so using the train for this trip is a significant reduction in the carbon cost of this itinerary.
This itinerary features Kipalo Hills, a safari camp based in the Mbulia Conservancy. The camp is fully run on solar with a generator for back up if needed. The solar generates enough power to run the camp.
Kipalo Hills has a wonderful team of chefs that can create vegan and vegetarian meals. Most food supplies for meals served at the property are sourced in Voi, around 20kms away from camp. We measure the carbon emissions of every trip we create and communicate that to all guests.

ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE

The Mbulia Conservancy was originally created with the local community to reduce human wildlife conflict in the Mbulia Hills area, bordering Tsavo West National Park. This area is an important dispersal zone for over 11,000 elephant which was causing issues when the elephant raided community farm land. The conservancy has ensured there is a protected area for elephant but has also installed an elephant fence to restrict the wildlife’s’ access to community land.
Mbulia Conservancy has added an additional 12,000 hectares of designated conservation land to Greater Tsavo Area. Due to climate change, human activity and restricted migratory routes it is extremely difficult for wildlife, especially elephant to find enough water to survive. The camp has two waterholes that are filled daily to provide fresh water for wildlife. This also ensures elephant don’t have to go looking on community land for water.
The trip price includes conservancy fees which support the running of the conservancy to protect wildlife. We also include trips and fees to Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks.
We donate up to 30% of profits to conservation and community projects. On this trip we specifically donate to the Secluded Africa Trust, which supports wildlife conservation and social projects in the Mbulia community. Our rangers take daily walks to remove poaching snares which are used by some members of the local community for bush meat poaching.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY

We only use guides from Kenya and often from the communities you will visit. Kipalo Hills is owned by a Kenyan company and we will also work with locally owned beach properties over international chains.
We have created a scheme which trains and supports local communities to become bee keepers. We train applicants and fund their initial start up costs. When the beekeepers start to harvest honey we also buy some of the honey back from them to use in our lodges. Not only does this support local entrepreneurs it has the added bonus of protecting local communities against elephants. Bee hives are placed along the fence line and on the outskirts of villages affected by elephant. African honey bees are fiercely protective and will attack elephants if they feel threatened, this is a sustainable and practical way of keeping the elephants away from communal land.


EMPLOYMENT, INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY

Most of the staff working at Kipalo Hills are from the community including the 12 game rangers which are all local.
The Secluded Africa Trust offers a bursary program to support extremely poor families to send their children through school, paying for tuition fees, books and anything else needed. The trust also supplies water to members of the community in need.