GRREEN ENOUGH FOR

YOU
-BASE CAMP MAASAI MARA
BY MARKMITCHNEL MWANGI WACHIRA
Eco friendly and eco-tourism are friendly buzzwords-most
tourist destination nowadays pay lip service to such terms. But
basecamp Maasai mara actually does deserve the accolade of
being truly green as well as encouraging responsible tourism.
Lars lindkvist, president of basecamp foundation is-like
basecamp itself-relaxed, seemingly laid back, but
introduced the subject of the environment and community
involvement and he can talk for hours. He is passionate
about tree planting it runs in the family: his wife, another
avid environmentalist, happens to be daughter of 2004
Nobel peace prize winner the late Wangari maathai,
founder of Kenya’s greenbelt movement. Basecamp have
taken on the challenge of their own carbon-capture
project, nurturing a growing plantation of over 50,000
indigenous trees, offsetting emission caused by their
tourist business—including all guest fights. In fact,
basecamp is all about leaving a light and a positive
footprint or, in layman’s term, travelling in a less harmful
way.
A walk around the camp proves this and basecamp is
totally transparent in fact they offer to take you around.
There’s nothing to hide and no nasty rubbish dumps
tucked away. Its simple walls are built from fallen tree
branches using minimal cement.
OBAMA HIMSELF POINTED OUT: “I CHOSE BASECAMP
MAASAI MARA FOR THEIR SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
APPROACH AND FOR THEIR COMMITMENT TO THE
MAASAI PEOPLE, AND TO THE MARA ECOSYSYTEM.”

Platforms beneath the tent are easy to unscrew and

remove. There are no windows or doors which necessitate
the hiding of toilet papers and soap in a drawer in the
open sided bathroom from thieving baboons. Overall
basecamp could be removed relatively easily, leaving
minimal traces of its existence.

Shower water is caught in containers recycled to the trees.

The “dry” toilets {no flashing} are emptied daily although
some guests baulk, they were good enough for Barack
Obama, who chose basecamp when visiting with his family
in 2006-hence the Obama tree plantation near the camp
entrance. Obama himself pointed out: “I chose basecamp
maasai mara for their sustainable business approach and
their commitment to the maasai people, and to maasai
ecosystem.” The kitchen roof catches rain water which is
harvested in 600,000-liter tank, used for staff consumption
and cooking. All papers, plastic and glass goes to Nairobi
where its reinvented into unique, termite unfriendly fence
posts, which then turns to protect Basecamp ‘s tree
plantation from elephants. Meanwhile a series of pits fry
out food waste, which is then combined with grass to
make fertilizer. An extra pit holds toilet waste, which when
dried, mixed with grass and burned is also fed to the trees.
Power at Basecamp is all solar. Best of all there’s no
mobile phone noise pollution at basecamp-this is made
politely but firmly clearly to guests. If you may carry your
phone on safari, it should be silent. It can be charged at
reception, where there’s also wireless internet.

Basecamp has 12 tents one of which is a family tent.

Ensuite bathrooms include solar heated showers open to
the sky. Attractively set around a bend in talek River, it
blends into background. It looks across the River where
crocodiles lurk and Trumpeter hornbills shout from the
forest canopy, over the golden plains of the Maasai Mara,
where vast herd of wild beast crowd the plains during
migration time, while elephant, hyena, buffalo and zebra
regularly wander by. There’s no fence: at night guests
must be escorted to and from their tents by maasai
guards. Sitting around an outdoor fire before enjoying an
excellent dinner guest might also hear tinkle of cowbells
and lowing cattle: a reminder that this community land in
Maasai country where these nomadic pastoralists are still
lining an ancient lifestyle.

Besides basecamp reception art Centre where 118 local

women create beautifully designed leather and bead
items, along traditional lines, mainly for basecamps curio
shop but also available on the internet
(www.maasaibrand.com). Of this, 75% of the profit goes to
the artist and each item is tagged with their story, while
25% is spent on materials.

Basecamp Maasai mara won the 2009 prestigious skal

international ecotourism award in rural accommodation
category as the world’s best ecotourism hotel. Skal is the
worlds largest association for professionals within the
tourism industry with 20,000 members in ninety countries.
Basecamp were applauded for strong commitment
towards sustainability, conversation of nature, support of
local cultures and respecting the future of tourism
industry. Meanwhile national geographic has recognized
basecamp maasai mara as one of the 10 best safari
experiences in the world. In 2005 basecamp received the
responsible tourism award at the world travel market in
London. In Kenya basecamp Maasai Mara has gold status
as best eco-camp in Kenya.
Basecamps personal stories illustrate its positive impact.
Camp manager, grace, is one of kenyas only female maasai
camp managers, born in dry kajiado district, one of six to
illiterate parents, grace had little education hope of
education. But bare footed and determined, she followed
other village boys to school. After teacher had visited her
parents to suggest she attended school, grace’s father sold
enough cows to pay grace’s education up to the end of
high school. Grace ended up in Basecamp’s reception,
inspiring them to sponsor her through hotel training
college.
Returning as manageress, Grace did not underestimate the
challenges of giving orders to Maasai men-this just does
not happen in their culture. But grace broke through and is
proudly part of basecamp and their many projects,
including sponsoring the education of many local girls and
finding a local clinic, benefitting the whole Maasai
community, whose land of course this is.
That the survival of maasai mara , with its world-renowned
spectacles of the wild beast migration, not to mention all
intricacies of its flora and fauna, is dependent on its
maasai land owners, is in fact of which the visitors to
basecamp maasai mara is constantly reminded.

Basecamp Explorers has, over the past decade, built up a

complete Maasai mara safari experience with three
camps: Basecamp maasai mara, dorobo. This can be
complimented at lamu , on Kenyan coast , where
Basecamp offers tourist the chance of sailing in the
beautiful lamu archipelago on 56-foot traditional dhow
with additional luxurious touches. It’s certainly a contrast
to spitsbergen explorer’s “ship-in-the-ice” is the world’s
northmost “hotel”. Other unique basecamp tourist
destination are Rajasthan,Dharamsala and the pyrenees.

Svein Wilhelmsen, whose daughter recently worked

among the maasai as a volunteer ,emphasizes that
Basecamp explorer aims to focus on eco-tourism in parts
of the world where local culture and nature coexist ,
offering unique destinations with a strong focus on
sustainability and a core commitment towards local
communities and the environment.
In 2008 Basecamp explorer became one of the first
tourism companies in Africa formulating a comprehensive
climate policy containing recognizing UN-REDD (reduced
emission from deforestation and forest degradation) as an
important approach for the tourism sector.
Judy Kepher-Gona , former head of the ecotourism society
of Kenya , now CEO of Basecamp foundation Kenya, is a
social scientist with an interest in sustainable
develop[pment. She points out : “Basecamp waqnt to be
an active stakeholder in the climate discussion. We
measure our CO2 footprint and plant trees together with
local maasai at our planting project. Every guest who visits
the Basecamp destination is part of our climate initiative.”
As maasai elder ole taek pointe out : “we older folks
hold on to the ancient so our young ones will not be led
astray, but nothing stands still.” Thus Basecamp ‘s first
destination began on the Kenyan savannah besides the
National reserve with highest destiny of wildlife in the
world!