Top Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Lodges in Kenya
CONTENTS
What is ecotourism and sustainable tourism?
Kenya as an ecotourism destination
The top 6 lodges
Sirikoi
Olepangi Farm
Watamu Treehouse
Little Governors Camp
Porini Amboseli Lodge
Tawi Lodge
What is sustainable tourism, ecotourism, and responsible tourism?
Global tourism accounts for an estimated eight per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Tourism is a major international industry and a source of livelihood for hundreds of millions of people. The catchphrase from the Sustaining Tourism organization goes, “whilst not everything depends on tourism, tourism depends on everything”. What this means is that all aspects of the natural and manmade world - and where they intersect - are imperative to the continuation of tourism in any given area. If unregulated, unwise tourism in one area knocks the delicate balance of natural and human coexistence off balance, the value of the tourist attraction(s) is diminished and thus, the tourism is not sustainable beyond short-term gains.
The concept of sustainable tourism speaks to the complete tourism experience - social, environmental, and financial. The United Nations World Tourism Organization promoted sustainable tourism as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and named 2017 the “International Year for Sustainable Tourism for Development”.
Whilst sustainable tourism is an umbrella concept, responsible tourism refers to the behaviours and practices of stakeholders, service providers, purchasers, and consumers. Responsible tourism has a community focus and is concerned with the longevity of social and financial implications of tourism in a given area.
Ecotourism is concerned with responsible travel to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of local people. An example of ecotourism would be to leverage ticket sales to a national park to provide funds for further ecological conservation. Ecological tourism is all about bringing travellers into closer contact with the natural environment and the local population’s place in that environment.
Kenya as an ecotourism Destination.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the One Planet network initiative, Kenya has developed a seven-pillar wildlife strategy that envisions a future in which Kenya is the preferred ecotourism destination of choice. The Kenyan Tourism Board aims to involve communities in tourism and wildlife development, as well as protecting enormous areas of wilderness and preserving natural resources.
In their most recent mandate, published in 2019, they have spearheaded a series of policies geared towards “up lifting and protecting the human dignity of the Kenyan people as well as visitors inclusiveness and equity”. There is a strong focus on encouraging “local/women/youth involvement” and the adoption of the “global best standards for sustainable tourism that uphold ecological integrity”.
The Top 6 Lodges
Sirikoi
Sirikoi Lodge is a certified eco-lodge and was recently named Kenya’s top safari lodge for 2021 by the World Tourism Awards. Sirikoi is situated on Lewa Conservancy in northern Kenya, a protected wildlife reserve that has seen the regeneration of hundreds of acres of diverse acacia woodland and the resurgence of endangered animal populations including rhinoceros. Sirikoi runs on solar energy and is entirely off-grid. They use water from a clear mountain spring, which is gravity-fed to the lodge. They use no plastic bottles, almost no plastic of any sort in their kitchens, and adhere to strict recycling policies. Sirikoi’s wastewater system is managed by an eco-friendly bio box system.
Sirikoi is also involved in responsible tourism education in the local community, they provide water for the local school, as well as bursaries and other financial support. They are a proud adherent to fair workplace policies and support the local economy trade.
Image: Sirikoi Lodge
Olepangi Farm
Olepangi’s story is incredible. Owner, Elizabeth, turned an area of dry, un-fertile land into a sustainable farm. Using only organic practices (helped by their horses!) Olepangi opened in 2014 with what is now an ever-changing garden, a highly productive 1.5-acre vegetable patch, and a small but efficient dairy herd. Food makes a house a home and every meal at Olepangi consists of their own produce whilst ensuring all our other ingredients are of the best quality, sourced from the local community.
The transformation from unusable land to abundant farms began with fencing the property and the planting of more than 4,500 trees.
One of the world experts on Biophilic Design, Liz Calabrese, designed the lodge and helped the owners think about how they could build spaces that would play their own part in better connecting staff and guests to nature.
In terms of community engagement: Olepangi runs a program where they teach the children in the community about horses and horse management. They also support a local initiative called My Education Counts. Period. This small project focuses on keeping school girls in class during their menstrual cycle. The project provides reusable sanitary wear for the girls so that they do not miss days off school, disrupting their education, due to lack of access to basic supplies. Whilst staying at Olepangi you can visit a community school, or make donations.
Image: Olepangi Farm
Watamu Treehouse
Watamu Treehouse began as a one-room family getaway for the ocean-loving Krystal family. It is situated just meters back from the stretch of white sand Watamu Beach, and within walking distance to a UNESCO World Heritage Protected mangrove estuary. Every year they returned they built on new aspects to the house, using traditional building practices, materials and local labour.
The key to this incremental expansion is that Paul made the pledge to never cut down a single tree in the process, and so they had to continually build up and up. Today, Treehouse has two adjacent towers on several levels, with a winding, other-wordly staircase and a 360 degree view from the yoga room on top of the north tower. They used locally-made glass art features throughout, giving it a bohemian, arty flair. All the rooms are open air, and positioned to catch off-sea breeze, so no air conditioners were installed anywhere on the property.
Treehouse serves only local produce (with mostly vegan meals) and recycles all waste. They do not serve or use any plastic bottles. Treehouse is actively involved in supporting the local Watamu community through yoga and educational programmes, and they offer all guests the opportunity to do so whilst staying there as a gift of ‘seva’, or service.
Image: Watamu Treehouse
Little Governors Camp
Little Governors’ Camp is located on the edge of the Masai Mara Reserve. It is highly secluded and vehicles are not even able to access the lodge, parking on a river bank a little way away. LIttle Governor’s runs on 100% solar-power, serves local produce, is involved in recycling and green waste-management, has its own natural water source and does not use any plastic bottles or containers. They are very proud of their Gold Eco-Rating from the Eco-Tourism board of Kenya.
The camp is part of a collection of lodges in Kenya and Rwanda. For over 50 years Governors Camp Collection has been involved in numerous successful environmental and community sustainability programmes. In the Masai Mara area, the run a health care and emergency food programme, as well as a primary school. They are involved in large predator conservation, waste reduction programmes and a very successful elephant project. This is just to name a few!
Image: Little Governors’ Camp
Porini Amboseli Lodge
Porini Amboseli Camp is situated within the exclusive Selenkay Conservancy, an important wildlife dispersal area for wildlife moving out of Amboseli National Park. It is a private conservation area, offering diverse wildlife and plantlife. The camp itself is a series of ‘nomad’ permanent tents. There are only 10 tents for guests, all fully powered by solar energy, rain water and green waste management. They source local produce and minimise all use of plastic. Porini Amboseli lodge is active in nature conservation in the area, including award-winning ecological rehabilitation projects, and are most proud of their responsible tourism record.
They are involved in local community projects, fair pay and employment schemes and strongly adhere to the mantra that national parks and tourism areas must exist for the benefit of local populations, not just lodge-owners and the tourists themselves. Porini Ambolseli have openly published the numbers: the earnings of the conservancy, and the percentage contributed to local communities. It is in every sense ‘shared’ benefit from tourism.
Image: Porini Amboseli Camp
Tawi Lodge, Amboseli
Tawi Lodge is situated on a private 3,000 acre conservancy adjacent to Amboseli National Park. The boundary between the national park and the conservency is open for animals to roam freely. Indeed, the entire area is prized for it’s tremendous eco-tourism and conservation efforts in creating a vast, unhindered corridor from Tanzania to within Kenya beyond the national park. Notably, this is the area in which the last Super Tusker elephant sub-species on earth roams freely. Super Tuskers are African male elephants with tusks exceeding 45kg each. They are critically endangered and Amboseli and the Tawi conservancy, along with other local stakeholders collaborate to ensure their safety and survival.
Tawi Lodge is a gold certified eco-lodge that runs entirely off solar energy, and strict recycling and waste management. Their kitchens also strive to use mostly their own produce, grown on the conservancy, or sourced from local vendors. Tawi manages to be both eco and luxury, offering guests unprecedented views of Mount Kilimanjaro from spacious thatched suites.
Image: Tawi Lodge
Kenya Yoga Retreat - stay at eco-lodges Tawi Lodge & Watamu Treehouse over 8 nights.
Kenya Private Safari - a customised, exclusive adventure from Laikipia to Lamu.