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IL Ngwesi Conservancy Area - Laikipia - Kenya Safari
Eco-Tourism Development at IL Ngwesi Conservation Area In Laikipia, Northern Kenya
When Ian Craig first approached the elders of
IL Ngwesi with the suggestion that they turn their ranch into a wildlife sanctuary, build a lodge and open it up to tourism, they were suspicious of Ian's motives. They feared that their land would be confiscated and turned into a national park, and, they questioned, why a white man would be helping them. What was in it for him?
It was Kinanjui, Ian's old hunting partner and teacher, then his chief warden, who changed their minds. When Kinanjui, who is Il Ngwesi Maasai, vouched for Ian they believed him. Today, a small eight bedroomed lodge in the bush-covered Mukogodo Hills stands alone as the first community-based tourism initiative in Kenya owned, managed and run by the 448 member families of the group ranch. In 1998 it won the British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Awards in recognition of sustainable tourist development and since then it has won two more awards, one from a local magazine, Travel News that designated it the best self-catering lodge in Kenya; the other was the prestigious David Sheldrick Conservation Award.
Guests land on a dusty red airstrip and are greeted by a line of young Moran dressed in their red shukas, anxious to shake hands. Traditionally, part of their ritual passage into manhood would have been the killing of a lion. Today their priorities have changed as animals have proved to be worth more to them alive than dead. Accommodation is in a cedar wood banda growing out of the hill. It has no doors. Windows without glass look out across a huge thorny plain to the hazy purple silhouette of the Mathews Mountains flickering in the distance. Clouds of white butterflies hover in the heat and fool's gold glistens on the tranquil ground. The self-catering lodge - guests bring the supplies, Kampala and Kerichon cook -has solar heated water, a swimming pool and exquisitely carved furniture. Even Prince William has enjoyed their favorite joke, "a loo with a view". Initially it was donor-funded but now Il Ngwesi is increasingly self-sufficient with a continuing high occupancy rate of 70 percent. Its revenue is used for education, hospitals and security. The group ranch employs seven community Game Guards, four of them are Kenya Police Reserve, who patrol the ranch daily paying particular attention to the northern border to prevent illegal grazing and poaching. In 1999, they recovered two AK47 rifles and rescued a week-old baby elephant that had got stuck in a water hole and left behind by his herd.
One gratifying offshoot for the local population is that their own security has improved and with it their enthusiasm. Everyone has benefited from the extra security in the area Instant communication by radio has ensured that cattle are no longer stolen, and bomas no longer raided. Il Ngwesi has become a model for a new kind of eco-tourism, attracting visitors from d over East Africa eager to emulate its success. On a recent visit of Maasai elders to the ranch, it was the Il Ngwesi elders who were able to offer valuable advice to the Maasai, not the other way round. Most significantly, there is no longer a human-wildlife conflict at Il Ngwesi. Every man, woman and child knows it is in their interests to protect the wildlife that the tourists pay to come and see. "Sheep and cattle can die. Money doesn't die in a bank," says the Assistant Manager, the youthful James Ol Kinyaga.
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