Africa

Lal'enok Resource Centre, South Rift Valley, Kenya

Researcher Paul Schuette and Resource Centre staff coordinator Albert Kuseyo training resource assessors in GPS.Kenya's 850,000-hectare South Rift Valley stretches from the Maasai Mara to Amboseli. Ecologically, the area is one of the most diverse in Africa, home to some 65% of the region’s famous wildlife, as well as Maasai who are nomadic.

ConserVentures has been working with the all-Maasai South Rift Association to help them establish tourism opportunities, including a new community science centre, owned and managed by the women of the village of Olkiramatian. If you would like to visit the region, there are several safari camps. Please read further for links to these companies. 

Whistling Thorn Conservation Camp, Tanzania

Whistling Thorn Conservation Camp is a private project, owned by Tanzanian Hagai Kissila. He owns a small, conservation-minded tourism company called Destination Africa Safaris. He has worked extensively with the small villages around the camp, which he leases from them, on the edge of Tarangire National Park. The Maasai here are exceedingly poor, and see almost no revenue from the massive tourism pouring in and out of the park. 

ConserVentures has helped build a small base of international support for Whistling Thorn Conservation Camp. By booking a safari through Destination Africa Safaris, guests not only book with one of the finest operators in northern Tanzania (and Kenya, as Mr. Kissila is licensed in both countries), they contribute greatly to community-based conservation.