Our Commitments to conservation and sustainability
Although this camp has been our home as a family for nearly ten years, the Shompole Community own the land around us in totality. We are simply tenants, and we work with and respect the traditional systems of leadership and management. We believe we are guests on this land, and our role is to support the local community in the ways in which they decide are best.
We have a long-term lease with the Shompole community, and 100% of community (otherwise known as a bed-night fee) and conservation fees go to them. At the camp 87% of our staff are from this community and we support additionally by buying local meat and milk from the surrounding homes. We also commission local women from the nearest village to do all the beadwork that you have seen in your rooms and around the camp. In addition we arrange for women to come to sell beads to visitors when an opportunity arises.
The camp itself was built with almost 100% local labour, many of whom joined the main staff team and now are your waiters and room stewards. Others gained skills which have enabled them to get jobs elsewhere, despite in many cases having little or no formal education.
Through a collaboration with philanthropic guests and the local leadership, we support also the salaries of twelve teachers across the ecosystem in a joint co-financing arrangement, where the community match in part the funds donated for salaries in order that more salaries can be paid.
In addition, we support SORALO, the local conservation organisation who have worked in the area for 18 years. We fund community rangers through SORALO and we host donors and partners at the camp when we can. Samantha helped establish SORALO, and her work in community conservation pre-dates her involvement with Shompole Wilderness. She also helped establish the local resource and education centre (Lale’enok), developed long-term ecological monitoring systems, has co-authored a number of papers on the coexistence between wildlife and the community, and worked with local women’s’ groups to develop their own local enterprises. Do visit www.soralo.org for more information on this organisation.
We believe that your stay with us is helping the
Shompole community to continue to protect and maintain this important piece of the planet, and we are grateful you chose us.
Buy Kenyan
Buy Thoughtful
We take great care when sourcing the various products for camp. Our aim is to buy from Kenyan producers where we can, and buy products which are as harmless to the environment as possible. As examples, we partner with the following companies:
Cinnabar Green
A Kenyan company based in Nanyuki makes all our wonderful bathroom products from natural materials.
Farm to Feed
A result of COVID, an enterprise which links consumers directly with local farmers, thus limiting both food and financial waste. We buy as many of our fruit and veggies through Farm to Feed as they can provide
Brown’s Cheese
A Kenyan family business which supplies us with amazing cheeses and home-made crackers straight from their farm out the outskirts of Nairobi.
Olkerii Farm
Nestled up in the Nguruman Hills which can be seen from our camp, this farm is home to Philip and Katy Leaky, who produce delicious, organic home-made jams and chutneys, among many other things. Buying from them ensures we are getting high quality produce and help support them to support the Maasai community who work with them.
Ololo Farm
Situated on the border of Nairobi National
Park, this regenerative agriculture farm supplies us with free range eggs and chicken products.
Grounded
A company which supplies what usually are harsh chemically-based cleaning products such as laundry soap, washing up liquid and bleach, in a natural and chemical free state.