Our First Camp

We have finally arrived our first camp. Yesterday we took a day to get our bodies accustomed to the new time zone. It was the girl’s first time attempting to adjust to a large time difference, 9 hours, and they are doing better than expected.

Our driver William, picked us up at 8:00 for the short drive to the Wilson airport. A quant stone building where passengers catch the smaller aircraft that service Kenya. I would like to share a photo of the building, but security had me delete it. As we walked out on the tarmac, our escort pointed out the smallest of the aircraft, “That is your plane.” Alexia thought he was joking. The Cessna seated 4 passengers plus the two pilots so we had the entire aircraft to ourselves.

The short flight provided our first view of mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa. As we descended I realized that everyone in the family was scanning for the same thing. I could tell by the look on everyone’s face we all had the same thought. Where is the airstrip? We kept descending toward the ground but no airstrip was to be found. Finally re realized that we were landing in a field.

Almost 4 days after leaving Park City, we finally felt like we had arrived in Africa. We were greeted by a Maasai gentleman who drove us to the camp. Prior to leaving home were warned again and again not to expect to see much game and patience was required on Safari. But on that drive to the camp we saw buffalo, gazelle, zebra and giraffe. At the camp we were made welcome with the entire staff of Maasai and met the director Luca Belpietro.

Campi ya Kanzi is truly and eco friendly facility. Ina world filled with many ech-posers It is refreshing to find people who truly are conservationists. All power for and hot water for the facility is generated by solar energy and100% of the water is recycled. What is most remarkable is while the impact on the environment is minimized, the accommodations are truly luxurious.

Located in southern Kenya the camp is a joint venture between Luca and Antonella Belpietro and the local Maasai. The Maasai Ranch boarders the Chyulu, Tsavo West and Amboseli National Parks. The hosts are working with the Maasai to preserve the vanashing way of life of the Maasai people while providing one a sanctuary where animals can roam wild. This is a challenge as resources here, especially water are scarce.