Day 1 :
Embark on your Savannah Ecology Tour
- Departure from home airport:
Relax and enjoy your scheduled flight from North America.
Day 2 :
Arrive in Nairobi, Transfer to Swara Plains
- Upon arrival:
Your 24-hour Tour Director will meet you at the airport and remain with your group until your final airport departure. You’ll have a private coach and driver while touring for the next three days.
- Swara Plains:
Situated on the Kapiti Plains opposite the rugged Lukenya Hill, Swara Plains Acacia Camp is nestled in a glade of shady Yellow Fever Trees. Fully contained within a privately fenced 20,000-acre wildlife sanctuary, to which guests have exclusive access, the camp and the surrounding sanctuary host a resident population of over 3,000 game animals and over 280 identified bird species. While here, you’ll enjoy comfortable rustic accommodations and home cooking.
- Welcome and cross-cultural awareness:
This evening, your group will participate in an orientation and cross-cultural training session.
- Group dinner and bonfire:
Enjoy a welcome dinner and bonfire at the lodge.
- Daily reflection and group discussion:
"We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience." - John Dewey
Every evening of the program, we’ll set time aside to update your Reflection Journal and share thoughts and impressions that have come up during the day.
Day 3 :
Learning about the consumptive use of wildlife
- Early-morning game walk:
Today will start earlier than normal with a game walk. View the wildlife in their morning routines to see the difference between nocturnal and diurnal wildlife.
- Educational talk:
This afternoon, with our Local Program Facilitator, you’ll discuss the consumptive use of wildlife in Kenya.
- Game drive:
This evening, you’ll take a game drive at twilight until the sun sets.
Day 4 :
Tsavo Discovery Centre
- Early-morning game drive:
The morning will start with a game drive. Be on the lookout for any wildlife you may have not seen yet on the Swara Plains.
- Continue on your journey to Tsavo:
Today, you’ll travel from the Swara Plains to Tsavo. Your base for the next seven nights will at the Tsavo Discovery Centre (TDC). While here, breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be included.
- Tsavo Discovery Centre (TDC):
The TDC is centrally located between Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks and is home to a variety of ongoing research projects. Situated on the premises of Kivuli Camp, a picturesque camp with comfortable accommodations made to look and feel like an African village, the TDC consists of 16 traditional 'bandas,' made using local techniques and materials. This facility also provides a simple laboratory, orientation center, study room, and library to enlighten both Kenyan and international students on community conservation and environmental education.
- About Tsavo and the Tsavo Conservancy:
Tsavo is the largest national park in Kenya and one of the largest in the world. The park is split into two sections, East and West. The East has much wildlife including herds of elephants, while the West has volcanic landscapes and rocky outcrops. Located in the heart of Taita-Taveta County, the Tsavo Conservancy is part of the greater Tsavo Conservation Area, a world-renowned wildlife area spanning over 42,000 square kilometers and home to the largest elephant population in Kenya.
The Tsavo Conservancy is built on the initiative of seven ranches (Amaka, Bachuma, Dawida, Kambanga, Rukinga, Taita, and Wangalla), which put 100,000 hectares of land under improved conservation management. The tourism and other income-generating activities initiated by the conservancy not only create jobs but also diversify income sources for many members of the surrounding community. Tsavo Conservancy also forms a critical migration corridor for wildlife, enabling charismatic mega-fauna and other biodiverse creatures to roam freely between Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks, making it an ideal learning environment for those wanting to experience the diverse Tsavo ecosystem.
Day 5 :
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+)
- Morning hike on Mount Kasigau:
Start the morning with a hike up Mt. Kasigau. Located in southeastern Kenya, Mt. Kasigau is the most-northeastern mountain in the ancient, crystalline Eastern Arc Mountains—now included as a part of the Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspot, these mountains are noted for their high species richness, high concentration of endemic species, and highly fragmented condition.
- Learn about Sky Island:
After the hike, you’ll hear a lecture on Sky Island. Mt. Kasigau rises almost 1,600 meters above the surrounding dry plains and scrubland to form a "sky island."
- REDD+ lecture:
Attend an afternoon lecture on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) and carbon trading. REDD+ was created by the United Nations (UN) to help stop the destruction of the world's forests. As the Tsavo Conservancy is part of the world's first validated and verified REDD+ project, it’s a great place to learn about carbon offsetting and the community-based REDD+ climate change mitigation process. Your group will also get involved in the ongoing climate change research on Mt. Kasigau.
- Wildlife Works and afternoon lecture:
Wildlife Works is the world's leading REDD+ development and management company, applying innovative, market-based solutions to biodiversity conservation. Over its 15-year history, Wildlife Works has established a successful model that uses the emerging marketplace for REDD+ carbon offsets to protect threatened forests, wildlife, and communities. Through Wildlife Works, Tsavo Conservancy is pioneering the global carbon credit trade by providing benefits to the local communities for their conservation of wooded habitats.
Day 6 :
Bird Walk and Soil Sampling
- Bird walk:
Enjoy an early-morning bird walk to see the various indigenous birds in the area. To assist the rangers and conservationists, your group will also take soil samples to learn more about the ecology.
- Park game drive:
This afternoon, take a game drive along the park. The conservancy is a prime Acacia-Commiphora woodland habitat for incredible wildlife, like elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, lions, and more.
Day 7 :
Basket Weaving, Traditional Dances, and Village Community
- Taita basket weavers, Taita and Duruma traditional dances, or Maasai village visit:
You’ll have the choice to visit the Taita basket weavers, Taita and Duruma women groups for traditional dances, or an authentic Maasai village to explore the Maasai community.
- Afternoon game drive:
Take a game drive along the park. The conservancy is a prime Acacia-Commiphora woodland habitat for incredible wildlife, like elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, lions, and more.
Day 8 :
Accompany Ranger Patrol and Elephant Monitoring
- Morning bush walk:
Participate in a bush walk with the conservancy rangers to discover some of the natural bush resources and modern uses of wild products.
- Elephant monitoring:
This afternoon, attend an instructional talk on elephant monitoring. Elephants are widely known for being poached, so rangers and scientists are working diligently to help preserve these magnificent animals.
Day 9 :
Subsistence Farm and Cattle Ranch
- Morning activity:
Participate in the daily activities of a typical African subsistence farm and cattle ranch, including harvesting, dipping, and herding. You’ll also visit the Wildlife Works indigenous tree nursery and agricultural intensification test-plots, where organic farming techniques are tested to produce improved yields in this semi-arid area.
- Afternoon game drive:
This afternoon, take a game drive along the park. The conservancy is a prime Acacia-Commiphora woodland habitat for incredible wildlife, like elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, lions, and more.
Day 10 :
Game Walk with Conservancy Rangers
- Community-based conservation:
Learn about the critically endangered species and their habitats, the conservation efforts that can be made to protect them, the challenge of human-wildlife conflict, and how Wildlife Works involves the community in their ground-breaking conservation model.
- Afternoon game drive:
This afternoon, take a game drive along the park. The conservancy is a prime Acacia-Commiphora woodland habitat for incredible wildlife, like elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, lions, and more.
- Final reflection and discussion session:
This evening, you’ll make the final entries in your Reflection Journal and share some of the most significant observations and perspectives that have taken shape throughout your Conservation and Ecology Tour in Kenya. We’ll also discuss how these experiences may be most relevant for us all as we return home.
Day 11 :
Departure from Nairobi
- Return to Nairobi:
Travel from Tsavo to Nairobi.
- Fond farewell:
Your rewarding and enjoyable Savannah Ecology and Community-Based Conservation program comes to an end as your Tour Director accompanies your group to the airport on your final day.
Day 12 :
Arrive Home
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