One of the most important conservation lessons to come out of
Africa in the past 30 years is this: Unless local people are your
allies, saving endangered species will forever be an uphill battle.
Many wild animals in Africa live outside of national parks on
community conservancies. Today, that is where some of the best
safari experiences can be found, including tracking elephants
on foot and sleeping out under the stars.
From the Maasai of Kenya to the Himba in Namibia, indige-
nous people have long lived in balanced coexistence with nature.
“We established the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust on
our ancestral land, near Mount Kilimanjaro, to protect nature
and share our traditional way of life with visitors in a more direct
and meaningful way,” says chairman Samson Parashina, a Maasai
elder recognized by the United Nations in 2012 as one of six
Champions of the Earth.
Ecolodge Campi ya Kanzi, in southern Kenya’s
Chyulu Hills, collaborates with local Maasai
in all aspects, from building to programming.
Here, friends and guests head to a renewal
of wedding vows ceremony for the lodge’s
founders, Luca Belpietro and Antonella
Bonomi. The lodge is part of the Maasai
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Guests stay at Campi ya Kanzi, an ecolodge in the heart of the
trust’s 300,000 acres of community conservancy land, where
lions, eland, and other big game roam between Kenya’s Amboseli
and Tsavo national parks. “Conservancies are redefining safa-
ris, both in terms of saving wildlife and in offering innovative
guest experiences,” says Ashish Sanghrajka, president of Big
Five Tours and Expeditions. Sanghrajka specializes in itineraries
that support indigenous communities. “It is about being on the
forefront of conservation today and also offering a great wildlife
adventure. Conservancies are where the two meet.”TREND 2
POWER TO THE PEOPLE