Il Ngwesi
on It began in Africa (Kenya), 18/May/2011 17:21, 34 days ago
Last weekend I visitedIl Ngwesi, aMaasaicommunity project in Laikipia. It’s a remote eco-lodge tucked into a corner of Maasai land, that has been turned over to a wildlife reserve. To reach it you either need a light aircraft (which is how we assume Kate and Wills visited – oh yes, they've stayed there before now. Did I not mention that?) or patience: we took a shuttle bus three hours to Nanyuki where the project has an office, then another two hours to Isiolo, then switched to 4x4’s for the final hour and a half.It’s completely worth it though. The lodge is set into a hillside with unbroken views of plains and scrub, and a watering hole in the valley where you can watch the animals come and go. At night we heard elephants trumpeting.In fact the rooms are open to the world with no windows or doors. Even the loos look out over the valley.One of the highlights was a walking safari; normally you aren't allowed out of your vehicle on safari for safety, so this was a real treat. We did have a dude with a big gun accompany us, but it was amazing to really be able to get out into the landscape and explore. We even saw elephants (from a safe distance - I'd include a picture but they just look like big rocks with ears). The other wildlife was being a bit shy as its the rainy season so there's a lot of cover around, but our guide, James, was really knowledgeable. Here he is on a termite mound (left).The Maasai are generally quite self-contained so it was a privilege to spend some time in their land. We even got to see some of their awesome jumping, and they tried to teach us to dance (without much success).One of the other volunteers is working in the area and is trying to help a bead-making cooperative connected with Il Ngwesi. She told us that cows are pretty much what it's all about for Maasai guys: in fact they believe that all the cows in the world belong to the Maasai people, so if they need some it's alright to just go and take some from neighbouring communities. This means that there are cattle rustlers and skirmishes quite frequently further north from Il Ngwesi.It's a great project and a magical place. I hope that next time I can share it with Eddie too.Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-GBX-NONEX-NONE/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}