With a driving passion for conservation and community development, Encounter Mara upholds a unique ONE Stay for ONE Day pledge to its guests and the local Maasai community.
Encounter Mara pledges:
For every guest at Encounter Mara, one full day of tuition (of a year’s diploma) will be paid for a student at Koiyaki Guiding School. This pledge will enable local Maasai to be trained as professional guides. With over 85% of current guides not being from the local area, this allows the Maasai to reclaim their homeland and gain employment by sharing it with others. The money that Encounter Mara donates on behalf of its guests will be collected into a general scholarship fund.
Further, for every night a guest stays at Encounter Mara, one indigenous tree will be planted in a well-managed forest in Limuru. This initiative endeavors to assist in the re-forestation of the highlands outside of Nairobi, as well as to offset our carbon footprint and our usage of wood in camp for furniture. This is achieved in partnership with Plants For Life, an organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of some of Kenya’s ecosystems through the planting of, and continued care for, indigenous plants. Through donor funding, Plants For Life attempts to plant an average of 10,000-15,000 indigenous trees per year, including some very rare genera such as Cylicomorpha and Balthasaria.
Guests are also welcome to plant their own tree during their stay at Encounter Mara.
