At the edge of Mukogodo Hills lies Il Ngwesi Lodge, one of the first community-led conservation initiatives to be established in northern Kenya. It has generated enterprises such as the cultural boma (or village), camel safaris and campsites, writes FERDINAND MWONGELA
At home with wild animals sounds corny, like something Karen Blixen would write when describing a black man’s co-existence with nature. But this is the way it is in the remote plains of Laikipia towards the border with Isiolo.
At the beginning of the unforgiving stretch of hot sand, dry riverbeds, barren land and stunted acacia spreading all the way to the northern border lies Il Ngwesi Conservancy on the Mukogodo escarpment.
Il Ngwesi Conservancy and Lodge has been touted as the perfect example of community conservation achieving near perfect balance between the desire of the community to earn a livelihood and maintain wild animals in their natural habitat.
The community of il N’gwesi |
The place where the royal engagement took place is not far from here. Overlooking the plains of northern Kenya below it, the lodge is set on a hill, some kind of lone sentry with a hat of raffia that blends into the neighbouring bushes. The view is breathtaking, with a belt of green along the Ngare Ndare River not far off below, throwing down the gauntlet and daring the hot sun to a battle.
Thorny relationship
The relationship between the residents and wildlife has not always been rosy with the community’s economic activity moving from hunters and gatherers to conservationists par excellence. The Il N’gwesi communities were previously known as the Likipiaks and their dalliance with wild animas over time has moved from that of a naturally occurring food chain to good neighbours.
Over a century ago, the Laikipiak, (sub-community of the Maasai) were fierce fighters, so feared that they even terrorised other Maasai sub-communities. Unable to endure the harassment and constant raids from their brethren, the other clans met and decided to unite against the Laikipiaks on the battlefield. In 1875, the Laikipiaks were defeated by an angry coalition of the Maa community. Many were forced to hide in the Mukogodo forest and Mt Kenya areas. Some were assimilated by the Tigania, a sub-tribe of the Ameru, while others learnt from the renowned forest dwellers Ndorobo, on how to survive by hunting and gathering.
As a result, they developed uncanny hunting abilities including making donkeys wear an eland-like mask to enable them get close to real elands.
The cottage rooms are a mixture of modernity and tradition |
Then at a time when conservation was taking root, the community found itself in a position to use their vast land to conserve that which they had destroyed before.
Classy hideaway
The flight from Nairobi to this countryside is short, about 50 minutes. By the time we landed at the nearby Lewa Downs Airstrip, my ears were partially blocked from the bumpy flight in a Cessna Caravan plane.
The simmering heat welcomed us. Looking over the plains covered in a fluffy brown blanket of grass, the midday air danced before my eyes, giving traditional dancers a run for their money.
The drive from Lewa to Il N’gwesi took another three hours and by the time we were done with the curving bends and tracks, my head was spinning.
Arrival at the Il Ngwesi Lodge was not as spectacular as I had pictured. Hidden on a hill from the car park, I was absolutely sure we were in the middle of nowhere with the acacia for company and wild animals to fear. It is only when you have had time to take in the lodge that you get why this is a hideaway in a class of its own.
The cottages give you a feel of oneness with nature. There are no conventional walls and only a spear for the door. The blunt spear wasn’t at all reassuring when you are used to double locking your metallic door behind you as we do in Nairobi estates. Here the spear is your gate and door.
The view of the watering hole from my cottage was, however, reassuring and the glimpse of a couple of elephants far below sauntering away was welcome enough.
I could have sworn the hill in view outside my cottage looked like a sleeping bull, but then that might just have been the heat getting to me. At night, creatures of the wild made their presence known, chirping and howling just out of sight but ever present. After a while, however, I got used to it and even managed a good night’s sleep.
Visitors buy wares from the women. [PHOTO: MARTIN MUKANGU] |
A walk in the morning to the site of a bush breakfast was refreshing. It would of course have been much faster and less adrenaline pumping to use a vehicle but no, we had to walk and were determined to see all the bush could offer. That was until we came across fresh spoors of some of the big five. A lion’s paws firmly printed on the riverbed and later on a leopard’s were enough to send a cold chill down our spines.
Impressive partnership
I shook the thought out of my head more out of concern for sanity than courage and forged on. The breakfast was quite rich and wonderful but eating it at a clearing with elephants dung around spoiled it all. You could not help but steal glances at the nearest bushes to scan for any activity.
We later visited the community in a village nearby to learn about their contribution in the conservation of the wildlife here. The Il Ngwesi Conservancy came about in the 1990s when Ian Craig, who runs the Lewa Downs Conservancy approached the community with a proposal to utilise their vast land, about 16,500 acres, in an economic manner.
More than 8,000 acres of the land is now the conservancy and the rest is communal grazing land. The idea was originally met with scepticism from the community who did not trust Craig. After deliberations, however, the community warmed up to the idea and the lodge was built using local materials.
The Conservancy continues to be community owned — lodge manager and the staff are from the local community. By the time my two-day sojourn in Il N’gwesi came to an end, I was thoroughly impressed.
