Loita Maasai Cultural Safaris is an initiative between the Ilkerin Loita Integral Development Programme and a small country hotel in southern Spain, La Fuente de la Higuera, owned by Tina and Pom Piek. The hotel is close to the mountain town of Ronda in an area of outstanding natural beauty.
In the early seventies Pom worked for several months in Ilkerin for the Dutch priest Jan Voshaar. Since that time he always dreamed that one day he might return to the Maasai.
In 2003 guests came to stay who had been involved in making a film, along with the director Jan Dries Groenendijk, about Jan Voshaar and his life with the Loita Maasai. The name of the film was 'The man who came to convert and became a convert”.
This chance meeting inspired Pom to contact Jan Voshaar who, at the time, was about to return to Loita to build a secondary school. Jan invited Pom to visit him in Kenya.
From that reunion an idea was born: to create a safari company that would show visitors the extraordinary beauty and wildlife of Kenya and, at the same time, introduce them to the unique Maasai culture and the Ilkerin Loita Development Project.
Staying in a tented camp group members experience the wilderness and extraordinary wildlife of the Maasai Mara game park. They also visit, by way of a two day walking safari, the Naimina Enkiyio Forest. Following a path which cuts through a uniquely beautiful swathe of forest they will arrive at a tented camp at the foot of a spectacular waterfall. From here they will hike to a watering hole to watch wildlife emerging from the forest to drink in the light of dawn.
During their journey they will visit the Ilkerin Loita Integral Development project and the Loita High School Project, as well as a number of Maasai bomas (villages).
Thanks to a pro-active relationship with the people of Loita, who are exceptionally hospitable, members of our safaris are not mere tourists but rather actively participate in the work which is being done in this area.
An important part of the Loita Secondary School will be the creation of a Cultural and Resource Centre. The idea is that the Centre will become a platform where old and young Maasai can meet to exchange ideas about their past, present and future, thus ensuring that the traditions of Maasai culture will be kept alive. Visitors will be invited to participate in this open forum and thus learn about, and participate in, Maasai culture.
Loita Maasai Cultural Safaris would like to sponsor this initiative and (financially) help found this resource centre.
A journey to Loita naturally dovetails with a visit to Ruwanda. In this country distances are small and a visit to the Mountains of the Moon, where gorillas can be seen, can be easily combined with a visit to a number of projects in the country.
Loita Cultural Safaris is a non profit-making organisation. All income will directly benefit the projects we support in Loita.
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