Elewana Collection strives to have the best Eco-Rating in Kenya

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) announced in 2016 that the Ecotourism Kenya Eco-rating Certification Scheme has achieved ‘GSTC-Recognized’ status. The awarded status affirms Ecotourism Kenya’s commitment to promote sustainable tourism products and services.

Ecotourism Kenya promotes responsible tourism practices within the tourism industry and encourages the adoption of best practices in the use of tourism resources, working with local communities and managing wastes and emissions.

‘In Harmony with Africa’ is at the core of what Elewana stands for; from our properties striving to better the communities that live nearby to supporting conservation projects in the areas we are located and striving to ensure our carbon footprint is kept at a minimum.

Elewana Collection is proud to have four of its properties rated Gold, two with Silver and one with Bronze;

Gold Eco Rating:

  • Elewana Tortilis Camp Amboseli
  • Elewana Elephant Pepper Camp Masai Mara
  • Elewana Lewa Safari Camp
  • Elewana Elsa's Kopje Meru

ecotourism silverSilver Eco Rating:

  • Elewana Loisaba Tented Camp
  • Elewana Sand River Masai Mara

Bronze-EcoratedBronze Eco Rating:

  • Elewana Afrochic Diani

Elewana Collection acknowledges greatness in guiding

George-Greatness-in-GuidingGeorge Kariuki Kimaru has been with Elewana Collection for 23 years and with hard work and dedication moved into guiding, where he has been for the last 12 years. In 1995 he was in Lewa researching trees before leaving his job in 1997 to join Cheli & Peacock at Elsa’s Kopje. He was part of the team that help build the rooms, pools and gardens. Once this was complete, he found himself involved back in research, where he spent hours looking at the various trees and flowers over a six month period while at Elsa’s Kopje. Through this he realised his passion was to become a guide so he could share his knowledge with visitors coming to Kenya wanting to learn more about this incredible place,

Over the years, George has always been loyal and dedicated to the Company but there is always a little room for improvement so with passion and commitment he worked harder then ever and over the coming months proved to everyone he had what it took to be a great Elewana Guide, Elewana Collection wanted to acknowledge his dedication, not only to his job but to his profession and sent him to the dentist for surgery so now he has a full set of teeth and a smile that is bigger than ever.

Elewana Collection congratulates Healing Earth for winning another prestigious Award

All the properties in the Collection use the Healing Earth products either in the Spa / Treatment rooms or in the Guest Bathrooms with positive reviews from everyone.

HEALING EARTH SCOOPS PRIX D'EXCELLENCE AWARD

Healing Earth LogoFrom across the African continent to Europe, the USA and beyond, discerning clients, media and industry leaders around the world have been raving about our famous African Potato Face & Body Balm as a wonder product since we introduced it to the market as the first of its kind.

Since then, it has won numerous awards and acclaim, both local and international. Most recently, Marie Claire has named it Best Local Product in their prestigious Prix d'Excellence de la Beauté awards for 2018. Each year, Marie Claire rounds up, tests and celebrates the best beauty products in the world in the highly-anticipated awards. This year, they enlisted the help of some of the most knowledgeable and hands-on women in the industry to help them judge the prestigious awards. More than two months were spent testing the products and carefully choosing the best of the best in each category.

Packed with vitamins, minerals and powerful organic bio-identical active ingredients, the award-winning multi-purpose balm boasts an unmatched concentration of pure actives that elevate it to a league of its own. It can be used on the whole family to assist in any kind of damaged or sensitized skin, from wound healing to eczema, psoriasis, chapped lips, skin allergies and more. It can also be used as a powerful antioxidant face mask, and is exceptionally nourishing for environmentally challenged skin. All told, it's the ultimate SOS balm for healing and reparation on the whole body, including the face.

"This balm is a wonder product that treats everything from rashes and acne to dryness and skin discolouration. It can even be used to nourish split ends," says Marie Claire.

"I love the versatility of this product. It can be used to hydrate the face, body and hair, so it's a great multitasker if you're travelling or on the go," adds judge and makeup artist Tatum Tomic.

We are so proud that our legendary creation continues to make waves in the industry and help people across the globe achieve their best skin (and hair!)...naturally.

Air France increases Nairobi service in NW18

COM-P077060

Air France at the launch of Northern winter 2018/19 season plans to increase service to Kenya, which sees the addition of 4th weekly flight, on board Boeing 787-9 aircraft. Winter schedule begins on 28OCT18.

Kenya's tourism minister advocates life sentences for Ivory possession

sb65IlfU 400x400A Kenyan government official on Saturday said that anyone caught possessing ivory should be sentenced to life in prison as a headstone was unveiled for the world’s last male northern white rhinoceros.

Wildlife officials at Ol Pejeta Conservancy, about 250 km (155 miles) north of Nairobi, put down the 45-year-old rhino, named Sudan, on March 19 because of a rapid deterioration of his condition.

Kenya’s tourism minister Najib Balala was present at the conservancy to unveil the headstone and declared that ivory belonged to elephants and rhinos rather than humans.

‘‘We are very clear as a government punitive measures must be taken into punishing people who kill our wildlife and that’s why we are pushing for life sentences for people who kill for ivory because ivory belongs to elephants and rhinos better than taking it for human consumption’‘, Balala said.

Sudan is survived by the last two females of his species, his 27-year-old daughter Najin and 17-year-old granddaughter Fatu. The only hope for preserving their species is through in vitro fertilisation using their eggs and stored semen, according to Ol Pejeta.

Thousands of southern white rhinos still roam sub-Saharan Africa, but decades of rampant poaching have drastically cut the number of northern whites. Poachers could sell northern white rhino horns for $50,000 per kilo, making them more valuable than gold.

Kenya introduced tough wildlife-protection laws in 2013 in an attempt to stop highly lucrative ivory smuggling, mainly to Asia, which has led to the slaughter of thousands of rare and endangered animals.

Kenya had 20,000 rhinos in the 1970s, falling to 400 in the 1990s. It now has 650, almost all of them black rhinos.

Source: AfricaNews

Wine training with Under the Influence

Wine-Training-Under-the-InfluenceElewana Collection organised Wine training for a number of its waiters and barmen, which was conducted by Under the Influence, who source the best wine and spirits from independent winemakers and distillers in South Africa and abroad. They operate directly into 20 African countries and have regional offices and warehouses in Stellenbosch (South Africa), Lusaka (Zambia) and Nairobi (Kenya).

All the waiters and barmen throughout the Elewana Kenya properties were required to write a test and the top two performers from each were invited to join the course. A total of 13 employees attended the Wine Training at Elewana Lews Safari Camp.

The training was conducted over two days and a number of areas were covered, including;

  • Understand what wine is and where it comes from
  • Recognise common varietals
  • Understand flavour profiles of wine
  • Understand a wine label
  • Serve wine and Champagne
  • Recommend and present wine to guests
  • How to pair food and wine

On the final day, an exam was written and we would like to congratulate our top 3 performers:

  1. Patrick Mwanza from Elewana Sand River Masai Mara
  2. Stanley Musa from Elewana Tortilis Camp Amboseli
  3. John Macharia from Elewana Sand River Masai Mara

Well done! Keep up the good work.

The World has lost a conservation icon - Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick D.B.E

Dame Daphne Sheldrick

Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick D.B.E dedicated her life to conservation and will be remembered for the incredible work she did with Elephants, giving thousands a second chance at life.

“She was a national treasure and a conservation icon. Daphne passed away the evening of the 12th April after a long battle with breast cancer, a battle she finally lost. Her legacy is immeasurable and her passing will reverberate far and wide because the difference she has made for conservation in Kenya is unparalleled,” Sheldrick’s daughter Angela Sheldrick said in a statement to The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.

“She will be sorely missed, but never forgotten, and this is what Daphne drew the most comfort from in her final weeks; knowing that her memory and work would continue with the tiny steps of baby elephants for generations to come and that the work that she pioneered has been able to achieve so much for wildlife and wild places throughout Kenya.”

Thank you for being an inspiration to us all.

R.I.P

The Meru Rhino Sanctuary upgrade!

Guests visiting Elewana Elsa’s Kopje Meru will be able to visit the new and improved Rhino Sanctuary.

The project, which was undertaken by David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT) in partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), was funded entirely through donations from supporters and offers Kenya's rhinos a brighter future in a larger and more secure Sanctuary.

Meru Rhino Sanctuary updgrape complete

To celebrate the completion of the upgrade, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and KWS held a handover ceremony attended by Robert Carr-Hartley from the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, the Principle Secretary of Tourism Dr. Margaret Mwakima, and KWS Mr. Julius Kimani along with senior management from Meru National Park. During the ceremony, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust also donated to KWS Meru National Park a fully customized land cruiser, to be used to further boost security within the Park!

Learn more about the expansion of this important stronghold for Kenya’s rhino population here:

Andrew Harper’s 2018 Members’ Choice survey is open for voting!

andrew-harper-ekm

The properties recommended by Andrew Harper editors in The Hideaway Report represent the very best in hospitality and experiential travel the world has to offer. During the months of April and May, their community of members will cast their votes for their favorite hideaways and hotels in Andrew Harper's 2018 Members’ Choice survey.

We would like to encourage you to participate and vote for Elewana Elsa's Kopje Meru.

Please click here to cast your vote.

Loisaba finds lost baby elephant a new home

Chege-AMosIzzy-Parsons-1Izzy-Parsons-2

At 3am on Thursday morning, a tiny elephant calf walked into one of Loisaba' patrol bases alone. At first light patrols went out to look for any herds or elephant tracks close by but sadly none were found. We think he must have become separated from his herd in the rains, given his level of dehydration he had clearly been on his own for some time. A decision was made to send him to Reteti Elephant Sanctuary Community United for Elephants. Tropic Air flew Kenya Wildlife Service vet, Matthew Mutinda to Loisaba to collect the little elephant and take him to his new home at the Sanctuary, where he is now in safe hands and recovering we. We wish 'Lodo' every luck in the future.

Elewana Collection marks Earth Day with Seedball for Warriors

SeedBall for Warriors Earth Day

Earth Day is now a global event with more than 1 billion people in 192 countries taking part in what is the largest civic-focused day of action in the world. Every year on the 22 April people march, sign petitions, plant trees and clean up their towns to name a few activities. This year the theme is to End Plastic Pollution, including creating support for a global effort to eliminate primarily single-use plastics along with global regulation for the disposal of plastics.

Elewana Collection has taken a number of steps to reduce its Plastic Pollution; the first was to ‘Ban the Bottle’ introducing aluminium water bottles that Guests are given when they checked in and can fill with drinking water. More recently, we went to ‘War with the Straw’ and we no longer use plastic straws in our properties, replacing these with biodegradable ones that decompose in 90-120 days.

As we have been active on reducing our Plastic Pollution (and will continue to do so) we wanted to be a little different and support another of the Earth Day campaigns that is very close to our hearts. Land & Life Foundation, the charitable arm of Elewana Collection, will be running forests and sustainable tree planting sessions for our Wildlife Warrior Clubs.

As part of this we are buying and providing each child in every club with a 500gm bag of Seedballs (equivalent to roughly 225 seeds). They will be given training on where and how to throw...wait...grow... then they will be able to distribute the seeds around their schools, villages and manyattas.

If you would like to be a part of this, you can donate $7.50 to buy a bag of seeds and help us plant more trees.

Elewana Collection prepares for World Clean Up Day

On September 15, 2018, World Cleanup Day, people in 150 countries will stand up against the global trash problem and clean up waste, making it the biggest positive civic action the world has seen.

Let's Talk Trash - Did you know that every year, 8 million tons of garbage is added to our oceans, 80% of it from mainland waste. That’s like dumping over 112,123 Boeing 737-ER900 airplanes into the ocean…each year?

We need to do something…join us where ever you are in the world and help clean our planet.

Elewana Collection together with Land & Life Foundation will support Let's Do It the organisation that is running the World Clean Up day campaign.  

Visit the Lets Do it website for more information on how to participate in your country

Instructions on how to map can be viewed on YouTube ‘World Cleanup Day mobile app for trash mapping'.

Join the Green wave that will start in the morning in New Zealand, finish off the day in Hawaii and at the end of it, we’ll have changed the world.

Elewana AfroChic Diani welcomes 113 baby turtles to the world

Early April saw all 113 eggs of the first nest hatch successfully. It was a great moment to see the last baby turtle making its way to the sea! This was the first nest of two, we are expecting the second to hatch in the next few weeks.

Stay tuned for updates.

New General Manager appointed for Elewana Kifaru House

Yvonne-Morgans-new-GM--KHLElewana Collection is delighted to welcome Yvonne Morgans, who will head the team at our new property, Elewana Kifaru House.

She brings with her a wealth of experience from 10 years in the hospitality and tourism industry. Yvonne has worked in Zambia, Tanzania, and Namibia traveling extensively across Sub Sahara Africa, working for small boutique hotels in various roles.

Dynamic Duo appointed to Elewana Sand River Masai Mara

Elewana Collection has appointed new General Managers at Elewana Sand River Masai Mara, Chris Wood and Debbie Partridge. Originally from England, they spent 10 years in New Zealand before emigrating to the African continent.  After stints in Namibia and Botswana, this nomadic couple moved to Tanzania, where they ran small boutique properties for a number of years.

In their new role with Elewana, they will oversee the 16 tent camp including the current refurbishments and renovations that are underway.

Photo of the Month

april-photo-of-the-month

Taken by Alex Koskei at Tortilis Camp Amboseli.