Terry and I toured with Frank and Boniface [the principals of Old Line Safari Company] in 2008 after spending 8 days in the village. They picked us up at the VHI office, waiting a half hour til I finished my last conversation with KK and Wafula, and then we took off for 10 wonderful days, including our last day sightseeing in Nairobi. In return, we took the two partners out to dinner along with our driver, had a great evening together, as well as a tour of the then just reopened and remodeled national museum, before being dropped off in the evening at the airport to fly home.
The owner/partners were most accommodating in helping us plan the trip we wanted, making sure that we would find the experience we truly wanted. I’ll admit to being surprised to discover that the two-night private home stay overlooking Lake Victoria, was in a family compound with a collection of straw and mud one or two-room houses, with meals cooked outdoors behind one of them, dining outdoors on a flat spot on the sloping hillside, and a primitive latrine with a shower attached, for which one of the family’s younger boys arose early to start a fire to heat the water to pour in the rooftop tank.
The first morning, we walked down past other family homes, observing women and children transporting lake water by burros and mules or on their heads to the fishermen’s beach landing site, where they brought in the previous night’s catch to sell. Our guides selected what we needed for lunch, and then we walked back, stopping to chat with a man repairing his grass roof, and with other neighbors.
After lunch, we left our scenic spot for a hour or so and walked to the local elementary school where we met the principal and presented the notebooks, pencils, and other school supplies we’d purchased in a Wal-Mart style store in city about 30 minutes away. While talking with the principal regarding plans for building additional classrooms to reduce crowding, the local pastor came by, and invited us to come have tea with him at the church a few hundred feet away.
Each evening, our guide’s parents, who live in a more substantial house on the family compound, joined us for dinner, during which we learned a lot about their extended family and a unique view of a young African male fighting with the British in Burma during WWII. It was hard saying goodbye to all the family members we’d met during barely 48 hours, and who bent over backwards to make us feel safe and comfortable.
Ironically, our next stop was at a privately-owned preserve of Kenyan rainforest where the accommodations were near the other end of the scale, and we were served tea and biscuits on the broad veranda during a tropical downpour after returning from a self-guided tour of one of the tails through the property, known as Rondo Retreat.
The principals in the company have degrees in wildlife biology. They worked for several years on government game reserves, and decided to create their own safari company offering a different style of tour and a view of African wildlife from a biologist’s perspective. Aside from the wonderful itinerary, both Frank and Boniface are great fellows to spend time with. Check out their website and keep them in mind if you or friends are thinking of a trip to East Africa.
For more info: http://villagehopecore.org/blog/?p=335
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