Saruni Basecamp, a new luxury conservation-focused safari brand, has launched in Kenya following a brand acquisition. Basecamp Explorer, a long-operating accommodations firm with properties in Kenya’s Masai Mara region, acquired Saruni, a luxury safari company with properties in the Masai Mara and Samburu. A merger founded on shared commitment to conservation and community empowerment, the new rebrand is the result of a vision to expand and support a community conservancy model of tourism operations in East Africa.
Saruni Basecamp is a now a 12-property portfolio of ethical safari lodges and camps rooted in community-based conservation and tourism. This collection of camps and lodges offers “Big Five” game-viewing opportunities with night-drives, off-roading, family-friendly safari activities and lots of “do-good” experiences, such as tree-planting, fair-trade women’s jewelry collaborative and a tour of a wildlife and Maasai education center. Up north in Samburu, guests can track rhinos on foot in Sera Conservancy while staying at Saruni Rhino. Sera Conservancy is a major rhino conservation success story with 25 rhinos, both Eastern White and Black.
Commenting on the acquisition of Saruni properties by Basecamp Explorer, Jeremiah Mutisya, CEO of Saruni Basecamp shared, “Our vision at Saruni Basecamp is to create a lasting, positive impact on people and the planet. To achieve this, we’ve developed a sustainable community model that we are now scaling through our community conservancies. We have uniquely balanced our role as both a non-profit foundation and a for-profit safari business, believing these goals are intrinsically linked.
"Our foundation’s mission is to safeguard wildlife corridors for wildlife to thrive, while also uplifting local communities through employment and land leases and engaging in regenerative practices that enhance the ecosystem. On the business side, our safari operations are designed to offer world-class experiences that celebrate the natural and cultural richness of the Samburu and Masai Mara. By choosing to stay in our boutique camps and lodges, our guests not only enjoy intimate encounters with local communities, wildlife and breathtaking landscapes but also contribute directly to our conservation and community development goals. With Saruni properties now part of our portfolio and more in the pipeline, we’re excited to expand our impact on both the land and the communities that sustain it.”
Saruni Basecamp has a fully local management team at corporate headquarters, and 90 percent of camp staff is hired from local rural tribal communities near the camps. This “hire local” philosophy means that guests feel like they are walking in the shoes of a Maasai or Samburu warrior when they arrive at camp and partake in the cultural activities and excursions available across the collection. There is a strong emphasis on education—Saruni Basecamp wants guests to have an immersive cultural and ecological experience that they can take back home with them.
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