HOME STAYS PROGRAMMES IN KENYA

Foot Safaris Africa has tailored made ventures, throughout the year. Price includes all transport to and from Nairobi, activities, all meals and accommodation.
 
Kenya holidays
Cultural Africa holidays
Community based tourism
Foot Safaris Africa offers Community-based village home stays, Kenya
Village home stays in Kenya: We offer community-based tours to rural villages in Kenya.

Through our village home stay in Kenya we supply you with a responsible tourism alternative to mass packaged holidays with travel ethos that co-operate with the local communities to improve their economy, and protect their local environments. These tours are also known as community-based village home stays or visits.

Your accommodation is provided by the host community in their homes or homesteads. In return the visitors are required to respect and absorb their culture as they provide some immediate economic and social benefits to these communities.

In summary, this programme creates a very unique experience of Kenya which is famous for ‘big-game safari holidays’. It enlightens the visitors’ perspective of day to day life in a rural village setting.

ITINERARY FOR HOME STAYS

DAY 1: NAIROBI
 Arrive in Nairobi and check-in into one of our Community Centres. We carry out a presentation of how your visit will be structured on a day to day basis. We also use that time to allocate your host family, discuss what to expect codes of etiquette and also provide you with the option of leaving your valuables in a safe place which we make available.  

DAY 2: NAIROBI-NAROMORU
Depart for the community-based village home stay at Naromoru village. Depart Nairobi for the village homesteads, arriving at around lunchtime. After settling in your accommodation in your host family’s home, you are then invited to share a traditional meal. Each host family welcomes a maximum of four guests including a staff member (to assist with translation where necessary). During the evening there is a songs & games session to help ‘break the ice’ and blend in with your host family and the other villagers.

 DAY 3: NARO MORU
Introduction to the community. All the visitors gather together after the breakfast for a talks and discussions about history, culture and present-day status of the host community. In the afternoon there is a ‘cultural learning’ sessions where you are given the option to learn a specific element of the community’s culture e.g. handicrafts, medicine, language, songs & dance. The host families also use this session to display their handicrafts for sale.

DAY 4: NARO MORU
A day in the village. Activities on this day are based around spending time with your host family helping them in their daily tasks. These vary from family to family however the most common activities you would participate in are:- harvesting grass for livestock, collecting firewood, tilling the land, sowing, fetching water, market shopping and milking the cows.  

DAY 5: NARO MORU-PROJECT VISITS
A project with the community. The community has identified with a joint project (utilizing the proceeds from tourism) they sustain depending on their needs. Such projects could include: small construction projects (wall making bricks, borehole digging), handicrafts and weaving, environmental clean up etc. The rest of the day is spent visiting and participating in any tasks related to these projects.
 
DAY 6: NARO MORU-LOCAL FACILITIES VISITS
 Visiting the local area. We organize visits to the local hospitals and schools as well other landmarks that form a focal meeting point for the community such as the church or community centres. This provides an opportunity to understand how the village is connected with their wider environment and locality. Your hosts also take their guests on a local site-seeing trip for local areas of special interest. The Mau Mau caves in the mt.Kenya Forest are one of the major interests here.

DAY 7: NARO MORU –ABERDARE NATIONAL PARK-EXCURSION
The day is spent visiting nearby Aberdare National Park viewing and appreciating the wildlife and scenery.  Aberdare National Forest Reserve known for its ‘big-five’ wild animals, valleys and spectacular water falls. After the discovery visits to the national park you drive back to the village. Later in the day the host families organize an exchange ‘cultural evening’ which is also a time for the guests to thank the hosts.  

DAY 8: NAROMORU –NAIROBI
Have a final farewell breakfast in the village and bid your hosts bye and
Depart the homesteads and villages for a final shopping day, in Nairobi.  


TRAVELLER REVIEWS FOR COMMUNITY-BASED VILLAGE HOMESTAYS,  KENYA

The host families helped us learn some of their language, customs, farming practices, crafts, cooking, and generally how to enjoy life without electricity! We didn't see another white person the whole week - wonderful!! I cannot recommend it highly enough. (more)
This holiday makes a difference through our village home stays in Kenya your visit will help encourage the villagers to support responsible ecotourism as a viable alternative to sustainability rather than focusing on the unsustainable practices of commercial farming. Your visit provides an important income which will reinforce and promote the long term conservation of their cultural identity and their nurturing environment.

The village communities receives proper economic benefits from the tourism operation and are remunerated for their work in the operation. In addition they are trained in all the different areas related to socially and ecologically responsible tourism.

BENEFITS FOR COMMUNITIES:
1. Provide a more sustainable form of livelihood for local communities alongside their                               established   means for earning decent living.
2. Fosters the sustainable use and collective responsibility over land and resources.
3. Encourage communities themselves to be more directly involved in conservation of their local environment.
4. Generate local economic benefits by generation of income acquired from hosting, translation, and transportation services for the visitors.
5. This creates an understanding and goodwill towards other conservation measures such as protected areas, indigenous forests and natural habitats.
6. This project mobilizes and helps to empower women and women’s groups who are the main participants in this project as they welcome the visitors into their own homes or provide contacts from their villages that would supply accommodation for the visitors.  
The communities that we have consulted and engaged to participate in this project are;-
      Mukarara Village, Murang’a, Central Province.
     Olturoto Village, Kajiado North, Rift Valley Province.
     Karurumo Village, Embu, Eastern Province.
     Kariara Village, Aberdare’s region, Central Province.
     Kabimoi Village, Baringo District, Rift Valley Province.
     Mulaani Village, Machakos district, Eastern Province.
     Manyatta Village,Naromoru,Central Province.