Mfangano Island Camp

Mfangano Island Camp offers 6 rondaval cottages right on the lakeshore, each built in the traditional Luo style, with banana thatch and natural clay, and opening up to spectacular panoramas across the crystalline lake. The rooms are light and airy, with four-poster beds, en suite bathrooms, and private verandas with your own sunbeds, perfect for watching a romantic African sunset.

The food at Mfangano Camp is exceptional; meals are always freshly prepared and locally sourced. Leafy green salads picked from their own home-grown garden are lunchtime favourites and dinners will often feature the daily catch of Nile Perch, served overlooking the lake with freshly baked bread and chilled wine.

Take a cooling dip in the horizon pool right by the shore or go a little further into the clear aqua waters of the lake itself

Lake Victoria is a great place to go fishing with high chances of catching both Tilapia and Nile Perch, which can grow up to 6 feet long! There are a number of fishing boats at the camp that are well equipped to go trawling for these scaly kings of the lake.

Venture out on a lovely morning or afternoon traditional boat trip to the Sacred Island. If you’re lucky, you might be able to see some spotted-necked otters scrambling over boulders or dashing up from the waves beneath the overhanging trees!

The bird life around Lake Victoria and Mfangano Island is spectacular, with over 350 different bird species having been identified. You can tag along with the resident ornithologist on bird-watching trips around the island, by boat or on foot. You just might even get to see the majestic Fish Eagles nesting in the fig trees along the lakeshore.

The Luo culture and traditions are very different from those in other parts of Kenya, and those staying at Mfangano Island Camp will have the amazing chance to experience this. Luo villages are peppered along the shores of Lake Victoria, where you can visit, meet the locals and learn all about their day-to-day lives.

In 2013 the Governors Collection opened a Health Centre at Mara Rianda and formally handed it over to Community Health Partners Kenya (CHP), who offer healthcare that is affordable, accessible and to a high standard. The Health Centre provides all kinds of care including antenatal and postnatal care, family planning, HIV testing and HIV/Aids treatment, vaccinations, counselling, and advice on nutrition and sanitation.

The facility has made healthcare far more accessible and dramatically improved the quality of health for the Maasai community in the Mara Rianda area. And because of continued support the Health Centre has been able to make even more new additions such as a maternity block, a portable oxygen concentrator and humidifier, and an electrical suction machine.

Governors Collection closely works with the Mara Rianda Charitable Trust to support the primary school in Mara Rianda. The school began as a few small huts set up by parents who had sold some of their cattle for the funding. The local community requested the help of the Governors’ Camp Collection and the BBC team from “Big Cat Diaries” and in 2004 the Governors’ Collection set up the UK Mara Rianda Charitable Trust to raise funds for the school. Back then the school had less than 250 children and very basic facilities, and the first request by the headteacher was for chalk for the blackboards.

There are now over 3,000 children receiving an education at Mara Rianda Primary School. With funding and support, the school has been transformed and expanded to benefit the pupils, teachers and ultimately the whole community. Some of the developments achieved through the efforts of the Trust and Collection include:

• 4 classroom blocks accommodating 17 classes and a library
• A girls’ dormitory with room for 160 girls
• On-site accommodation for 6 teachers
• Fresh water supply and solar power
• Paying of 4 teachers’ salaries
• Support for gifted students through secondary school
• Supplies of books, stationery, desks, cupboards and teaching materials
• Sanitary provisions and protection for girls
• Continued maintenance of school facilities

Since hosting its first guests in 1990, Mfangano has dedicated itself to creating a model of sustainable tourism on the island – creating jobs, assisting communities and social projects such as supporting schools and health clinics. Their aim is to continue developing a culture of sustainability, while still preserving the island’s heritage, that will empower communities and allow them to progress without full dependence on outside help.

To help offset their carbon footprint, the camp has undertaken a number of initiatives. They recently revamped their waste management and recycling to be more efficient as well as planted their own garden, which is now thriving! With the help of Barefootsoulutions, the camp has been able to implement composting for healthier soil, create mini ecosystems with herb and vegetable gardens, and reduce water waste by creating ‘banana circles’, which is a circle planted with bananas and/or plantains around the edge.

They also support the growth of cassava, sweet potato, cowpeas, sugar cane and lemon grass. Their partnership with Barefootsolutions has also enabled them to run regular workshops about building low-emission and low-consumption wood burners, techniques of building that are eco friendly, and encouraging sustainable agriculture, fish farming and aquaponics.