Lion Kids Camp: Solio Lodge

By Ali Allport, Conservation and Community Manager for The Safari Collection

The Ewaso Lions Kids Camps is an inspiring program designed to educate children living alongside wildlife about the importance of conservation.

Most Kenyan children have never had a close encounter with the wildlife that our visitors come to Kenya to see. Many children who live adjacent to the parks have never been inside the parks themselves.

The Lion Kids Camp gives Kenyan children the opportunity to experience the wonders of seeing animals in the wild firsthand and in a positive manner. These children are the future of wildlife conservation in Kenya.

By enabling them to experience wildlife in such a positive way, we help to pave the way for a bright future for wildlife conservation. Ewaso Lions has successfully partnered with The Safari Collection in 2013 and 2014 to run a Lion Kids Camp in Samburu.

Expanding the program to include the children living on the boundaries of Solio Ranch is very exciting for us. Lion Kids camp is sponsored by Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund and AFEW (K) ltd.

Solio Ranch and Solio Lodge both hosted the Lion Kids Camp on a complimentary basis for all the children and their teachers, for which we are incredibly grateful.

Solio Ranch provides an internationally acclaimed, unrivalled wildlife experience, and Solio Lodge is one of most luxurious Kenya safari lodges – paving the way for an exceptional Lion Kids Camp experience.

In liaison with the area chief, Honi primary school and the Laburra primary school were selected to participate in a competition. The children were given the theme: “Tourism and Conservation” and asked to submit a piece of artwork in order to have the opportunity to attend Lion Kids Camp.

The response to the art competition was overwhelming, with 149 amazing stories, poems, drawings and sculptures to choose from. It’s always a little nerve wracking for us when we are doing a project in a new location – unrehearsed and untested!

However, I am thrilled to say that it could not have been more perfect, even the weather behaved.

Lion Kids camp is sponsored by Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund and AFEW (K) ltd.