BOUNTIFUL EARTH

As we gather with loved ones this Thanksgiving to think about what we are grateful for and what has brought us joy this past year, many of us will celebrate by sharing a meal. Whether it’s traditional roast turkey and pumpkin pie or a local speciality, we feel blessed by the bountiful sustenance our planet provides us.

Our Thanksgiving video this year celebrates the way our planet nourishes us. The food Earth provides unites us, bringing us joy and nourishment. As a celebration of the fantastic food at each of our properties, we have collected our favourite dishes together in an online recipe book for you to enjoy at home. It’s called COOK and delivers delicious dishes to your inbox over three issues. The third issue has just been released and delves behind the scenes of our kitchens, meeting the masters behind the food. With insights, tips and tricks from our chefs, what shines through is their love for their shambas (kitchen gardens).

The Retreat’s organic kitchen garden

As you watch our Thanksgiving video this year, perhaps, like us, it will cause you to wonder where the food you eat comes from. Where was it grown? How did it reach you? What was it packaged in? These are questions we consider with every ingredient used in our kitchens and is what shapes our thoughtful food philosophy. Sourcing locally (from our own gardens wherever possible), easting seasonally and avoiding packaging is important to us.

Growing what we can at Sala’s Camp in the Masai Mara

The balance between feeding ourselves whilst also providing for wildlife and protecting ecosystems is not an easy one. Working on the front line of wildlife conservation, these are challenges we see every day. Livestock and wildlife competing for grassland, elephants raiding maize fields, forests being cleared for farmland. With the current ongoing drought in Kenya following four consecutive failed rainy seasons, the balance has become even harder than ever.

The Safari Collection’s Recycling Centre at Giraffe Manor

Whilst there is no easy solution to the competing needs of agriculture and wildlife, as individuals, we can at least take personal responsibility for treading as lightly as we can on the environment. Reduce packaging and recycle what we can’t avoid. Save waste shower water for the garden. Eat local and seasonal produce. Use organic waste as compost and plan carefully to reduce food wastage. Our chefs love making seasonal shamba soups to use up surplus veggies in the garden and ensure stalks and all don’t go to waste.

We can also think about how we travel. We can make travel count by supporting grassroots conservation initiatives and choosing environmentally conscious companies that give back. Our Footprint foundation aims to do just that and makes a positive impact on communities and wildlife. For example at Sasaab, every guest pays fees to the community run Ngutuk Ongiron Conservancy. Our partnership with the community helps address the challenge of human-wildlife conflict, both directly, through targeted initiatives, but also indirectly by enabling people to benefit from conservation and creating a vested interest in protecting wildlife.

Save a bucket for thirsty plants at all our camps and lodges

Earth’s ability to sustain the fragile circle of life is a miracle. Yet for many, this blessing is not a given and we cannot take it for granted. As we celebrate with food this thanksgiving, we shall be  thinking of those living in areas where the planet is struggling and where the effects of climate change are most visible.