Barcelona Business School recently welcomed two eco-tourism experts who discussed with students the sustainable tourism operations of the Norwegian organization ‘Basecamp Explorer’ in Kenya, Norway, India and the Pyrenees. Tina Frisk and Moses Ole Sayalel particularly focused on Basecamp Explorer´s operations in Kenya, where Tina works as manager and Moses as safari guide.
In Kenya, the Basecamp lodge is located right outside the Maasai Mara National Game Reserve where Moses and his colleagues take visitors on safaris and where they may come across leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, lions, elephants, antelopes and zebras. “We need to preserve it for travelers and for the people who live there,” Tina emphasizes, while Moses adds proudly: “You cannot tell the difference when you are inside and outside of the game reserve.”
Lodge operators follow codes banning off-road driving and poaching. “The consumer is very aware these days,” Tina says. “If their driver is doing something he shouldn´t do, they will tell him.” Basecamp built and operates the camp in an eco-friendly way. The company relies on local construction materials such as grass and stones and operates using solar heat and bio-toilets to minimize environmental impact. Including Moses, the majority of the workers come from the local, Maasai community, where a health clinic and school operates with donations from visitors to the Basecamp lodge.
Among Basecamp´s future projects is an international seminar, “Tourism in Peace with People and Nature,” scheduled for March in India. For more information, we suggest you visit http://www.basecampexplorer.com.
