My name is Nelson Ole Reiya, and I’m very glad to welcome you to Nashulai Journeys, the travel arm of the our acclaimed Nashulai Maasai Conservancy (nashulai.com). Not surprsingly, Nashulai Journeys was born from the same passionate sense of mission our people has to protect this critical part of the world, and give you the rare opportunity to discover and share with us the beauty of ancestral lands , knowledge and stories.
It’s a remarkable story.
Here on the great grasslands where humankind began, Nashulai Maasai Conservancy, was in 2016 bootstrapped into existence by our community as the first ever indigenous -owned and -governed conservancy in the vast Maasailand of Kenya. we have for far too long been displaced from our land by outsiders and old models of tourism. Our determined, interdependent mission for the 21st century: “Conserve Wildlife, Preserve Culture, Reverse Poverty.”
In awarding us in 2020 the prestigious Equator Prize, the United Nations Development Program heralded us for being “in the vanguard of a paradigm-shift” for solutions to climate change through ancestral knowledge combined with cutting-edge science, and the regeneration of the land and culture. And indeed, we’ve seen the wildlife return in record numbers—as the Maasai say: “the animals vote with their feet.”
Last year, after reclaiming an ancient elephant birthing ground, 25 baby elephants were born inside the conservancy. You will now find a density of wildlife in our 15,000 private acres that exceeds that of the adjoining Maasai Mara National Reserve–one of the greatest natural tourist attractions of the world. For our efforts, in 2022 we were named one of the UNDP’s “Heroes of Biodiversity” and “Guardians of Vanishing Ecosystem.”
Now we invite you to visit not only our beautiful conservancy –to experience the true hospitality of the Maasai people (not “fake tourism”) and walk across the savannah with trusted Maasai warriors and guides (as you cannot do in the public Maasai Mara Reserve)–but also a special handful of local and indigenous communities across Africa and India who we’ve selected to partner with us in travel that’s committed to sustaining some of the world’s most precious, sacred places.
The hospitality, warm hearts, smiles, laughter and storytelling you will find on our Journeys will, we are sure, become not just a precious memory but a part of your own story. YOUR OWN JOUrNEY.
UNDERSTANDING WHAT DIFFERENTIATES US
OUR MAASAI WORD “NASHULAI” MEANS “WE CO-EXIST.” That together we live in harmony with the land, and our domestic animals and the wildlife. No one of course knows the land — the land of our forefathers, where the bones of our ancestors lie — better than the people who have stewarded it for centuries, living side by side with the wildlife through all seasons. We know the climate in all its increasing changes, not in any abstract way but from the grasses and soil; we can tell you where an ancient elephant nursery lies, and the preferred resting places of the lions. Knowledge of plants and their medicinal qualities is part of the education of our children. We love our rich, beautiful land guarded by our warriors. Our desire is to share that knowledge with you.
TRUST, RESPECT and DIGNITY are at the heart of our culture–as of many indigenous cultures. Our standing as an indigenous community provides us with a network of special connections to other similarly knowledgeable communities who have worked through many generations to sustain their culture and lands. We’re proud to be able to offer you the chance to experience their hospitality too, in the amazing beauty of those unique landscapes.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: NASHULAI MAASAI CONSERVANCY IS COMMUNITY RUN AND OWNED. Proceeds from Nashulai Journeys are rigorously passed along to the community, supporting our voluntary bursary for children’s schooling, women’s empowerment, food security in times of drought, and college training for our youth, as well as improving conservation and rotational cattle practices throughout the community, and sustainably reversing poverty.
HOW NASHULAI JOURNEYS WAS BORN
It was the happy result of an unexpected meeting between myself and the renowned travel writer, Stuart Butler. Author of more than 100 Lonely Planet Guide books, frequent contributor to Geographical Magazine, the BBC, MongaBay, Sierra Magazine, and many other international media outlets, Stuart specializes in East Africa, the Himalaya, and his home region of southwest France. He’s an intrepid, highly respected and respectful traveller, caring passionately about our vanishing environment and wildlife, and he fit right in with the Nashulai team!
As Stuart says:
“After meeting Nelson, I was thrilled to put my thirty years of travel experience to good work by coming onboard as Nashulai Journeys’ travel expert and tour designer. Kenya is a second home to me, and I’d come to the Conservacy to interview Nelson because I’d been hearing a lot about the award-winning Nashulai over the last few years. A small upstart Conservancy that was really changing the old model of what a conservancy is, and had had incredible success rehabilitating the habitat and wildlife, all while empowering education and women, and reducing poverty in the community. I’ve travelled all over the world, but I decided this was it– I wanted immediately to put my experience and efforts behind Nashulai Journeys. Its mission is undeniably important in today’s world.
I also know how many travellers long for such hard-to-find experiences. I know the network of local communities in other countries similarly working hard to protect their ancestral lands. And I know well the very warm, special welcome they offer their visitors.”
What is travel in the 21st century?
We deliberately launched Nashulai Journeys at a time when travel itself is having to undergo a real rethink. Tourism is one of the largest industries in the world, a multi-billion dollar business. We want to travel. But the threats to our world, and our concern about how best to sustainably support it, must now affect our decision-making. Judicious choices must be made.
We know that all travel today has an impact. On the negative side, it has become a burden on the planet. On the positive side it provides a living to millions of people across the world. But what Nashulai Journeys hopes to provide is the chance for you to be inspired by the natural world, and to better understand what can still be achieved by strong hearts and minds to sustain our planet.
And that includes finding ways to sustain and support the people who protect them. Because we cannot afford to let them disappear.
