Although every traveler to Africa comes home with various highlights from their trip, it’s safe to say that some of the most potent memories that visitors return with are the ones comprised of the African people and their eclectic cultures.

One of the most exceptional places in Africa to discover local traditions, lifestyles, and cultures is in Kenya. Thanks to a variety of thriving community projects, you can have a rare and highly-exclusive look into the local communities and lifestyle as you interact with locals, and visit popular community spots.

When you participate in an eco-tourism tour, you’re often guided by a local who is certified and highly-knowledgeable of the area. When these locals are employed, they are able to provide for their family and give back to the economy.

Below are a few projects happening in Kenya today, where you can discover the beauty and joy of what eco-tourism efforts can provide for local communities:

Interact with the Samburu people in a local community near Ol Malo. When you take part in one of Ol Malo’s community tours, you’ll discover the cultural lifestyle of the Samburu people as you interact with local children and learn about the current community projects. One such project, the L’chekuti Children’s Painting Program, is one of the most inspirational and empowering projects occurring in Ol Malo today. Children ages four through ten can come to the Sampiripiri Arts Workshop to paint and socialize with the other kids. Thanks to this program, over 600 children have remained happy and healthy.

Touring these community projects is often the highlight of many travelers who visit Ol Malo.

Simultaneously help to protect the wildlife of the Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem and The Maasai residents of Mbirikani Group Ranch: The Maasailand Preservation Trust (MPT) is an organization established to create a balance between sustaining the local economy and the local eco-system.

With a population of 10,000 individuals, the Maasai community depends greatly upon their agricultural lifestyle. And when wildlife impedes on the success of this lifestyle, the economy begins to fail and food is scarce. The MPT was established in order to help locals thrive as well as sustain the environment. Through economics, education, and ecology, locals have discovered a balance between their lifestyle and the residential wildlife.

The Mbirikani Conservation Model is comprised of four key sections:

• Predator compensation fund: This fund works to provide compensation to farmers who have lost their livestock due to residential predators. The fund gives farmers new livestock, which greatly helps to discourage farmers from killing these predators and endangering their population.
• Community game scouts: Game scouts are employed to physically prohibit acts against the environment. The game scouts are deployed into the field to help stop poaching, protect the endangered black rhino population, reduce human-wildlife conflict, protect river systems, offer general security, and monitor the operation of the Predator Compensation Fund.
• Education: One of the MPT’s most influential programs is their education program. They offer the Wildlife Scholarship Program, which helps provide individuals with primary, secondary, and tertiary education. In addition to this scholarship program, MPT has helped provide for the establishments of two primary schools in the Mbirikani Group Ranch, and works to educate over 300 students per year. These educational programs were established with the hope and conviction that students will use this knowledge and understanding to the advantage of the local community, and therefore shape its future.
• Field research and additive conservation programs: These programs hire Lion Guardians, who are locals employed to monitor lion movements using advanced tracking equipment, and reduce human-wildlife conflict by lending their services to the community. Many times, conflict between humans and wildlife can be reduced by the Lion Guardians’ efforts to find lost livestock, and help build sturdier fences around livestock areas.