Anyone that chooses to be a responsible traveler is by nature a unique and special type of person. Perhaps the fact that they are unique is unfortunate because if everyone was a responsible traveler, I doubt we would have as many problems in this world as we do.

Anyways…here’s the deal. Diani, where our home is (yes, that’s what others would call “the office”)  home to lots of unique and special people too, and yes, that includes a very special clothing brand called Lalesso which even the great names like Sienna Miller have worn. Set up by Olivia Kennaway, (one of our own from Diani!) and Alice Heusser, the Lalesso brand was inspired by the intrinsic patterns and vibrant colours of the Kenya’s coastal traditional attire, the kanga. This little story told by Olivia has so much synergy with us – not just because one of our gappers is the star. Lalesso is not just another fashion brand but like Camps International, is one that is based on social responsibilities…Hat tip to Mill!

The Diani weekend beach bar hang out, Forty Thieves, is many things, but a model scouting hot spot, who would have thought? I managed to persuade my good friend Leo to ask Mill Levy, who would later transpire to be a Camp Kenya volunteer, if she was a: A model and b: Be interested in modeling for Lalesso (a clothing brand that she had clearing never heard of). As I watched from afar I realised the situation that my good friend Leo had gotten himself into and that no matter how genuine one might be, a guy asking a hot girl in a bar if she is a model just doesn’t fair lightly! So I stepped in and apparently managed to convince her that we were a legitimate and genuine company and so the ball got rolling…

The rest of the Lalesso shoot crew arrived from South Africa, VC the photographer, Ernstly his assistant and Alice, the other half of Lalesso. With Camp Kenya fully committed and ever helpful assistance, Mill arrived at the final hour, quite literally. Mill is from Melbourne, Australia and has been with Camp Kenya for nearly 2 months. During the dates of the shoot her group was out in their camp in Tsavo, so we had to get her back to Diani, about a 4 hour drive away. A long story short but she missed the first bus coming back from Tsavo and finally arrived back in Diani at midnight. We were to start shooting at 6:30am the next day! So straight to bed for some not so much needed beauty sleep and we were all up at dawn to catch a boat to the sand bar at the reef for the first shoot location. Mill settled in really well and we were all delighted with the first set of pictures.

Back to land and straight in a car off to the next shoot location at The Funzi Keys, an island about an hour south of Diani. Some more fantastic pictures including a great sunset scene on the islands airstrip with the owners little cesna aeroplane as a ‘prop’ in the background. Back to Diani for a much needed good nights sleep and ready for another early start the next day.

Day 2 saw us all head off to Mombasa. The first location was the beautiful old town where reminiscences of old Arabic trading and culture is rich amongst the architecture and life within the streets. All the locals were totally unphased by this bizarre group hauling around big white screens and making a girl walk backwards and forwards hundreds of times. We captured the African cultural essence that lies within the Lalesso brand with the great rustic backgrounds that Mombasa old town boasts. Next was the old Mombasa train station, which despite it’s appearance is still very much in use. Again, both the authorities and by standers were hugely hospitable and let us get on with our work.

Day 3 was beach beach beach and there really is no better location than Diani Beach. Sun, sea, blue sky and sand… not to mention the postcard perfect palm trees that frill out along the vast coastline. Just as the sun settled on the horizon on day 3 we got our final great shot at the Tiwi River Mouth, a magical little destination where the Tiwi river mouth meets the ocean and you get one of the most magical sunsets that I have ever seen anywhere in the world. It was a wrap and the champagne cork was popped!

Mill went back to join her group a couple of days later after a bit of R&R and left us with some fantastic images to start our spring summer 2011 launch campaign. She was an absolute super star and whilst she has done a little bit of modeling previously we hope this job has given her the support and encouragement to pursue a very promising talent that she has… so, you never know what possibilities await for you in Kenya!

(The images shown will be available in Australia at the end of this year and in Europe/USA next summer. Please visit the Lalesso website at www.lalesso.com or shop online at www.lalesso.com/onlinstore or to receive updates of where we are and what we’re up to Subscribe to our newsletter by clicking HERE

From the Camp News Network, Simon Englefield gives you an insight into what happens behind the scenes of the Camp International Africa Office. With just under 600 volunteers expected over the next two months -  the planning, preparation, the smiles, tears and screams and the people behind the scenes are all presented to the public for the first time ever…

1000hrs: Meanwhile, HQ Operations Team cuddle closely to keep the bitter cold air conditioning at bay:

Not to worry, the rest of the team knows what needs to be done:

At least we hope they do

And while the office team mumbo jumbo on the telephone, a star team is assembled to pull it all together:

Good thing they have their thinking caps on

After much deliberation, the Ops Dept. realise they need to take their lead from the workshop (with three hundred safety hats for projects, I am sure they can spare some for us office staff too!)

Even the Financial Controller??

2 months, 4 days and 16 hours later – they are ready:

And over the next six weeks the Camps International Africa Expeditions will:

Prepare and serve 16,000 meals

Assemble over 350 tents in 14 different campsites

Purchase over 15,000 building blocks for our volunteers to construct 8 classrooms, 2 toilet blocks, 2 kitchens and 2 resource centers in Kenya and Tanzania alone

Plant no less than 5000 trees:

Recycle over 15,000 flipflops picked from the beaches into art:

And keep smiling (teeth or no teeth)…

This is Simon Englefield reporting live from Diani:

Out here at Camp Kenya, we would like to think of our doors being open to all walks of life, young (some very, very young) and old. Sure we have our nutty gappers throughout the year (we love them dearly and would have them stay all year if they could!), and our new Life Program at Makongeni is seeing quite a few happy and hardworking adults who are taking a break for their urban grind. And of course we have the School Team expeditions with their insatiable appetite to work day and night. But that’s not all…

It turns out that there are quite a few schools in Kenya that are also beginning to show interest in our programs. A couple of months ago, we received a call from Braeburn Garden Estate saying that they want to come for a school trip to Camp Tsavo for a few days and it went something like this:

“How old are your students?”

“Well we were thinking about bringing the whole school. The younger ones are…well…about eight years old…and the older ones are in their teens…”

“Wow! That’s young! Wonderful! And how many students do you have?”

“Eighty…”

“Lete tu!” (Swahili for, ‘Bring it on!’)

And within weeks, two big yellow buses arrived at Camp Tsavo full to the brim with smelly teachers and smiling students! Over the next few days, the classes split up into different activities. Some went up Mount Kasigau:

And all did come down (eventually)!

Others played with elephant poop (yes, believe it or not it actually makes great paper!)

Three days and a bag full of elephant dung paper later, the two big yellow buses drifted back to the capital city, Nairobi. We had a great time having them with us and I hope they did too!

Then the next phone call came; and this time it was from a lot closer to home: South Coast Academy (a.k.a where my daughter and Simon’s children go to school). So all systems go for these really little ones to spend a day out at Camp Muhaka. Needless to say, a Camp Kenya experience would not be complete without a ride in our trusted old bedford…

This lot were on a mission to learn all about biofuels (given the average age was about six, we had to to talk about what mommy and daddy use to make chips and sausages and what goes into cars to make them go vroom vroom -  I think they got the jist).

And yes, one can’t leave Muhaka without planting some trees…

Great day as we managed not to lose anyone in the forest and everyone went home with a handful of seeds to grow some trees for their easter holidays..

Alas, let the summer season begin…

We are always really touched when we get personal letters from people who have spent time with us at our Camps and even more honoured when someone writes something about us who was part of Camps.

Thanks Rachel…this meant a lot…

Girls and boys, please don’t try this at home!

“And if you don’t drive me to the ice cream shop, I will…”

“You know doc, I have been having terrible nightmares about gappers attacking our drivers and painting themselves with cement. I don’t know if its all the steak I have been eating at night and you know my slippers are…ooh did you watch yesterday’s news…apparently some chap in New York had a heart attack in his office, kicked the bucket and nobody noticed for five days! I think I might be going slightly mad…I am going slightly mad! Teeeheehee…”

Until recently, I was never one to follow sports, especially motorsports. This was all to change when I find out that last year Camp Kenya hosted the first national motocross championship in our backyard and that we were going to do it again. I had never watched a motocross race on television, let alone in real life and now we were about to organise one!

As with all events, be it concerts, festivals or sports days, the success all depends on the planning and preparation. We are very fortunate to have a dedicated team of staff that are well versed in handling hundreds of students at a time so this event was a breeze for them and thankfully everyone else was a lot more relaxed than I was.

The two-day event spoke for itself where we had 22 bikes flying over hills including and a bunch of little ones on their 50cc bikes whizzing around the bend with their parents cheering them on. The race day on October 19th attracted hundreds of local spectators from surrounding villages in Muhaka which is just 12kms south of Ukunda. Personally, this was one of the greatest rewards for me in being part of such an event: that is the fact that a full day of entertainment is free for people from all walks of life, especially since the majority of the people we share the environment with don’t have the luxuries we do. It was all smiles, laughs and cheering from every side of the sand quarry which is rented from 13 different landowners for the two day occasion which again makes the event very special: so many people from the local community stand to benefit not just from the entertainment but financially to as scores of young men are hired for over a week to help prepare the track, the land is rented and so many more bring their wears and tears, samosas and soft drinks to sell on the occasion.

For those with cash to spare, a section is available which you pay an entrance fee of 500/- which gives you access to the well-stocked bar and restaurant run by Ngiri’s restaurant and a perfect view of the entire track. And of course a bouncy castle and DJ kept all ages dancing through the day. Thanks to all the sponsors and ticket sales, we were able to raise approximately Ksh 90,000/- which will all go towards the Camp Kenya Trust projects in Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary.

The humble young National Motocross Champion, Shivam Vinayak stole the day and the hearts of the spectators with his impressive jumps and speed but all racers put up a really good race. Talking to several of the riders individually made me realise we have something really special to offer motor sports in Diani. Not only do they love the challenging sand track but its also another excuse to spend some time on our golden beaches so it’s a win win for all!

A special thanks to all our supporters from across Diani, everybody that contributed to the event and the Camp Kenya volunteers who spent the day in the sun as marshals!

2nd Kenya National Motocross Championship On the South Coast

19th October 2009

For the second year running, the National Motocross Championship is scheduled to take place in Diani on the South Coast of Kenya. The event will run over the long weekend Madaraka holiday on October 18th and 19th and already 40 motocross competitors are confirmed to race.

The two-day event organised by Camp Kenya and the East African Motorsports Club with the blessings of Kenya Motor Sports Federation promises to be a fun filled family weekend. Facilities at the racetrack will include, food and drinks bars (cash), free kids kid’s bouncy castle & face painting, VIP/press section as well as spectator shade, seating and parking. A transfer shuttle from Diani Beach out to the track will operate over the race weekend.

The track is located in Muhaka only 12kms south of Ukunda on the Lunga Lunga Road.

This event will see all profits going to support sustainable community development and conservation projects in Mwalunganje Elephant Sanctuary through the Camp Kenya Charitable Trust.

Practice Day Sunday 18th October Ksh 200 at gate or prior booking.
Race Day Monday 19th October Ksh 500 at gate or Ksh 400 prior booking

For more information contact: Dipesh Pabari, Africa Program Manager, Camps International, Tel: 254 733 989082

Race Tickets & reservations/transfers:
Camp Kenya Ltd, Nancy Muthoni Tel 0734 787336
Email:  nancy (at) campkenya (dot) com

Just been looking through this year’s photos of our Kenyan Gap year projects and found this shot:

Not sure what makes me smile more, the face of the dangler, or that we can’t see the face (or feet) of the danglee…

Click here for more of our africa and asia project photos on flickr

There is no question as to how busy things are right now as we get ready for everyone arriving in the summer. There has been little time to breathe in the last few weeks and everyone has got their teeth sunk into making sure each and every detail is being considered and prepared for. We love it! But we also know how important it is to take a moment to breathe and reflect as a whole. So when our Director, Simon suggested that we organise an in-house staff training in order to bring the entire team together and look at where our strengths are as well as deal with our weaknesses, we thought this through very carefully and asked to professional trainers two spend some time with us. The bottom line is that you have to love your job and spending two full days together certainly showed that we all certainly do and if we can walk a tightrope together, we can do just about anything!

I will let the pictures speak for themselves…

Even our ability to make music with a bunch of trash was put to the test. The results…not bad!

The training took place over two days at Camp Muhaka and staff came in from as far as Tanzania. It was such a pleasure to see how everyone worked so well together and how everyone realised that each and every person has such an important role to play and equally important, that we are all very proud to be a part of the Camps International family!

A big thanks to everyone especially our amazing trainers, Chege and Steve Siaka who made the days possible…

On with the show!