Kibo’s Ecoplace

Kibo’s Ecoplace

Kibo’s Ecoplace is sustanaible Agroforestry plant situated at the border of the village Miti Mirefu, Siha District, 7 km from the town of Engare Nairobi, West Kilimanjaro facing both Mt Kilimanjaro in the east and Mt. Meru in the west.

The environment is a dry savannah area where wildlife migrates between Amboseli National Park in Kenya and Kilimanjaro National Park in Tanzania. Moreover the savanna is used by Massai and villagers to herd their cattle.

The area covers 20 acre, of which by 2024 the first two acres are cultivated.

Reforestation and organic farming

The aim is to replant the area with indiginous trees in combination with organic subsistance farming serving as a model how to survive in the harsh environment of the savanna in a sustainable way in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations.

We face 3 challenges.

The first challenge is how to deal with the drought. Rainfall is erratic, sometimes a rainy season passes without no or only very little rain, causing the period of drought to be more than one or two years. Once every 4-7years the rainfall can be abundant, causing floods and other hazards. This makes cultivation very difficult.

The second challenge is how to deal with the wildlife in combination with farming. Once the rains stops the game – especially elephants- migrate to the green pastures of the mountains and passing through our area at the foot of the mountain, destroying both crops and trees on their way up the mountain.

The third challenge is how to deal with the livestock of the villagers. How to educate the people to raise awareness in environmental protection.

The drought we combat by a connection to the rural water supply system an a storage capacity of 15.000 liters. In future we will harvest rainwater. We grow the trees centrally in a nursery to ensure they are strong enough before planting them in their final location at the start of the rainy season. To make the most of the rainfall, a semi-circular dike is built around the tree to prevent water from running off the field (with thanks to:Just dig it).

To keep the elephants off our property, we plan to do this naturally in the future by planting a hedge of thorny bushes – elephants don’t like them – and keeping bees – elephants don’t like them either. To protect our young plantings and horticultural activities in the beginning, we are using a solar powered electric fence.

To keep the cattle off our land, we will use the same measures as for the elephants, but we will also educate the surrounding community about the importance of conservation and encourage them to plant trees on their land for fodder and firewood.

Help is needed to find out which trees thrive best in this environment, and to combine organic farming/horticulture with forestry. The manager attended an initial introductory course on organic farming .

Visitors are offered the opportunity to contribute financially to the reforestation effort and to offset some of their CO2 emissions from air travel by symbolically planting a tree.

Ecotourism: Bed and breakfast, Campsite and Bikesafari

In addition to our agroforestry efforts we provide accommodation for a retreat and as a B&B and Campsite. The modest cottage has 4 twin rooms, an indoor toilet, an outdoor washroom with a toilet, shower and 4 wash basins. There is an outdoor shower for 4 people.
Camping in the grass in front of the house under the trees.

From Kibos Ecoplace we offer a guided bike safari of 32 km to the game in the savanne where you will certainly see Thomson and Grant gazelles and Zebras, most likely Giraffes, and when lucky a variety of other animals like elephants, wildebeast, ostrich, jackhal, eagle and vultures.

You can also do a walking safari from Kibo’s Ecoplace.

In the early morning and evening you may pay a visit to a neighbouring Masaai Boma to watch the milking of the cows and goats .

In the evening, you can admire the beautiful sunset over Mt. Meru to the west, accompanied by the sounds of returning Massai cattle.

The income from these activities will enable the manager to continue his forestry and agriculture/horticulture activities in the event of setbacks due to drought or forage.