Elewana Collection Guides the way
Elewana Collection Guides the way
Elewana Collection is investing heavily in Guide training to ensure we have the best guides in Africa. We train our current guides on a regular basis to ensure they are at the top of their field, in our continued efforts to make sure guests have a superior experience when they stay at an Elewana property.
In addition, we have just launched our first Guide Apprenticeship Program and the first few have been chosen to be trained, ultimately becoming Elewana Guides. Only an exceptional few who complete the Elewana Apprenticeship Guide Course will be offered employment within the group. This is a two year course covering a number of areas, from the workshop to in-house so they grasp the foundations of what is involved to ensure an exceptional guest experience. Further to that is the guiding itself, which trains them to understand the dynamics of dealing with different guests and managing their individual needs and expectations. There is also the enhanced knowledge of wildlife, habitat and everything that falls under that, including conservation, behaviour and so much more.
Craig McFarlane is Head of Guide Training & Activities and he has an impressive CV with over 27 years’ experience, his knowledge of the Bush is unrivalled with only a few being trained at his level in Africa. Originally from South Africa but he has had the opportunity to work all over Southern Africa. For the past year he has been with Elewana Collection in Kenya and Tanzania training the team of Guides to the highest standards.
In a series of features we will cover the Guide training and Apprentice program in more detail so follow future Newsletters for more information.
Collars are not fitted purely to monitor the lion populations, it has many other benefits. It also allows lions to be closely monitored and in doing so reduce human encounters that have consequences. Last year revealed that due to weak and poorly guarded community livestock, conflict between lions and humans escalated in the Laikipia ecosystem. In collaring lions that have learnt to kill livestock allows the team to closely track where they are at all times by the real time movement data transmitted from the iridium collars. Teams on the ground respond when a lion moves into an area where they may get into trouble. Other projects (Living with Lions and University of California) are joining Oxford University based Lion Landscapes in contributing collars. Save the Elephants have developed a user-friendly app that maps the lion on google earth giving livestock owners the ability to avoid lions, or increase protection efforts in response to actual lion presence, thus better defending their livestock from lion attacks.
In order to monitor this important species, the Great Grevy’s Rally conducts a photographic census of the population every two years. Between 2016 and 2018 Kenya experienced devastating drought and conflict which greatly impacted the Grevy’s zebra. The 2018 census was a chance for the stakeholders in the region to come together and learn more about the continued conservation efforts to protect the Grevy’s zebra and the environments they inhabit.
The Elewana Collection was honoured to co-host the event for the second consecutive year in celebration of the Tanzanian delegation that will represent the country at the International Tourism Fair in Berlin to take place from the 7 – 12 March 2018.
The team embarked on a massive exercise to ear notch at least 20 rhinos over 6 days on the Lewa-Borana Landscape, with Subira, a 3.7-year-old black rhino being the first to get her notch pattern. Three rhinos were notched on the first day with the rest following over the remaining days.
There are so many incredible places to visit while staying at Elewana The Manor, one being a visit to the Ngorongoro Crater forest to see the extraordinary Elephant Caves and picturesque waterfalls.
Our 2018 Land & Life Foundation Wildlife Warrior Scholarships have been awarded at Ololomei, Esiteti, Kachiuru and Ura Gate Primary Schools across Kenya. The new Warriors received their t-shirts & new trunks as they leave primary school behind and begin their new life as secondary students and Wildlife Warriors!
The first nest in our turtle hatchery for 2018 was placed on 10th February with over a hundred eggs in the beach. We're hoping they will hatch in approximately two months. although this does depends on the weather. Since February it has been fairly hot, we anticipate more females to be hatched. The sex of a turtle is determined by the temperature of the nest and in most cases, eggs from warmer nests hatch as all females. Having more female’s means more eggs will be laid hence better chance of increasing the number of Turtles in the years to come.
Shanga’s purpose-built, open workshop is located in the grounds of Elewana Arusha Coffee Lodge and is a wonderful experience for visitors to meet the inspirational staff, to view and participate in the creative process behind Shanga products. In 2018 we are looking forward to creating even greater interaction between our clients and staff through the different activities we offer to ensure a greater understanding and enhancement of the ethos of Shanga with the following exciting, free activities:
Elewana Afrochic Diani Beach have been selected within the 2018 Global Luxury Hotel & Spa Awards, as our Most Outstanding Luxury Boutique Hotel - Kenya.
China bought in a similar ban earlier this year across the mainland. The ban was announced last year but came into effect on the last day of 2017. After a yearlong transition to phase out legal ivory sales, it is now illegal to buy ivory anywhere in China. 
