Off the Beaten Path: Mfangano Island Camp - community development

We also wanted to share the 'other' side of Mfangano Island Camp from our friends at Governor's; what they do for the environment and the local community. Read on...

Community Development

The local communities and especially the kids on Mfangano Island have proved extremely bubbly and welcoming to guests on cultural walks. Their charm has worked wonders, with many guests generously donating to various charitable projects. A big thanks must go out to Erk Thomsen from Germany who is has invested so generously that he is now famous on the island!

Currently we have 3 great community projects on the go:

Solar Electricity

Our neighbouring village of Nyakweri now boasts a good primary school with over 300 pupils largely down to the Camp and our charitable guests. In addition to 4 classrooms, our latest project which is currently underway is to introduce solar powered lighting and electricity to the school. This is a first of a kind project in the area and should help to allow students requiring extra tuition to do so at night without the expense incurred by their parents currently of fueling gas lights. Teachers will also be able to use radio and other multimedia to help in everyday classes, broadening the perspective of this isolated community.

Nyakweri Clinic

Late 2010 we managed to secure financing to build a government operated clinic in Nyakweri Village. The construction for this is commencing in the week ahead. The new clinic will provide nursing and drug prescription to this community, who have so far had unfortunate deaths with critically ill or injured individuals which would otherwise be preventable with easy medical access.

TIPS School (www.tipsinternational.wordpress.com)

Erk Thomsen was so taken by this small (74 kids) community run school that he decided to become its patron. The school (in Yokia) provides very affordable and valuable education for Kids aged 2yrs - 14yrs and helps to freely educate orphaned children. The school is also developing a programme to help economically disadvantaged widows to become self-sufficient.

A feeding programme started in October 2010 where kids get fed a free lunch every day, where previously many children just went hungry. Last week 100 school bags and uniforms were distributed to the pupils for the first time. Currently we are deciding on a contractor to build a classroom for the year 5's. We are also securing a supply of books and syllabuses for the kids and teachers as well as other teaching materials and even additional teachers. The kids have also been given a football to kick about! To witness the turnaround in progress is astonishing. Where less than a year ago there were nothing but a few syllabuses shared between teachers for 7 classes and not a dictionary in the entire school! The classrooms are nothing but tin shacks with rubble floors. 30 new desks have also been supplied. It really is a miracle, and we hope to see it progress into a definitive success story in community development and co-operation!

Photos courtesy Governor's Camp

Off the Beaten Path: Mfangano Island Camp - birds, otters & monkeys

From our friends at Governor's Camps, here is the continued story of Mfangano Island Camp, a little slice of paradise on Lake Victoria.

Birds:

December highlights included frequent sightings of a transient guest in camp believed to be a 'Black-Chested Snake Eagle'; which provided fluttering gems of excitement, being seen swooping a few metres above ground level in the Northern side of the camp for a three week period. The resident African Pied Wagtail duo successfully hatched their second chick in 2010 on the 18th of December in their favourite nesting site, our 120 HP boat Atutu. We hope to accommodate them again in the New Year! The small migrant population of Open-Billed Storks' also migrated to Mfangano in late December. As ever the egg-eating snakes on the island have been taking full advantage of breeding birds and just yesterday a 5ft Green Mamba was seen snaking its way in to a weaver bird colony at an elevated residence of more than seven meters.

Otters & Monkeys:

Native Vervet Monkeys have tripled their numbers in the last year and don't seem to be stopping there. This is giving the farming community a real headache as they battle to protect their farms from sunrise to sunset during the upcoming growing season. Within Camp approximately 75% of all adult females are carrying young infants. These mothers troop around in a crèche with the month old babies clinging closely to their bellies. Whilst the last batch of 4/5 month old youngsters are now fully independent and foraging on their own and bounding between trees with boundless energy. Surprisingly, a large male monkey in the 30+ strong troop in the northern side of the camp has been seen carrying an infant around in maternal fashion. This is not something we have seen before and we assume the mother has died and the baby is cared for by this relative and suckled by nursing female(s) of the family.

Otters have been seen in abundance over the last few months with all guests being fortunate enough to see these graceful creatures. We were even fortunate enough to witness a loved up couple mating and courting in the shallows on a stretch of heavily bouldered shoreline with a backdrop of steep sloped and unblemished forest on the eastern side of Wakula Village.



Coming up: Community Development at Mfangano Island

Photos courtesy Kaila Millar

Off the Beaten Path: Mfangano Island Camp

An ideal retreat from the hustle and bustle of modern life, Mfangano Island Camp is an oasis of tranquility, lapped by the waters of Lake Victoria and shaded by giant fig trees. Lawns hug the waterline, flowerbeds and rock gardens surround the camp. Enormous boulders sit at the water’s edge, a perch for cormorants or giant monitor lizards to sun themselves. Each room features a private veranda and sun beds. The food is as fresh as can be, fished from the lake (hopefully by you!) or picked fresh from the island’s vegetable gardens and orchards. We are featuring excerpts from 'Life on the Lakes' from our friends at the Governor's Camp collection this week in the Safari Journal Blog.

Camp & Island Life

The Drought:

Mfangano Island experienced a very long dry season as from July 2010 up until the end of December. The anticipated rains of October never materialised and the island was only saved by a relatively small spattering of rainfall from the end of December to early January, where mists shrouded the horizons. Thankfully the Island's dependence on just one yearly crop and fishing meant that the Suba were not crippled by this localised drought, instead the residents are now cultivating the land ready for the rainy season (mid March - May).

Fishing:

January has seen bountiful catches of 'Omena' (the bitter East African whitebait), which is a Luo and Suba tribe staple. This is a good sign for the Lake's well being, as are the daily Otter sightings which have provided an entertaining sight for all our lucky guests!

Late 2010 saw good fishing from the Camp. We managed to record a 39kg Perch in October by Mr. Tim Mountfort from South Africa. In November Mr. John Delgado from the States caught a 20kg fish which also made it to our board of fame. The largest caught in December was 9kgs caught by Mr. Andrews from California. We look forward to some more good fishing in 2011 and anticipate getting more names on the record board!

Next post: birds, otters and monkeys

Photos courtesy Kaila Millar