NYERI HOMESTAY TRIP

Date: 18^th-19^th September 2015

Participants

Elijah Kasati – Ministry of tourism trade and east African affairs, Kenya

Ole Taiko Lemayian – Executive Director KECOBAT

Kamalha Kireru Felex – Project officer KECOBAT

Host Participants

Wanjiru francis Karagu – A&MK

Wangombe earnest - A&MK

The trip:

The trip of KECOBAT and ministry team set off from Nairobi with three participants and met with the host team of two from Aberdare & Mt Kenya Region Farm & home-stay Association, at karatina where they started to show us around after a brief introduction. We visited a total of five homestay projects and the office of the Aberdare & Mt Kenya Region Farm & home-stay Association;

No	Name	Contact name	Phone
1	Zadhili Home-stay in Karatina	Gakenia Wanjiru	0737/0733170980
2	Jama Care Centre, a holiday home for the aged	N. Jama	0722785735
3	Waka Complex of Medical Tourism
4	Dancun Villa, Muthua-ini
5	Kinini's, Kigogo-ini
6	A&MK Regional office		0727291806

Zadhili Home-stay in Karatina:

It was a simple home with very happy people who took us around the garden, the farm and the house interpreting everything. The home has two bedrooms available for the visitors, a library and runs a plant selling business. The project is young and has not accommodated any visitor yet. The site is accessible by marrum road of a Tarmac road from Karatina to Nyeri town

The needs of the home are;

·        

•  Profiling the product,
•  Interpretation training
•  Briefing and guiding information to the home owner on homestays,  
•  Content collection for information to upload on the forthcoming website

Jama Care Centre, a holiday home for the aged:

This home sits on a five acre property that has been donated by an elderly man, Mr. N. Jama, to host a proposed home and center for the elderly and other relevant tourism investments. It is currently hosting a catholic brother (Joseph) of the “our lady of the poor” congregation (originating from Philippines) as they work on concretizing their partnership with Aberdare & Mt Kenya Region Farm & home-stay Association and the owner donor of this home, before they can work on the establishment of the home of the elderly and retired people. This home will be replicated in other parts of the country like it has been in other countries including Rome, London, USA and Belgium. In the short run, the home may not appeal for the homestead since their plan is too broad and with no caretakers to operate the homestead. However, it is a good cause and a potential project that doubles for tourism and community development that can be replicated elsewhere.

The needs of the home are;

• Connection to potential sources of support,
• Connection to national media channels for the voice of the elderly to be heard
• Linkage to the ministry of tourism and ministry of finance to help the women brochure a tour van on duty free basis.

Kinini's, Kigogo-ini:

With an extended vegetable garden around the home, we were welcomed by the care taker and he showed us around the farm quite well. The home is covered by an organic farm on every inch of its land with assorted vegetables and tea on the side. Besides, while at this home, we took the best panoramic view of the surrounding villages, town and Mount Kenya on the far end. This home was said to have other side homes that would work as annex in case the clients turned up in bigger numbers. This home is new and has never accommodated any clients yet. At meeting the home owner in town, we realized that he has extensive catering skills of all kinds of foods. With his knowledge of the food nutrient and medicinal values, the home is a potential medical tourism destination. In that case, people can travel there either to learn the nutrients and medical values of the different foods, modern agriculture training or if they have ailments they can go there to take organic foods for treatment.

The needs of the home are;

•          Profiling the product,
•          Interpretation training
•          Briefing and guiding information to the home owner on homestays, 
•          Content collection for information to upload on the forthcoming website
•          Development of a small brochure of the home

Dancun Villa, Muthua-ini:

Though it looked big and of very high value, the home looked quite a abandoned. Covered with so many fruit trees in the compound and the house is furnished inside. This home was said to be available for a homestay. We didn’t have a chance to meet the host but shared a few words with the care taker.

The needs of the home are;

•      Need to meet this home owner to educate them about homestays since the host organization seemed not to know them much.
•          Looking at the house and agreeing on the terms and other requirements of a homestay.

Waka Complex of Medical Tourism:

This doubles as a home and as a clinic. The home has a small farm as a surplus income. This home is also promoted for conferences owing to its spacious conference hall that can hold up to one hundred people. The medical center is already having a partnership with local medical schools in Kenya and USA. The homestay facilities are already being sold to the interns from the US. However, we were not able to meet the owner of the homestay to be able get more practical information regarding the incorporation into the KECOBAT homestay network.

The needs of the home are;

•          The home owner should fill the content collection form from KECOBAT
•          Interpretation training

Tourism potential of the area:

This area is located close to two National parks Mount Kenya and Aberdare. The area is also endowed by the breath taking views at the different locations. The rich social and cultural heritage is also very rich like most parts of Kenya. Besides, the area is served by good tarmac roads and well maintained marrum roads making it easy to access the homes.

Suggestions:

•  We can team up the common needs and do them for all the potential homes together to avoid duplication of resources. Eg a collective brochure, a collective training etc.
• The homes need to fill the content collection form from KECOBAT.
•  The homes need to list the potential tourist attractions around or near their homes.
•  A collective map of the area showing the cluster of homestays will be handy showing the location of home and the GPS coordinates.