Kenya Expedition

Join a group of intrepid travellers and get involved in the assistance of a rural community by building a bridge across a local river that when flooded in the rainy season cuts off medical assistance to several surrounding rural villages. Then venture out Camel Trekking through some of Kenya’s most pristine wildlife conservation areas and finish off on safari in the world famous Masai Mara for encounters with the Big 5.

Expedition Highlights

• Experience raw Africa and the phenomenon that is the wildlife-filled plains of Kenya as you travel by camel through wilderness areas.
• Visit Maasai and Samburu villages and see their lives as they are – unchanged for centuries, and unmarred by many of the world’s complications.
• Build a bridge in near a rural Maasai village and mission station. The bridge will provide a vital link between rural communities and the mission clinic when it floods during the rainy season each year.
• Learn some of the fascinating intricacies of the Maasai, Samburu and other rural Kenyan cultures.
• Visit the world famous Masai Mara and indulge in sightings of the Great Migration!

The bridge building work at Segera Mission

Segera Mission is a beacon of hope for the surrounding nomadic Samburu communities. Set dramatically in the heart of Laikipia, in the shadow of Mount Kenya, the mission offers a number of services and assistance to a rural community of Kenya, which is painfully short of quality health care and education. Included in these services are an agricultural project, some schooling curriculums and a clinic, which provides general health care.

The small clinic set up by Segera mission easily sets the highest standards for medical care accessible by the surrounding communities. In the rainy season however a large section of the surrounding community are unable to access the clinic due to the rising waters of a river that lies just North of Segera mission.

With no bridges currently constructed near enough for these communities to use – they are totally cut off from quality health care for several months of each year. Pathfinders is partnering with Segera Mission to construct a small and practical footbridge to provide year round access to Segera Mission and in particular the clinic’s services.

Update on the Segera Mission Situation from Pappy – Resident Missionary and Caretaker, and Father to this local community:

“This is the fourth year since the Segera Mission Dispensary started operating officially; However for the last five years people were still getting medical help through community based health workers who were being supported by the mission. John Ruggeri who was the owner of Segera Ranch once visited the Mission and was touched by the fact that they were so many people needing medical help and without qualified medical personnel. He promised to pay the salary of a qualified community nurse and that's how Segera Mission Dispensary was born. The dispensary was started because we are very far from the nearest health facility, which is more than 40kms from here and with no available means of transport.

In October 2006 we were able to attend to 767 patients in our dispensary making such a great difference to the people around.

The Uaso Nyiro river separates the Mission from the people of Endana village. The river is flooded for not less than two months in the year at different times. Right now as I write this E-mail, the river is swollen and nobody can cross over to this side of the mission.”

Daily Itinerary

• 30th August (Day 1): Arrive at Nairobi Airport where you will be met by a Pathfinders representative and taken to your campsite and group meeting area. Once the whole group is assembled our guides will present you with important orientation information and further details relating to your expedition.
• 31st July: Journeying North onto the edge of the Great Rift Valley, stunning views will accompany you on the drive to the pristine conservation area of Laikipia. Here Segera mission station is based, where you will be doing the community building work.
• 1st – 6th August: Your Pathfinders guides will organise you into work teams, which will also consist of professional builders and constructors to assist with more difficult and complicated tasks. Camping on site at the mission, you will get to know the community you are working alongside to make a lasting difference. Don't be surprised if you hear the distant roar of a lion or howl of a hyena at night from the neighbouring wildlife conservancies.
• 7th – 10th August: Join your expert Maasai guides and the camel caravan as you head off north on the camel trek into the heart of Kenya. Camping over night with the camel caravan you will feel a closeness to Africa that many travellers do not have the privilege of experiencing. Be ready to play frisbee and soccer with rural village children as you pass through, and to do more walking alongside than riding of the great lurching beasts!
• 11th August: Back on board our overland safari vehicle, wind your way deeper into the bush as your adventure takes you into a vast and rugged wilderness. Spend the night at the charming Maralal campsite.
• 12th August: Depart Maralal for Lake Naivasha where you will camp on the lake's shores under massive Yellow wood acacia trees.
• 13th August: Spend today exploring Naivasha National Park.
• 14th August: Depart Naivasha and travel to the Masai Mara where savannah plains, optional balloon safaris and sightings of the Big 5 and Great Migration await you.
• 15th – 16th August: Spend the next 2 days exploring the Masai Mara National Reserve. This safari time is included in your fee. During this time of year you can expect to see the world famous spectacle of the Great Migration taking place.
• 17th August: Depart from the Masai Mara and head back up the slopes of the Rift Valley to Nairobi. Shop for curios and prepare to bid farewell to Kenya… Fly home this evening or the following morning.