ACTIVITIES
Farm Walk - visit the dairy, race horses, and general surrounding area of the farm. This takes about an hour, and is complimentary for Kembu guests.
Extended farm walk - includes the above but the clients can visit a women’s co-operative knitting project on the farm and the local primary school. We ask for voluntary donations for the school and guests usually buy some of the products from the Kenana Knitters project. Long walks with panoramic views of the rift valley. Guided or unguided. Pay for guide at 100/- per hour.
Football & Volleyball - Most evenings on the farm, some of the staff get together for an evening kickaround of football or volleyball. This is open to anyone, and if there are enough people turn up then an informal match is held. If you are here for a while as a larger group you could put together a team and challenge the farm team!
Birdwatching & Naturewatching - Scan over the species lists and you will be amazed to see that despite being an agricultural area there is still an incredible amount of wildlife in the area living at one with the farm.
Off the Farm
Visit to a Rose Farm - 5 minutes drive away, clients can visit a farm growing Roses for export to the Dutch flower auctions. A contribution is asked for towards staff welfare at the rose farm. Permission must be sought in advance from the rose farm manager through Kembu management.
Sundowners on Ngongongeri
- Walk out of the campsite gate, turn left down the hill, and right up through the farm village.
- Walk up on to the railway line and make your way to the left of the field where you will find a path going up the hill.
- Walk up the hill until you meet a fence line, turn Left and walk further up the hill until you find a path going back down on your left.
- Walk halfway down the track.
- On the Left we have cleared a nice spot under one of the big acacia trees to watch the evening light play across the Great Rift Valley
Hours like these are all too rare,
Happy those who get their share,
For although we may not know it,
Life has very few to spare...
Community Tourism
We are very involved with the community - creating employment, education & improving the environment. Current projects include:
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Indigenous Tree Planting
All round the farm we have started a demonstration program of planting indigenous, and useful exotic trees. We are currently trying to get a forestry nursery set up to encourage tree planting within the community. Please donate all your empty plastic water bottles for making drip irrigation units for the community. We are currently working with the action group FOMAWA (Friends of the Mau Watershed) who are particularly interested in restoring trees and shrubbery to our rivers and water catchment zones. Any donations will be given to the creation of a tree nursery to provide subsidized trees for the community.
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Kenana Knitters
A community project whose successful marketing with help from passing travelers like yourselves has found markets overseas and locally for their wool spinning and knitting. Currently looking for markets for their home made paper making from natural waste products.
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Kenana Primary School
Many people coming to Kenya want to help the children, they bring pens, exercise books and crayons, great gifts well meant, but quickly used up and of little consequence. We believe money should be spent on things that will not only help today’s children but help future generations as well. In the five years since Kembu was started we have managed to raise over US$ 25,000 towards the renovation and equipping of the local community/government owned school. With this we have built the ´Friendship Building´ and have repaired and maintained many other buildings. We have built a library in the roof of the friendship building. We have also instigated a program of buying text books for the school.
These can be seen on request as part of our complimentary farm walk program. Please contact us if you want to contribute to our efforts in any way. Njoro Golf Club
A short drive away is the hundred year old Njoro Country Club where they have an eighteen hole golf course, a 5 lane bowling green, and a great nineteenth. Day membership and green fees are very reasonable, clubs can be hired and balls bought at reasonable rates. Well worth some time out here.
INDIGENOUS ANIMAL SPECIES SEEN ON KENANA FARM
SINCE JANUARY 1998
Mammals
- Aardvark – Orycteropus afer
- Colobus Monkey – Colobus abyssinicus
- Crawshay’s Hare – Lepus crawshayi
- Common Genet – Genetta genetta
- Serval Cat – Felis serval
- African Wild Cat – Felis lybica
- White Tailed Mongoose – Ichneumia albicauda
- Marsh Mongoose – Atilax paludinosus
- Egyptian Mongoose – Herpestes ichneumon
- Zorilla – Ictonyx striatus
- Honey Badger – Mellivora capensis
- Steenbok – Raphicerus campestris
- Grimm’s Duiker – Sylvicapra grimmia
- Elephant – Loxondata africana (2 males in ’01)
- Tree Hyrax – Dendrohyrax arboreus
- Forest shrew Sp. – Mysorex sp.
- Musk Shrew sp. – Crocidura sp.
- Striped Mouse – Rhabdomys pumilio
- Tree Mouse – Thallomys paedulcus
- Single Striped Mouse – Lemniscomys rosalia
- Woodland Doormouse – Graphiurus murinus
- House Rat – Rattus rattus (introduced)
- African Mole rat – Cryptomys hottentotus
- Pipistrelle Bat sp. – Pipistrellus sp.
Reptiles
- Von Hohnel’s Chamelion – Chamaeleo hoehnelii
- Striped Skink - Mabuya striata
- Kenya Striped Skaapsteker – Psammophylax multisquamis
- White Lipped Snake – Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia
- Mole Snake – Pseudaspis cana
- Puff Adder – Bitis artiens
- Southern African Rock Python – Python natalensis
- Brown House Snake – Lamprophis fulignosus
- Peter’s Worm Snake - Leptothyphlops scutifrons
Amphibians
- Square Marked Toad – Bufa regularis
- Clawed Frog – Xenepus laevis
- Common Rana Frog – Rana angloensis
BIRD SPECIES SEEN ON KENANA FARM SINCE JANUARY 2000
INSECT SPECIES FOUND ON KENANA FARM
Butterflies
Orange Dog - Papilio demodocus demodocus
African Emigrant - Catopsilia florella
African Clouded Yellow - Colias electo pseudohectate
African Golden Arab - Colotis aurigineus
False Dotted Border - Belenois thysa thysa
Marshall’s Acraea Mimic - Mimacraea marshalli media
African Queen - Danaus chrysippus chrysippus
Green Vein Charaxes – Charaxes candiope candiope
Danaid Eggfly - Hypolimnas misippus
Gaudy Commodore - Precis octavia sesamus
Dark Blue Pansy - Junonia oenone oenone
Yellow Pansy - Junonia hierta cebrene
Soldier Commodore - Junonia terea elgiva
African Leopard Fritilliary - Phalanta eurytis eurytis
Painted Lady – Vanessa cardui cardui
Anthene sp.
Metisella sp.
Acraea sp.
Eurema sp.
Belanois sp
Other Interesting Bugs
Praying Mantis
Carnivorous hunters, well known as the female often bites the head off the male during copulation
Stick Insects
Closely related to cockroaches these flightless vegetarians are amazing. If a youngster
loses a limb, it grows another by the next moult.
Field Crickets
Provide a constant evensong every night. The rate of chirruping is related to Temperature.
They say if the number of chirrups in 14 secconds plus 40 is the temperature in ºF
Termites
These are not ants, but belong to a group of winged insects. The biomass of termites
on the planet is greater than the biomass of all mammals on the planet. They live on
a diet of dead wood, which they eat but can’t digest. Single celled organisms in their
stomachs digest the wood, and the termites in turn digests them.
Dung Beetles
The farm is totally reliant on large numbers of very busy dung beetles and their larvae,
who bury the cow dung and return its nutrition to the soil. Because we run a zero grazing
practice, the cows are in very small paddocks for their numbers, and there would be no
grass anywhere for them to lie down on, as without the beetles the field would become a
permanent pile of poo.
Solifuges
Fearsome ten legged ‘spider’ don’t get bitten. Not poisonous, just nasty.
Pinhole Borer Beetle
Kembu bar is being eaten by pinhole borers, just look at the dead tree branches closely,
give them a tap...
Safari Ants
If you are out on a farm walk and the person ahead suddenly strips naked while performing
a wild dance, look down before you applaud. Lines of these voracious black ants can be seen
marching around the farm in the wet season and their pincer like jaws are a real pain if
they find your sensitive bits. Bad cuts can be stitched together using a set of ants –
pinch the sides of the cut together, allow a safari ant to clamp its jaws across the cut then
remove its body leaving the head in place. the jaws will remain locked for a couple of weeks.
Males are often found in the bar and are known a sausage flies, and their large flacid jaws
are nothing to worry about as their sole purpose is to gently grip the female while mating.
Bees
Kembu is on the main migratory bee run between the dry acacia country around Baringo and Bogoria
and the highland forests of the Mau. As a result, when the dry season sets in the dry country,
bees all move to the damp forests, returning only when it rains and the acacia trees are in full
flower. As a result weather change at Kembu is forecast when we are inundated with resting swarms.
TREES AND SHRUBS ON KENANA FARM
Acacia abyssinica - Flat Top Acacia
Acacia gerrardii – Gerrard’s Acacia
Acacia lahai – Red Thorn Acacia
Acacia mearnsii – Black Wattle
Acacia melanoxylon – Australian Blackwood
Acacia podalyriifolia – Golden Wattle
Acacia seyal – White Thorn
Acacia hockii – Hocki’s Acacia
Acacia polycanthra – Falcon’s Claw Acacia
Acrocarpus fraxinifolius – Indian Ash
Albizia schimperiana – Long Podded Albizia
Albizia gummifera – Peacock Flower Albizia
Aleurites moluccana – Candle Nut Tree
Arundinaria alpinia – Mountain Bamboo
Bambusa vulgaris – Golden Bamboo
Bauhinia variegata – Orchid Tree
Caesalpinia decapetala – Maritius Thorn
Callistemom citrinus – Bottle brush tree
Calodendrum capense – Cape Chestnut
Casurina cunninghamiana – Australian Beefwood
Celtis africana – White Stinkwood
Cereus peruvianus – Giant Cactus
Chorisia speciosa – Bombax
Cordia africana – Large Leafed Cordia
Croton megalocarpus – Croton
Cupressus lusitanica – Mexican Cypress
Cupressus sempervirens – Italian cypress
Cussonia spicata – Elephant’s Toothbrush
Datura suaveolens - Moonflower
Dombeya goetzenii – Forest Dombeya
Dombeya rotundifolia – White Dombeya
Dondonaea angustifolia – Sand Olive
Dovyalis caffra – Kei Apple
Dracaena steudneri – Steudner’s Dracaenia
Encephalartos hildebrantii - Cycad
Ensete ventricosum – Wild Banana
Eriobotrya japonica – Loquat
Erythrina abyssinica – African Flame Tree
Eucalyptus citriodora – Lemon Scented Gum
Eucalyptus ficifolia – Red Flowering Gum
Eucalyptus globulus – Tasmanian Blue Gum
Eucalyptus paniculata – Grey Ironbark Gum
Eucalyptus Saligna – Sydney Blue Gum
Eucalyptus grandis -
Eucalyptus regnans – Mountain Ash
Euphorbia candelabrum – Tree Euphorbia
Euphorbia cotinifolia – Red Euphorbia
Ficus benjamina – Weeping Fig
Ficus elastica – Indian Rubber Plant
Ficus lutea – Mumbu Fig
Ficus thonningii – Strangler Fig
Filicium decipiens – Thika Palm
Fragara macrophylla – African Satinwood
Fraxinus pennysylvanica – Green Ash
Grevillia Robusta – Silky Oak
Grewia bicolor - Grewia
Hagenia abyssinica – Hagenia
Hibiscus schizopetalus – Fringed Hibiscus
Jacaranda mimosifolia – Brazillian Rosewood
Juniperus procera – African Pencil Cedar
Lagerstroemia indica – Pride of India
Maerua triphylla – Small Bead Bean
Markhamia lutea – Markhamia
Melia azedarach – Persian Lilac
Michelia champaca – Orange Champak
Milettia dura – Milettia
Milicia excelsa - Mvule
Morus alba – Mulberry
Musa sapientum – Sweet Banana
Nerium oleander - Oleander
Newtonia buchanii – Newtonia
Olea Africana – African Olive
Olea welwitschii – Elgon Olive
Persea americana – Avocado
Phoenix reclinata – African Wild Date Palm
Pinus patula – Mexican Weeping Pine
Plumeria rubra - Frangipani
Podocarpus falcatus – East African Yellow Wood
Polyscias kikuyuensis – Parasol Tree
Prunus africana – Red Stinkwood
Prunus puddum – Himalayan Bird Cherry
Prunus serotina – Wild Black Cherry
Psidium guajava – Guava
Ravenala madagascariensis – Traveller’s Palm
Schinus molle – Pepper Tree
Sesbania sesban – River Bean
Spathodea campanulata – Nandi Flame
Terminalia mantaly – Terminalia
Tipuana tipu – Pride of Bolivia
Trema orientalis – Pigeonwood
Vitex kinensis – Meru Oak
Washingtonia filifera – Washington Palm
Wauburgia ugandensis – Pepper Bark Tree
Zanthoxylum usambarense - Knobwood
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