Obama supports sustainable tourism by staying with Basecamp
When Barack Obama first set foot on Kenyan soil in 1988 he was a young man in search of his father’s village in western Kenya. He was a 26-year-old seeking to explore his family roots. Obama’s mother was white and his father a Kenyan student studying at the University of Hawaii where the two met.
Obama sleeping under Basecamp roof
Fast forward eighteen years later to 2006, Barack Obama returned to Kenya as the fifth black senator in one of the most powerful nations on earth. The junior senator from Illinois was a celebrity in his father’s homeland.
Massive onlookers lined up along the Nairobi streets to get a glimpse of Obama a US Senator of a Kenyan descent. He would then spend five days in Kenya and amid his busy trip, he had time to visit the famous Masai Mara National Reserve.
Where they would spend their holiday was a well-thought process, since there were several options presented. His choice of the Masai Mara was an easy decision though. Barack Obama and his family decided to stay at Basecamp Masai Mara, a Gold Eco-rated camp with a strong focus on sustainable tourism.
The Obama Tent
Coincidentally during Obama’s visit, Basecamp Masai Mara had just built a new tent in which the entire family would spend their night while on holiday in Masai Mara. Having hosted the US Senator, the management christened the newly upgraded tent to ‘Obama Tent’.
The Obama Forest
During their visit, Senator Obama and his family planted a tree on the piece of land adjacent to the camp establishing what is now referred to as the Obama Forest. When visiting Basecamp Masai Mara, you can walk around the forest and see how the trees have grown over the last 10 years.
Guests visiting Basecamp are encouraged to follow the example set by the Obama Family and plant a tree in the plantation. This helps address climate change a severe global threat to the environment.
Since Obama’s visit, most guests visiting Basecamp not only arrive here to watch wildlife in the expansive Mara Game Reserve but also harbor a burning desire to spend a day or two in the tent that hosted the person who later became the president of the world’s most powerful nation.