A commitment to The Long Run & the 4Cs

We believe that there can be a maintained balance between a prosperous business and sustainable conservation, social entrepreneurship, and community development. We are extremely proud to be one of The Long Runs nine Global Ecosphere Retreats in the world and certified at a Gold Ecotourism standard in Kenya.

Our motivation goes far deeper than simply providing a place to stay. As a fellow member of The Long Run, we operate under the guidelines of The Long Run’s 4Cs: Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce. Each guest’s visit contributes directly to the sustainability of our conservation and social development efforts. These include the restoration of the natural environment to a pristine condition, re-establishment and protection of biological diversity, anti-poaching, on-site research and rehabilitation projects, the provision of health-care services and a local pre-school.

Community & Culture

We are an extended family of people from Nairobi, Laikipia, the Maasai Mara and beyond, a family of many tribes. We find strength in our diversity, and because we all share the same vision for the future of Cottar’s Safaris and Cottar’s Wildlife Conservation Trust, we can combine our energies and passion to make the Cottars’ vision a reality.

Cottar’s is neighbored by the Maasai community, a tribe that has so far maintained its traditional way of life. To ensure guests don’t miss out on the intricacies of this vibrant culture, Cottar’s encourages guests to experience Maasai culture first hand. We also provide a market for beadwork and other traditional handicrafts produced by Maasai women as an additional way of preserving Maasai culture and support for development, and culture to support the culture related to the history of safari. 

CWCT has for many years actively supported the Maasai community’s struggle to obtain land tenure, resulting in their legal ownership of the 7608 acre Olderkesi Conservancy in 2010. Cottar’s Safaris and CWCT are in partnership with the Maasai community and manage their land on their behalf (for wildlife use) at rates competitive with other economic uses providing conservation as an alternative livelihood opportunity to pastoralism and agriculture. 

We take pride in saying that most of our employees are from the local community, by this we are actively involving them in development. We conduct local clinic visits (dental, ambulance transfers and other general services) which are arranged by volunteer groups who come through Cottar’s Safaris. We have also built a footbridge with Bridging the Gap Africa. The people can now access social amenities unlike before where they had difficulty crossing the Sand River, especially during floods. The bridge is now saving an average of six lives a year.

Cottar’s Safaris and CWCT built the Olpalagilagi Primary School for a total of 200 students, paying teachers salaries and to keep the children coming to school, we also run a feeding program for them.