• Founded: 1994
• Sector: Responsible Cultural Tourism
• Location: Works throughout Kenya
• Website: http://africanhomestaysafaris.kbo.co.ke/
Founded in 1994 by Mr Peter Ongera, African Homestay and Safaris is a cultural tourism agency that links people who want to LIVE (Homestay), STUDY (cultural and educational) and WORK (Internship and Volunteer) in Africa with local hosts in rural villages and towns. Mr Ongera founded the business following his own positive homestay experiences when as a young man he spent 3 months living in Japan staying with local families as part of a Ship for World Youth (SWY) exchange programme. Through this time in Japan, coupled with time spent in the USA and Canada also homestaying, Mr Ongera gained an appreciation of the scope for cultural learning provided by homestay. He began to develop a business around the concept of homestay, realising its potential to not only provide a living for himself and his family but to also extend the benefits and opportunities associated with tourist visitors to his neighbours and to wider communities across Kenya.
African Homestay and Safaris matches international visitors with hosts in Kenya according to their respective interests and expectations. It works to ensure that both parties are happy with arrangements and that the homestay experience is rewarding, worthwhile and safe for all involved. At the heart of the homestay concept, and central to the way African Homestay and Safaris works, is a desire that revenues and the wider benefits associated with tourism reach local communities. On average tourists under the programme pay hosts around US $10 a day. The programme usually lasts 3-4 weeks but there have been instances where tourists have stayed with host families for as long as a year. African Homestay and Safaris takes 20% of the amount paid for hosting. That money is used to pay staff and to pay for operational costs i.e. the company's website. African Homestay and Safaris was involved in providing accommodation for the World Social Forum in 2007. The company also runs short trips to Tanzania and is looking to further expand its activities across the East Africa region in the future.
Contact Details
P.O.Box 50309-00200, Nairobi, Kenya, 00200
Contact No. +254 (0) 733822297
Alternative Contact No. +254 (0) 733822297
africanhomestay@aim.com
Website: http://africanhomestaysafaris.kbo.co.ke/