Basecamp Explorer Foundation was established to fight the extinction of wildlife by teaming up with the local communities. They firmly believe that in the Maasai Mara and Samburu areas of Kenya, the key to success is to work together with the people who own and inhabit the land. This is reflected in everything they do. Basecamp Explorer’s responsible tourism business supports projects like reforestation, waste management, empowering women and youth, and securing land for wildlife to flourish.

More than conservation they are working with local people to save our common heritage. The Basecamp Dream started by the camp fire with the oldest of the Maasai. The aim was together to make a better future.

Svein Wilhelmsen founded Basecamp Explorer in 1998, following a life-changing meeting with an old Maasai Chief named Ole Taek. Sitting around the fire one evening, the respected Maasai elder told a worrying tale about his people’s threats. Wilhelmsen was inspired by his concern to found a company that would care, a company that would leave a positive footprint wherever it operated and would have a positive impact on the people it worked with.

Since its establishment in 1998, Basecamp Explorer has expanded to encompass ten distinctive destinations in Kenya and Svalbard. A longstanding and intimate group partnership concluded in 2021, leading to our operations now being conducted under two robust brands: Saruni Basecamp in Kenya and Basecamp Explorer Spitsbergen in Svalbard, effective from 2024.

The foundation set foot in Samburu in 2022, when Basecamp Explorer Ltd its business wing, in 2021 bought Old Boma Ltd properties which also own a lodge in Kalama Conservancy, the Samburu Saruni Lodge.

BCEF-K also supports Sera Community Wildlife Conservancy, as Basecamp Explorer Ltd runs a facility there, the Samburu Rhino Lodge.

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