Code of Conduct
The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy Management has put in place a Code of Conduct which all visitors to Lewa must adhere to. Lewa reserves the right of access and may ask anyone perceived to be causing disturbance or damage to the environment to leave the Conservancy.
GENERAL CONDUCT:
- Walking on Lewa is prohibited, unless guests are guided by an authorised, armed guide with appropriate knowledge of walking with “dangerous game”. By walking without such an armed guide guests accept all such risks and personally accept all liability.
- Wildlife always has right of way.
- Do not light fires, except those controlled by lodge staff and/or management.
- Do not discard litter or cigarette butts anywhere other than at a designated bin.
- Be quiet and considerate when viewing wildlife, keep a sensible distance away and ask your driver to switch off the engine.
- Take care when visiting the ‘Blinds’ – there may well be wildlife very close by. An authorised guide must always be present during “blind” visits.
- Spotlights can be disturbing to wildlife so use them sensitively and responsibly. Do not shine directly into eyes for any length of time and red filters are encouraged. Max 250,000 candle power spotlights.
- Please do not damage or remove any flora or fauna, including stones, bones and plants.
- Use of mobile phones during game drives or when driving is discouraged.
- No firearms, spears, bows and arrows of any kind are to be carried on the Conservancy without the specific knowledge of the Wildlife / Security Manager.
- Collection of firewood is prohibited.
- Report any concerns or contraventions of this code to any Senior Lewa Management staff, or the Lewa Radio / Ops room.
- In order to enable exclusivity, please use the Lewa Ops Room to book a game blind, a sundowner location, the Lion tracker; walking routes and visits to hand reared/orphaned animals.
VEHICLES:
- Observe the maximum speed limit of 40kph.
- Any game drives within Lewa are to be conducted only with authorised individuals.
- Game drive vehicles carrying Lewa paying guests have right of way and Management vehicles shall be considerate in this respect.
- Game viewing vehicles should pull off to the side of the road/track whilst game viewing.
- Wildlife surrounded by vehicles is unpleasant and can cause distress to the animals. Strictly a maximum of two vehicles viewing an animal at any one time. Be considerate of other vehicle waiting to view wildlife, avoid monopolisation.
- Driving “off-road” is discouraged, except under exceptional circumstances.Driving “off-road” during the rainy season is strictly prohibited.
- Unless game has approached the vehicle the distance that a vehicle should keep from game is minimum 20 meters.
- Only 4×4 vehicles which are shades of green or brown in colour are permitted on the Lewa. Saloon 4×4 vehicles and mini-buses are prohibited. Rare exceptions to this may occur during events such as the Safaricom Marathon and will be prior authorised through Lewa Executive Management.
- There are designated routes on Lewa that when necessary “non conforming / logistics / supply” vehicles may use, principally access routes to lodges / houses, the route to Leparua and the government road. Authorisation from the CEO or Chief Conservation Officer must be sought prior to access of non conforming vehicles.
- Never feed wildlife from your car, in the wild or at your lodge / house. It will upset their diet and lead to unnecessary dependence on people and possibly eventual harm to the animal. Lewa Management will operate wildlife feeding programmes from time to time.
SAFETY:
- We insist that you only walk away from your lodge / camp / house / vehicle in the company of a guide armed with a rifle of at least .762 / .308 in calibre and who is authorised by the Chief Conservation Officer or Wildlife / Security Manager and competent in the dangers of “dangerous game”.
- Armed guides must have a valid firearms license for the appropriate weapon.
- Running for exercise is not permitted on the Conservancy except during the Safaricom Marathon week and only then accompanied by a vehicle and armed ranger on designated routes.
CAMPING:
- Camping on Lewa is restricted to designate campsites and operators.
- Camp managers are to check in with Lewa Headquarters on arrival and departure to have the camp site inspected by the Lewa Standard Officer or a person nominated by him. A clearance certificate will be issued and filed in the Ops Room.
- Lewa will provide a ranger at camp sites when in use by an operator.
- Campers must remove all non biodegradable waste.
- Firewood may not be collected. It can be provided by Lewa upon request.
PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS – N.B. VISITORS TO IL NGWESI/TASSIA:
- Through traffic must proceed directly along the designated route shown on the map.
- If you would like to photograph the local people please ask their permission first.
- It is recommended that sweets or money are not given to children – it encourages begging and is demeaning.
TRAVERSING:
- Pedestrian traffic, not including guided tourists / visitors, will be kept to a minimum within the Conservancy. Any pedestrian traffic will follow designated routes.
- No pedestrian movement within the Conservancy will be allowed at night between 1800 and 0700 hrs.Motorcycles are not permitted on the Conservancy (incl. Boda boda taxis). Lewa work-related motorcycles are used e.g Fence, Workshop and Livestock Departments.
AVIATION:
- No aircraft will be operated within the vicinity of tourist camps or lodges apart from under exceptional circumstances such as fire fighting or during security related incidents.
- No aircraft will operate below 500 ft AGL overhead the Conservancy except during approach for landing, take off, for management purposes and under exceptional circumstances such as fire fighting or during security related incidents.
- Helicopters will take the shortest and quickest route into and out of pick up points within LWC attaining 500ft AGL as soon as possible.
You can download a copy of the Code of Conduct here.
We appreciate feedback and comments. Please contact info@lewa.org if you have any questions about our Code of Conduct. If you see anything during your stay that you feel may be worth our attention please inform the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy Office.