Agritourism Tales: From Wildebeests to the Lion’s Mane

For generations, nature lovers like Joy Adamson or gallant sailors like Zhang He, have risked their lives in unforgiving conditions through uncharted territory. Others have bypassed the limits of human endurance to share their adventurers’ experiences. For as long as people have travelled in the countryside, interacted with locals, partaken of their cuisine, gotten accommodations, and learned something new, there have been Agritourists.With increasing global awareness on natural ecosystems for sustainable livelihoods, combining adventure with biodiversity conservation has never been this fascinating. Understanding some basic dynamics of the culture, political landscape, and biodiversity of some destinations can assist with a visitor’s or investor’s timely decision-making. This is a candid sojourner’s tale laced with satire, where wild animal characteristics are closely matched with human behaviour across issues. Safe travels!

Reuben Chumba is a native of Western Kenya, with deep roots in agriculture. He grew up on a small-scale tea farm at Kapsabet, Nandi County, where he would spend most of his school holidays playing Ajua with his age set, while marvelling at the ambience of a nearby glade. His passion for the conserved environment and anything botanical makes him at ease with nature and humour.

For over 30 years, he has been actively engaged with agricultural extension and rural development work, traversing various parts of Kenya on a tour of duty, and has also spent considerable time travelling locally and abroad in Tanzania, Uganda and China for bench-marking. Reuben is a graduate of the University of Nairobi with BSc in Agriculture and Maseno University, Kenya, with an MSc in Botany. He is author of the first book: Intercropping Maize and Artemisia in Africa with five related scientific journal papers.

A father of four, Reuben is a member of the East African Wildlife Society, the Kenya Society of Agricultural Professionals and Agricultural Society of Kenya.