The Emakoko 

‘I do love a good eggs Benedict in the morning and it is key that eggs are fresh and organic to really pull this off!’ – Emma Childs

Located in the World’s only Wildlife Capital, where our iconic Nairobi skyscrapers frame some amazing wildlife scenes, The Emakoko lodge is situated. The Emakoko is a boutique lodge run and is the brainchild of Anthony and Emma Childs who live on site with their small family and their dedicated team of staff. The Emakoko is also home to a flock of chickens that produce the most delicious eggs for the Lodge and for Green Spoon. 

Emma Childs – Why chicken eggs? 

I think over the last 5 years it has become more apparent that the quality of food we put into our mouths and the ‘humanity’ in the way which the food is ‘reared’ became a big issue for us. We have 3 small children that we need to keep healthy and away from chemicals. We also have a large turnover of meals we serve to our guests – so our general footprint is rather large.  In a bid to limit our carbon footprint we have looked into so many ways that we can do this, raising our own chickens is one of the many ways in which The Emakoko is trying to be as eco as possible. 

So, the chickens first came about because we have quite a bit of land and I was getting so tired of the quality of eggs we were buying. This way we could be sure that not only were we producing quality free range eggs, but also for all of us, it was comforting to know that our chickens were living as they should – wild and free!

Raising Chickens in the Bush 

Raising chickens on the edge of a National Park does have its hang-ups but Emma and Anthony do their utmost to protect their flock whilst giving them as much freedom as the chickens see around them. Battling with baboons, mongoose and even their resident genet cat family who enjoy the eggs just as much as we do!! (can we blame them?!) are a few examples of the daily battles faced. The Emakoko chickens are therefore pretty much locked up at night and during the day they tend to hang out in our garden or the stables where they can quickly run for cover should a Martial come over.  

The Emakoko team try as much as possible to have a zero-waste policy and so all of their vegetable waste goes to the chickens and that along with other bits and pieces of natural proteins that they dig up seems to be enough to keep them in fine shape and laying the most wonderful eggs.

Urban Sprawl and the Maasai 

The Athi – Kapiti plains which border Nairobi National park, is the home to the nomadic Maasai tribe. Unfortunately, the traditional pastoralist lifestyle of the Maasai in the area is now under threat due to the encroachment of Nairobi’s urban ‘sprawl’. The Maasai are now feeling the pressure of a new cash driven society buying up pastoral land and pressures to abandon tradition are great. Fortunately, the Masaai in the Emakoko area have yet to be touched by the new urban wave and this is something that The Emakoko team would like to maintain. There are various projects in the area initiated by The Emakoko and as visitors to the lodge they encourage their guests to participate.