Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Ag-Venture tour to Kenya

Event Details

Ag-Venture tour to Kenya

Time: March 10, 2013 to March 20, 2013
Location: Kenya, Africa
Website or Map: http://www.rwthomastours.com
Phone: 519 633-2390
Event Type: agricultural, tour
Organized By: Bob Thomas
Latest Activity: Aug 23, 2012

Export to Outlook or iCal (.ics)

Event Description

Our first ag-venture into Kenya in 2011 was unlike any other……….you must come in 2013.  We’ve extended the stay in Nairobi’s unique Fairview Hotel to 2 nights to enable a tour of this culturally rich city, as well as the Elephant orphanage and rehabilitation centre. Then a trip through the stunning Rift Valley to Deloraine House for 4 nights.  This colonial mansion built in 1920 by Lord Francis Scott has hosted many British royalty and is set amid 5000 acres of magnificent gardens, croquet and tennis courts and swimming pool. Hosts Tristan & Cindy Voorspuy are accomplished equestrians with a stable of 80 horses to show to you. You’ll visit cashcrop and dairy farms, a flower seed producer and other Kenyan ag enterprises.  But a highlight is the full day of Lake Nakuru National Park famous for flamingos, rhinoceros, buffalo, giraffe, eland, gazels and the elusive leopard.  A scenic drive takes us to Offbeat Mara Camp for 2 nights in the amazing Masa Mara Game Reserve.   This semi-permanent campsite boasts individual luxury tents complete with private bathroom and hot bucket showers.  You’ll doze off to sounds of wildlife grazing outside your tent and awake to sunrises over the plains of wandering wildlife that you will see “up close and personal” from rugged land rovers with your local Massai guides. It defies description.  The meals and drinks are elegantly prepared and served by indigenous staff in a central tent.  Then, farmstay in private guest cottages on the banks of the river at Olerai farm operated by Tarquin & Lippa Wood, conservationists and large grain and cattle farmers. We’ll spend two nights there as guests of this longtime farming family and learn how Kenyan agriculture in poised for the next era of development in the “dark continent”. 

This tour is a unique blend of Agriculture and Safari that is unlike any other…….don’t miss it.  Tour size is limited to 10 participants.

Comment Wall

Comment

RSVP for Ag-Venture tour to Kenya to add comments!

Join Ontario Agriculture

Attending (1)

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Steady Ontario Planting Progress

Ontario producers continued to make steady planting progress over the past week, although intermittent rainfall and uneven field conditions are still creating a patchwork of advancement across the province. Corn planting reached 86% complete as of Wednesday, according to Grain Farmers of Ontario’s weekly field observations report on Thursday. That is up from 74% a week earlier. Progress varies widely by region, with some areas wrapping up seeding while others remain delayed due to rainfall differences, heavier soils, and lingering wet field conditions. Corn development remains in its early stages, ranging from emergence to the two-leaf stage, but warm temperatures forecast this week are expected to support rapid crop growth. As planting windows narrow, some producers are beginning to shift intended corn acres into soybeans, the report said. Soybean planting also accelerated during the week, reaching 61% complete compared to 39% previously. However, heavy-clay regions remain behin

Canadian Farm Debt Rises in 2025, but at Slower Pace

Canadian farm debt continued to increase in 2025, although at a slower pace. A Statistics Canada farm income report released earlier this week pegged total nationwide farm debt at the end of last year at $179.1 billion. That is still a 7.5% increase from the previous year but well down from the 14.1% increase in debt that farmers took on in 2024 compared to 2023. Meanwhile, StatsCan data shows farm interest expenses reached $9.19 billion in 2025, up $90.99 million from $9.1 billion in 2024, representing a modest year-over-year increase of about 1%. The increase in 2025 interest expenses followed a much steeper jump in 2024, when annual farm interest expenses surged by roughly $2.02 billion to $9.1 billion — an increase of 28.6%. That sharp rise in 2024 interest expenses reflected the impact of higher interest rates across the economy, which significantly increased borrowing costs for producers at a time when many farms were already facing elevated expenses for inputs, machinery,

Chicago Close: Weaker into Weekend as Crude Falls

Losses in crude oil weighed on crop futures Friday, as easing geopolitical tensions and improving crop prospects combined to pressured into the weekend. Wheat led the declines as traders removed weather and geopolitical risk premium from the market. Benchmark Chicago wheat fell for the sixth time in seven sessions amid improving weather conditions across key production regions. Losses in crude oil, due to growing expectations the U.S. and Iran could move closer to a peace agreement, added to the downside. July Chicago dropped 13 ½ cents to $6.10 ½, and July Kansas City dropped 15 ½ cents to $6.49 ¾. July Hard Red Spring tumbled 36 ½ cents to $6.72 ¼, and July Minneapolis lost 13 ½ cents to $6.63 ¾. Corn futures also moved lower as traders reduced risk exposure ahead of the weekend. Export demand offered limited support, with USDA reporting 1.015 million tonnes of old-crop export sales for 2025-26, near the lower end of expectations and down sharply from the previous week. However,

At Olds College Smart Farm, everything is new

If you take Alberta’s Highway 2 south from Edmonton toward Calgary, the landscape is pure prairie. The highway bisects fields that unfold endlessly toward a horizon that most evenings is a pastel blend of mauve and sherbet orange. There’s little else along this stretch of rural paradise, save for rest stops and the occasional lonely highway casino, their parking lots full of F-150s. Driving this route between Alberta’s major cities can become so routine that the only way to tell you’re actually moving is to count the passing farms that dot the landscape. One of those farms is distinctly not like the others. Just 45 minutes shy of Red Deer, in Olds, Alta., sits the Olds College Smart Farm. The 3,300 acres on which this part of a century-old post-secondary institution sits look like most other farms in the area. The fields rotate with the seasons between green, canola yellow, and gold. Its herd of purebred Red Angus cattle and flocks of sheep graze leisurely in the feedlot. But l

Lamb 'too costly' for some Muslims in Manitoba ahead of Eid al-Adha celebrations

A halal grocery store owner in Winnipeg says the rising cost of lamb has made it difficult for some Muslims to buy the animal or meat ahead of Eid al-Adha on Wednesday. The Festival of Sacrifice is an Islamic holiday that celebrates the prophet Ibrahim's obedience and loyalty to Allah, reminding Muslims of community and to practise gratitude and selflessness. On this day, it's traditional to have a lamb slaughtered — a practice known as Qurbani — and share its meat with family, friends and those in need. Khaldoun Majani said the price of lamb has nearly doubled to $28.50 per kilogram at his store since he started running Alsham Food Market in Winnipeg more than a decade ago. A lot of people want to buy lamb for Eid al-Adha, "but at the same time, they feel like it's out of budget," he said. "That makes it [a] little bit hard for some people." The Manitoba Islamic Association expects some community members, especially newcomers, to find alternatives to slaughtering a lamb themselv

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service