RICHARD'S CAMPS

First settling in Kenya in the late 1940’s, Richard’s grandparents David and Betty lived most of their lives on the wild shores of Lake Baringo, where they raised their six children. David built a successful fishery, which provided employment and income for most of the local community during that time. They had a collection of wild animals and a small-tented camp that catered for the first flying safaris around Kenya. Pioneering safaris in Northern Kenya, David was regularly asked by Government House to organize and lead safaris for dignitaries including Prince Philip whom he escorted up to Lake Turkana in 1963. After David’s early death at the age of forty-two, Betty remained in Kenya with her children all of whom still live and work in Kenya.

Willie Roberts, Richard’s father was born in Kenya in 1953 and has led a remarkable life in safaris and conservation in Kenya. His wife Sue was born in Zanzibar and they met at the Island Camp on Lake Baringo, which was Willie’s first tented camp. Amongst his many achievements while living in the Mara with his young family, Willie formed the Ol Chorro Conservancy which, allowed local people to benefit directly from wildlife revenues generated by tourism on their own land, for the first time. Willie and Sue now live in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy where they own a beautiful lodge called Sirikoi.

From the age of 3, Richard himself was brought up in the Masai Mara, in the Ol Chorro Conservancy to be precise, whilst his parents carried out conservation work in the area in the 1980’s. Richard and his partner Liz Fusco, built their small boutique River Camp in the private Mara North Conservancy, when their son Willoughby was born. Richard and Liz now have two children; their daughter Ivy was born in 2011 and they currently divide their time between Nairobi where their children are attending school, and the Masai Mara.