Shompole Lodge in Kenya will close from September 25 for an indeterminate period, to carry out a comprehensive audit of the safety of clients and staff and, if necessary, to implement safety enhancement measures recommended by contracted experts.
A statement issued by Shompole says the lodge was created as a catalyst to assist the community with revenue through tourism but “regrettably there has been a long-running internal dispute with the local Maasai community”.
“This has led to peaceful protests by small groups of community members causing some interference in the daily running of the lodge and making it difficult to carry out annual maintenance upgrades scheduled for this time of year, including the general health and safety updates throughout the lodge,” says the statement.
Shompole Lodge expressed concern that the announcement of its temporary closure was misinterpreted as being related to the recent incident kidnapping of a British tourist and murder of her husband in a beach resort in northern Kenya. “This is certainly not the case in any way and we humbly apologise for any misunderstanding of the last statements,” says the lodge.
Shompole’s partner and reservation agents, The Safari & Conservation Company, will relocate guests who were booked at the lodge after September 25. Any guests wishing to cancel their booking before the closure will be refunded in full.
