Dispatches
Gibb’s Farm, part III: Obvious luxury rife with responsible subterfuge
May 8, 2008
Gibb’s Farm is a responsible employer and community member, yet the efforts made in areas of environmental preservation and resource protection shouldn’t be overlooked, as craftily shrouded as they may be. As one might imagine, access to services and supplies in this far-flung region have never been a cakewalk and a natural interdependence with the community of Karatu developed when the farm was established in the late 1920s.
For this lodge, necessity is not only the mother of invention but also sire to sustainable building practices that leverage the skills and know how of the local community in such a highly creative, extraordinarily functional fashion that one can appreciate its craftsmanship and beauty independent of its extremely responsible bloodline. Over the course of 80 years as a working farm in Africa, structures at Gibb’s Farm have had to endure hard wear from daily use and formidable weather conditions. When time comes for replacement or renovation, virtually all building materials are salvaged and reused, including cement, roofing sheets and timber.
Gibb’s Farm has been known to have saved the smallest metal scraps - nails pulled from timber are melted down and repurposed into spectacularly crafted decorative hardware - you’d never know the pretty bathroom hook and window locks had rich former lives as lug nuts and bedsprings. New guest cottages are built with local labor from almost entirely local + salvaged material. Of the minimal new materials brought to Gibbs, significant vigilance goes in to assuring they come from responsible sources. Cottage walls are 50% glass, offering generous doses of natural light. Almost all furniture is made on site using local materials and labor in workshops on farm property.
The behind the scenes at Gibbs is teeming with activity… we toured the barnyard, said hello to the pigs and cows while inspecting the large scale composting operation that naturally fertilizes the farm’s 10 acres of organic crops. We then perused the storage facilities where seemingly EVERYTHING that was ever brought to the property has been salvaged and carefully stored and categorized for future use.
After visiting the furniture building workshop, we spotted their great big sun farm: Gibb’s has recently installed one of Tanzania’s largest solar water heating systems. It’s an impressive operation and 90% of their water is now heated by solar power, cutting down on firewood consumption by about 50%, the firewood they do use is primarily scraps from the carpentry shop. Walking back to the lodge, a WWII truck lumbers by … in fine repair and daily use. Reduce/reuse? That’d be Gibb’s Farm.
Oh but back to those gorgeous, decadent bathrooms… deep soaking tubs, indoor and outdoor showers. You already know that the water is solar heated, but isn’t a truly luxurious bath multi-galloned, excessive and wasteful? Not when your tub water has a second career.
Grey water from guest baths, laundry and the kitchen are reclaimed in a water treatment system that leverages the natural filtration properties of calla lilies, papyrus and cat tails to clean the water on its way to irrigate the property’s ample organic crops. Naturally born, it’s the prettiest water filtration system I’ve ever seen.
Truly a slice of heaven on earth, one can follow a fresh farm meal with a lengthy meander through the flower-saturated grounds at Gibb’s Farm, myriad bird calls echoing across the property. Elephants trumpet from the fields below as the staff congregate, raising their voices in song, marching toward the interlopers, urging them out of the crops back into neighboring Ngorogoro Crater.
Take an interpretive hike with a Maasai healer, visit with an artist in residence or simply retire to the quiet of your porch to listen to the cheerful crow and chuckle of farm life, watching the sun shift across the verdant landscape. A longstanding good neighbor that happens to be a luxurious wayside, Gibbs Farm’s delivers environmental responsibility, social mindfulness and charm in spades.
Gibb’s Farm, part II: Good neighbors, fantastic food
May 5, 2008
A working farm that also operates as a high end guest lodge, Gibb’s Farm stands apart from countless other traveler accommodations in its longstanding mutually beneficial relationship with the local community, Karatu.
Generations of families have been a part of the Gibb’s Farm workforce - most staff have worked at Gibb’s for 10 years; many over 20 years. 99% local, the staff receives free healthcare - services that are extended to their families.
Gibb’s Farm backs the Karatu Education Fund that services several area schools, supporting the construction of new buildings and establishing a “sponsor a student” program that enables Gibb’s Farm guests to help local children attend secondary school.
In an effort to stem the tide of deforestation + proliferation of exotic species, Gibb’s Farm established an on-site nursery of native tree species that supplies a grassroots conservation organization named Mazingira Bora Karatu (translated: “A Better Environment for Karatu). MBK promotes environmental awareness and conservation, planting native trees and promoting rehabilitation of degraded lands throughout the region.
The actual farming part of the Gibb’s Farm operation is formidable: 30 acres of coffee, 10 acres of vegetables, fruits, flowers and herbs, a working dairy and pig farm, all of which are treated solely by organic pest management and fertilization processes. A remarkable 80% of the food served at Gibb’s is raised on the property, the remainder is sourced locally. The glorious raw materials are not wasted.
I’d like to preface this by stating that I come from a city that has a vibrant food culture and a lot of damn good places to eat. In addition, I’d been apprised prior to my trip that one can’t count on food safety in Africa so I had figured that I’d spend most of my time on the continent drinking beer and bottled water, eating bananas and hard boiled eggs. And while I found myself pleasantly surprised by meals in a number of places we visited, nothing rivaled eating in my hometown.
Until our first meal at Gibb’s.
It was like getting religion. Fresh and finely executed: Oven warm bread, tender meats with flavorful, light-handed sauces, crisp, bright vegetables and a main course finished with property grown French press coffee, bread pudding, pot de crème….can I get a…”Hell, yeah”? We barged into the kitchen and gave the staff a round of applause.
Alright, we’ve dug into Gibb’s Farm history, community, crops and incredible meals. Can there be more? Come into my lair, said the spider to the fly.
Gibb’s Farm, part I: Gracious, green and hospitable to all
May 4, 2008
Established in 1929 near the village of Karatu, Tanzania, Gibb’s Farm grew from a simple coffee farm into a generously appointed traveler’s rest, a well-placed jumping off spot for adventurers and ultimately a decadent luxury travel destination that elevates and embraces environmentally and socially responsible practices in every level of their operations.
Amongst its charms? Location, location, location: A short distance from Lake Manyara National Park, Gibb’s Farm also shares a mile long property border with Ngorogoro Conservation Area (NCA) where the world’s largest unbroken, unflooded volcanic caldera lies. Ngorogoro Crater hosts virtually every species of East African wildlife with an estimated 25,000 animals living within the crater including herds of zebra, gazelle, and wildebeest alongside the “big five” of rhinoceros, lion, leopard, elephant, and African buffalo. If it’s critters you want to see, it’s critters you’ll get, right next door to Gibb’s Farm.
The NCA also includes the Olduvai Gorge, one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world (you may have also heard of it by its familiar alias, “The Cradle of Humanity”). Research and excavation work in Olduvai, pioneered by Mary and Louis Leakey in the 1950s, has been instrumental in furthering understanding of early human evolution, producing evidence that various hominid species have occupied the area for 3 million years. During her tenure in the region, Mary Leakey befriended former Gibb’s Farm owner Margaret Gibbs. Mary was a frequent guest to the lodge and fan of its spectacular gardens that, as she describes:
“…generously supplied my camps with superb fresh vegetables, so essential to our well being.”
The wealth from Gibb’s Farm gardens that enchanted Mary Leakey have been retained and possibly even elevated - the 30 acre organic farm, crops that include coffee alongside fruits and vegetables, provide 80% of the bounty that Gibb’s Farm guests enjoy at every meal on the property.
Layer 1 of Gibb’s Farm: it has a very, very pretty face. Glasses of fresh avocado juice are offered in welcome upon our arrival (I kid you not and have no idea what it takes to extract avocado juice, but it was amazing). As we entered the property, a series of low slung, clean-lined, unassuming guest quarters came into view, their borders graced with a profusion of verdant tropical plants and tempestuously hued flowers, birdlife a-chatter in the trees…Is this for real?
Then I was taken to my room - the square footage alone makes one the the envy of most NYC apartment dwellers, the porch overlooking a reed pond alive with weaverbirds under a shady canopy of avocado and acacia trees. The cottage was well appointed without being ostentatious -box beam ceilings and smooth, rich wood floors; a fireplace that faced both the sleeping quarters and a heavenly bathroom - a massive, extremely private yet flooded with natural light. Did I mention the outdoor shower? The two-person Terrazzo soaking tub? For a girl who’d spent the better part of the month grubbier than she’s been since age 6, it was a slice of high end spa heaven.
But really… with all this seeming decadence, how can this place embrace responsible tourism? All that space? What of the waste, the apparent epic use of water? Gallons of greenwashing, surely.
But that’s what THRILLS us about this lovely African safari wayside… it’s anything but.
Follow us to the back stage and the surrounding community - you’ll be pleasantly surprised.