Bring  me your car shell, I’ll turn it into a ‘cottage’

The camping area at Crayfish Camp where old cars have been converted into affordable “rooms” for those seeking an out-of-the-ordinary experience. PHOTO | VERAH OKEYO

What you need to know:

  • Idea of converting vehicles into “rooms” was inspired during a visit to South Africa. The whole project began about 17 years ago, when Mr Mehta started actualising his latest obsession: building low-income homes using old cars and furnishing them with furniture made from reclaimed wood.
  • He began the camp very simply. When he was in his early 20s, he moved out of home. Then, in his new home, he   converted the main bedroom into a pool room, the spare bedroom into kitchen, and the vast compound into a camping ground. Thus Crayfish Camp was born.
  • The camp is surrounded by greenhouses in different stages of disrepair, formerly used by Sher Karuturi Ltd, the flower firm that collapsed, thanks to serious environmental degradation.

The atmosphere around, and water in, Lake Naivasha cry out for restoration. The pollution of the lake and environmental degradation around it are testimony to the general disregard for the environment, with discarded plastic floating on the water.

The situation has led to the closure of some flower farms in the area. A team of horses grazing near the lake jump over the broken fence of one of the flower farms that collapsed.

Environmental conservationists say that the people living around the lake should embrace a “circular economy”, a new term in the sustainability lingo, which involves recyling items as much as possible to make the most use of them.

About 200 metres from the shores of this polluted lake lies Crayfish Camp, which is named after the lobster-like crustacean that was introduced into the lake in the 1960s.

The camp is surrounded by greenhouses in different stages of disrepair, formerly used by Sher Karuturi Ltd, the flower firm that collapsed, thanks to serious environmental degradation.

The camp boasts a variety of accommodation facilities built from scrap metal, an initiative that shows an imaginative adoption of recycling that stands out amidst all the destruction.

At Crayfish Camp you find old buses, and cars, and even a boat, remodelled to offer accommodation for visitors who want a unique experience.

Interestingly, to get to these remodelled vehicles, you pass a lot of discarded materials that are still perfectly usable lying idle, perhaps because nobody has been creative enough to find any use for them. 

When you step inside these unusual “cottages”, you find that they are no different from a simple hotel room.

A cool blue glow illuminates the hallway, which you might find surprising in such a setting,  until you realise it is  a small LED-bulb.  A mosquito net hangs loosely from the roof.

The walls are covered with white plasterboard, and for furniture, there’s as a little rustic chair and table.

All the furniture, including the low platform bed, are matte painted, with simple joints.

Tucked away from public view are the toilets and a water tap.

A boat that has been remodelled to provide accommodation. PHOTO | VERAH OKEYO

MODERN STRUCTURES

If these walls could talk, they would tell many stories of relationships that began or were mended here.  A couple that DN2 met told of how they met at this camp while attending a conference on how to sell farm chemicals; they later dated and married.

Today, eight years later, they were back in Naivasha to remind themselves of the time they had met, and there could not have been a better place than the affordable “cottages”, which came to be thanks to the creativity of Peter Mehta,  who owns Crayfish Camp.

The whole project began about 17 years ago, when Mr Mehta started actualising his latest obsession: building low-income homes using old cars and furnishing them with furniture made from reclaimed wood.

He began the camp very simply. When he was in his early 20s, he moved out of home. Then, in his new home, he   converted the main bedroom into a pool room, the spare bedroom into kitchen, and the vast compound into a camping ground. Thus Crayfish Camp was born.

Gradually, the business grew to be a leader in hospitality in Naivasha, enjoying the advantage that it was close to the lake.

Mr Mehta, the executive director of Crayfish Camp, talks with pride about the unique “cottages”.

He had given every unit a name, mostly of the places he has visited, including Johannesburg and a number of other African cities.

The décor is basically bohemian African, with the windows dressed with zebra prints, and some throw pillows on the seats.

The windows bear the gothic cross sign placed on a round frame.

A night’s accommodation in the “cottages” costs Sh2,000, exclusive of food.

As you draw nearer to the lake, you come across modern structures that cost probably six or seven times the amount of money you would spend staying in the “cottages”.

Mr Mehta told DN2 that he got the idea of remodelling vehicles into accommodation facilities  during a trip to South Africa.

“I saw them and was really happy and interested because I knew I could get car shells back here, even from my garage alone,” he says,

That was in 2000, when business at his camp was at its peak because the flower businesses around Naivasha were thriving, and Kenya was one of Europe’s leading flower suppliers.

Mr Mehta talks sentimentally about vehicles.

With his love for vehicles, when Mr Mehta returned home from South Africa, he did not waste time before he started looking for old ones.

Many people could not understand why he wanted to buy old, abandoned vehicles.

“People sold them to me for Sh20,000,” he says, “and within two months, I had recouped my investment”.

Mr Mehta says that he spent about Sh70,000 ito get  Crayfish Camp started, inclusive   of  the work on the interiors since he used his employees rather than outsource.

DOUBLE ROOMS

Using the workers from his garage, he had the vehicles’ wheels removed and the engines and the base of the vehicle flattened to make the floor.

Thereafter, the interiors were lined with a thin sheet of wood to hide the wiring as well as to protect those in it from the changing heat that accompanies metal walls.

He then had the inside and outside walls painted.

Given the size of the rooms, the walls had to be finished off with coats of paint that contained very little or no toxic materials such as lead and other volatile organic compounds that  have been condemned by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for contributing to poor lung health.

Then, depending on whether the “cottage” was meant to be a single  or a double “room”, a bed of the appropriate size was added, together with a table and a chair.

The vehicles were then mounted on wooden platforms to raise them from the ground and stones placed carefully around them to give those living inside a sense of having a own little “compound”.

The few who have used the facilities, such as the couple that only wanted to be known as the Nyutus, talked about their benefits.

It was cozy, they said, and the size allowed them to maintain intimacy.

They also talked about the privacy the “cottages” offer: “We clean the house ourselves so we don’t get the feeling that someone is invading our private space. We also have the freedom to wake up whenever we want, and not at a specific time as happens when you are in a hotel,” they said.

But that is not all. When staying in the “cottages”, you have the liberty to buy food and do your own cooking. The institution will give you a jiko (charcoal stove) for the purpose.

The “cottages” are ideal for the free spirited traveller out for some adventure on a  modest budget: they are affordable, yet one can still enjoy the lake’s ambience  just as much as those living in the big hotels do.

Lake Naivasha was designated as a Ramsar Site in 1995 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco). It is a globally acclaimed heritage site that is celebrated because of the diversity of the species that thrive in it.

The variety of birds make this little colonial town a birdwatchers paradise, with centres like Elsamere and Fish Eagle known for ornithological activities.

Surrounded by national parks and conservancies — Hell’s Gate National Park, Wileli and Oserian Conservanc — Naivasha has become a nature lover’s paradise.

Driving along Moi South Lake Road, one finds onself surrounded by unspoilt nature; immediately after the Kengen Headquarters, which is about a 10-minute drive from Crayfish Camp, are troops  of baboons. 

Further ahead towards North Lake Road and Shalimar are giraffes, warthogs and other smaller mammals.

The lake made Naivasha appealing to  white farmers, who wanted a steady supply of fresh water  and sun all year round.

The weather, the lake,  and the the flowers  industry all worked together to boost the    hospitality industry.

There are five-star facilities such as Enashipai Resort and Spa as well as the Sawela and Sopa lodges.

RECYCLED MATERIALS

The prohibitive prices of these known hotels locked out people who wanted to enjoy the natural ambience that came with the lake.

That is why innovations such as Mr Mehta’s, which are less expensive — in terms of the investment and for the people who pay to use  them — come in handy.

In an area where hippos roam freely at night, the facilities offer visitors protection from wildlife and the fear that one might have in a tent. 

The only disadvantage is that the bathrooms and the toilets are detached from the “cottages”.

But Mr Mehta said he was working to improve this as he was planning to remodel two other buses, which he promised to make self-contained.

Constructing homes using recycled materials is popular in the developed world but  has not quite caught on in developing countries like Kenya.

There is very little data or research about why recycling seems so difficult in Kenya and other third world countries.

In 2016, Coca Cola Enterprises conducted a six-month study titled “Unpacking the Household” which shed light on the attitudes that stood between people and a positive attitude towards recycling.

What stood out from the research was that people misunderstand what happens to waste; they do not realise that recycling is a circular  process and not linear.

During a conference in Mombasa in 2014, the National Environment Management Authority Director General said Kenyans seem to think  that recycling of materials is a complex issue that should be left to a select few.

As a result, they tend to throw away what they have used rather than try to recycle it.

The  inside view of of a bus that has been converted into a “cottage”. PHOTO | VERAH OKEYO

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How to use your car for the perfect campout

You might be able to afford accommodation in a hotel, but for a truly flexible campout, you can stay in your car, especially if it is the likes of a Honda CR-V,  Prado or a Probox.

All you need is a place to park before you turn it into a house, and here tips on how to go about it.

  •  First, remove the back seats.  You might need a professional help to remove the bolts.

  •  With the seats out, you can clean the inside of the car.

  •  You can take a table, or a sheet of plywood and fit it at the back of the car to serve as a bed so that it is supported by the sides of the car boot.

  •  You could construct the table or use pallets to make one.

  •  Under this table that acts as a bed, are places you could store personal effects.

  •  During the day, when you don’t need the bed, you can put the table outside and use it to work or to serve meals.

  •  You can cover the windows with a pieces of cloth such as khangas for some privacy.

  •  The beauty of using your car for accommodation it that it allows you a great deal of freedom to move around.

 

Adapted from National Geographic

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FYI

2

The amount in  thousands of shillings it costs to spend a night in one of the remodelled vehicles. This is exclusive of food.

20

The amount in thousands of shillings Mr Peter Mehta paid for vehicle shells which he remodelled into “cottages”

70

The total amount is thousands of shillings Mr Mehta spent getting the project started