Anna Sthr is a National Park Ranger in Kenya and Tanzania and has experience working with both indigenous and foreign visitors. It’s not unusual for her to find oneself accompanying park rangers into remote areas where they’re confronted with the stark reality of human encroachment on conservation habitat. “I see children climbing on top of large boulders,” she says. “The problem is that if you don’t manage these children properly, then it’s going to impact the whole climbing system.” It’s a sobering fact that a large majority of African parks and other conservation areas are still largely unfit to accommodate visitors from the outside world, due to lack of in-house accommodation and basic amenities.
Anna Sthr is on a personal mission to change that by helping those in need of adventure, love of the mountains and a desire to improve the planet at the same time. The only way to do this, she believes, is to offer a home that’s as high up off the ground as possible – and the solution to this issue lies in scaling heights. The Nairobi Mountains, located in Kenya’s northern mountains, offers some of the highest freestanding houses and apartments on earth. The climbers looking for a place to live will be impressed by the breathtaking views and the tranquility of the Nairobi environment, which is why Anna’s organisation actively supports projects that help those who want to scale the heights, whether it’s a way to enjoy the natural surrounds or an opportunity to save the world.
Climbing tall buildings is an age-old passion, but it’s also a lot tougher than it used to be these days thanks to safety regulations and the number of people trying to do it illegally. The question for many organisations, parks and conservation areas is whether a rise in accommodation can make climbing easier and safer. “We’ve seen a big change in safety standards over the last few years,” says Anna. ” climbers can now go into big projects with full safety equipment. This makes things much easier.”