Content provided in partnership with
Safari in Kenya, a Holiday with a Difference
Airguide Online, August 30, 2004
Safari in Kenya, a Holiday with a Difference
Thinking of having a holiday with a difference? Never been to Africa. Do you (or your other half) cross the road when there is a large dog on the pavement? Then go on Safari in Kenya. You'll not forget it. But do it whilst you still think you are young. On Safari is not hard but it is arduous. Kenya Airways offers nonstop overnight flights from Heathrow in the latest Boeing 777 which allows your adventure to start the next day. A week's trip is fully practical and you can always tag on some more days at the end in one of the popular resorts bordering the Indian Ocean in the Mombassa area. If you are in the UK regions an alternative is via partner KLM to Amsterdam the airline's other European gateway.
- Most Popular Articles in Arts
- Art since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism
- Free-standing cardboard sculpture
- What makes a successful business person? Business people who are tops in ...
- Take advantage of local advertising: TV, newspaper or magazines? If your ...
- Tino Sehgal at the ICA
- More »
Even if you don't have a visa getting through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is easy and once past customs the welcome sign with your name on it proves you have come to the right place and you are ready for the next step. It's off on a 30 minute dive to Wilson Airport on the other side of town, a run down colonial offering with aircraft all over the place, some old, some tatty (very tatty) and some extremely modern. SafariLink is an airline situated in a 21st century building complete with maintenance facility. It is here that you complete formalities and are briefed a little on your trip. They operate the Cessna Caravan 1, ideal for outback operations with fixed undercarriage (nothing to go wrong) and a freight hold slung underneath the passenger cabin making for easy loading and unloading of a real variety of cargo. The 'plane provides daily communications (in fact up to three flights per day) to many of the lodges and camps bringing in clients, staff and urgently needed supplies. Most resorts, which is what they are, are provided for with weekly lorry supplies.
It's then to the run down terminal building and quickly up and away. First stop on a typical six night, three venue aerial safari is the Samburu Intrepids luxury camp, 200 miles north of Nairobi located in the home area of a warrior tribe whose ancestors moved south from what is now Ethiopia. The airstrip is bumpy, one gets used to that, and then it is a 20 minute drive into the game park and a welcome drink and cold towel on arrival. You might pass the odd leopard and for sure hoards of guinea fowl that inhabit this part. Monkeys will welcome you to your tent. Sumburu is typical of the Intrepids Safari Company offerings. Twenty-seven extravagant tents compete with hot and cold running water, showers, flush toilets and three pin (UK style) electric plugs. It is hardly austere, a sort of five star camp on the jungle edge by the river. There is a swimming pool, shop, open deck bar laundry and valet services, beauty treatments and body therapy. Local Samburu are on hand to tell you all about their history and the eco environment. Your days, as at all the camps, will be programmed into three distinct phrases. An early rise at six, naturally with tea/coffee and biscuits, followed by a sunrise game trip. By eight o'clock you are ready for a huge breakfast, perhaps by the river away from the camp itself.
A park warden stands close by to keep an eye on things. It's then off to find the giraffes and cheetahs, elegant animals. A two-ton Land Rover will not win a battle with a six-ton African elephant but the huge beast is short sighted and only sees another hulk. The smell of the diesel oil will deter him once he gets within a few feet but the trick is to keep quiet. And you do! Elephants by the score.
The buffet lunch is followed by rest time but with late afternoon you are ready for another trip into the bush. There is always some sort of activity early evening, whether it be an entertaining lecture or a dance performance. The dinner has five courses with plenty of variety and then it is off to your tent for an early night ready for an early start the next day. You can go on a camel ride, take an escorted walk through the bush, try a rafting trip on the Uaso Nyiro River, or look for the elusive lion (in this part of Kenya - there are plenty of them elsewhere). After the second night you are ready to move on, together with the friends you have made who are taking much the same trip. At a 12,000 feet flight level it is surprisingly warm and the views are magnificent.
Great Rift Valley Lodge and Golf Resort provides something different, a sophisticated break from the tented camps of the true safari country. It's a popular weekend retreat for the prosperous of Nairobi, a fairly easy, by Kenyan standards, two-hour drive, only the last 30 minutes really bumpy. You then arrive at an oasis of smooth roads and manicured fairways. Wild animals are around and for those arriving by air the landing strip sometimes has to be cleared from teaming Zebras and cattle. The lodge itself sits at 7,000 feet giving spectacular views of Lake Naivasha, the jagged volcanic crater of Mount Longonot, and in the far distance the Abedare Mountains. The rooms are in small units of four in an exotic garden built on the hillside. Each looks out over the valley, the great natural fault of Africa, and offers a four-poster bed, handmade wooden furniture and en-suite bathrooms. No air conditioning, it's not necessary at this height. In the evening you are treated to a spectacular wood fire in the bar, not out of place in a traditional English pub. The golf course is lush, not too demanding, and with the ball reckoned to fly an extra 10%, at 6,580 yards more than enough to offer a challenge to the single handicap golfer. The par three eighteenth hole, whilst fairly easy for the straight drivers, lies head on to the clubhouse restaurant with a series of spectacular properties along one side facing down towards the valley. You can rent the homes as an alternative to the lodges, ideal for family types. There are two tennis courts, a small swimming pool and conference facilities.
