Kenya Holidays Blog

From late November the massed animals begin their retreat south following the rains through the Serengeti.

The most spectacular way to see the massive scale of the migration is by balloon safari.

What an amazing sight that must be.

If you would like us to quote you for such a fabulous trip please call either Barbara or myself on Freephone 0808 1089 100 and we’ll be pleased to help.

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After arriving on the Masai Mara the migrant herds settle from August to October and would give you great opportunities to see the “Big Five”.

My stay last year at the Sorova Masai Lodge allowed me great opportunities to see elephants, lions, giraffe, hippos, zebras, wildebeest and leopards and that was in November.

So if you can travel between August and October you will see even more than I did.

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Last year I visited the Masai Mara, where I took the photographs that I used to create the FREE Kenya Safari Screensaver, and had an absolutely wonderful time.

I went in November but if you are thinking of taking a safari then now might be the best time to go.

From June until August the most spectacular part of probably the world’s largest migrations sees millions of wildebeest, zebra and predators cross the treacherous, crocodile infested Mara, Grumeti and Mbalanget rivers and onwards onto the Masai Mara.

Our guide, Joram, who’s voice you can hear on the soundclip on the Kenya Podcast player told us that we should return when the plains were “black with animals”.

You can take a 2 night Masai Mara whilst enjoying your Kenya beach holiday. Please feel free to call either Barbara or myself on FREEPHONE 0808 1089 100 for details and prices.

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Reading my favourite Sunday newspaper travel section, (The Observer) I read about “Kahawa Shamba” which is the “favourite eco-escape” of Harriet Lamb, excutive director of The Fairtrade Foundation.

A community-based project built on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, the project aims to bring extra income to the small scale coffee farmers in the region by opening it up to tourism.

Accommodation is in simple chalets, thatched with banana leaves and built in traditional style, and local families look after the guests and cook the meals.

According to Harriet, “It is one of the most beautiful and tranquil places I have ever been”.

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I thought you might like to view this wonderful video of Harvey Croze flying over Amboseli. Although I have downloaded it from Google Video I also read the comments that Harvey made when he first posted the video to Elephant Trust website.

I think the video is brilliant and the accompanying music, “Out Of Africa” gives it a really wonderful feel. I hope you enjoy it and would love to hear your comments:

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I read another post on the www.wildlifextra.com website that I thought you might find interesting and, perhaps, a little disturbing in that it shows what effects tourism can have on wildlife even though it’s overall benefits are massive in comparison.

Elephant Rescued from Waste Pit at Tourist Lodge in Kenya

Elephant Rescued from Waste Pit at Tourist Lodge in Kenya
Kimojino, Wildlife Ranger on the Masai Mara, Wildlife Direct
January 2008 (more…)

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We recommend to many clients that they combine their Kenya beach holiday with the opportunity to experience a safari whilst in Kenya and one of the most popular is the Tsavo East 2 night safari so I was very interested when I read this report the Coast Week website. So if your going to Tsavo this year you can expect some wonderful experiences:-

MANY MORE TSAVO ELEPHANTS

BIG INCREASE IN TSAVO AND MKOMAZI POPULATION

Coastweek - - The elephant population of the expansive Tsavo and Mkomazi conservation area now stands at 11,696 - up 1,299 from 10,397 re-corded in the last census three years ago.

Kenya Wildlife Service Director Julius Kipng’etich has confirmed that this new figure represents a very welcome 4.1 per cent growth rate.

Tsavo’ is the largest protected area (four per cent of Kenya’s landmass) and hosts the highest number (a third) of Kenya’s estimated 30,000 elephants. (more…)

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I’ve just returned from a few days on the Masai Mara and on our second morning’s game drive we came across a family of cheetahs who had just made a kill. We missed the actual chase but as cheetahs can accelerate from 0 - 100kph in three seconds it seems pretty likely that we may have missed it if we had stopped to blink!

I’ve just come across a fascinating 12 day Tanzanai trip, “Cheetahs of the Serengeti”, run in conjunction with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Travelling through the Arusha and Tarangire national parks and the legendary Ngorongoro crater, the tour arrives at the Serengeti, where visitors will spend time with a ZSL researcher tracking the world’s fastest land animals.

Departures are on 29th January (missed that one!!) and 4th Novermber 2008 only and cost £2,995 per person.

For more details of this unique travel experience please call Barbara on Freephone 0808 1089 100.

We’ve also just had some clients return from visiting the Gorillas of Rwanda, whom some of you may have seen on the recent “Long Way Down” programme on the BBC. If you would like any more details of the trip they took please call Barbara on Freephone 0808 1089 100 and we’ll be pleased to let you know the itinerary we arranged for them.

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When I was in Kenya in November I heard some great music playing in the safari lodge I was staying at.

It was played in the bar and also I heard it when I was back in Nairobi. It was great, happy music and I wondered what it was called.

Well, when I got back home I started to try and found out more about this great music and by using the web I found it’s called “Benga” and the distinctive guitar sound is based on the sound of the Luo’s eight-string lyre, an instrument played by the Lua people of Kenya.

Here’s a description of Benga…

Guitar pickers had long mimicked the quick, syncopated melodies of the Luo’s eight-string nyatiti lyre. Now, as electric benga emerged, the nyatiti’s push-and-pull character also influenced prominent electric bass lines. In Benga, the hi-hat sizzles, the bass leaps and voices cry out high-pitched harmonies, while two or three guitars chase each other in sprightly interplay.

I’m going to add a few Benga tunes to the Podcast jukebox here on the blog as soon as I can but if you want to hear more you should just do a search on iTunes for “Benga”.

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Unfortunately we had a problem with our mail server which meant that inadvertantly subscribers to our kenya Holidays mailing list received 10 unsolicited emails from us in one day. The emails were actual copies of the various posts here on the Kenya Holidays Blog.

If you were one of those who received these unwanted emails please accept my apologies for the inconvenience caused. I know how annoying it is to receive unwanted emails.

Sadly 3 people unsubscribed as a result of this error but I can assure anyone who is a subscriber that this error will not happen again.

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