Kenya Holidays Blog

I read an interesting article on the web from The Baltimore Sun regarding “VolunTourism” which combines a holiday with an amount of time giving something back.

Here’s a brief snippet:

“As David Clemmons, founder of VolunTourism .org, frames it: "This is more than just putting heads in beds."
Volunteer vacations or service trips have been around for years in the form of tax-deductible trips arranged by nonprofit organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Earthwatch and Global Volunteers.

But volunteer tourism is different. Instead of focusing on away-from-home volunteer projects, often long-term, voluntourism combines a pure holiday - say, a 12-day safari in Africa or a week in New Orleans during Mardi Gras - with a short-term volunteer undertaking”.

When I last visited Kenya I spent some time on the Masai Mara, courtesy of Virgin Holidays and whilst there myself and a number of other travel agents spent a day in a local Masai village painting a new school building.  (I’m about to add a video to the main Kenya Holidays website showing us actually doing it).

So in a way we were taking part in “VolunTourism” without realising.

I can recommend it as we had a great day, met the local people in their own surroundings and put just a little back into the area that we were enjoying from a “tourist” standpoint.

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There are some wonderful camps and lodges that you can stay at whilst on safari in Kenya, some of them are totally unique because of their location or the facilities that they offer.

Over the next weeks or so I would like to feature some of those that I personally would love to visit beginning with the wonderfully named “Elelphant Pepper Camp”.

Here’s the “official” description”:

"Situated right on the Northern Edge of the Maasai Mara reserve this 8-tented bush camp, is tucked away in a prime wildlife area. Surrounded by the Mara’s ubiquitous game, it’s a seasonal camp, which is taken down for a month or so in the rainy seasons.

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There was an excellent article in the Telegraph on the 3rd of November entitled:
“Kenya Safari - So Much Better Than Disney” which essentially suggested that children would benefit from actually being able to actually see the animals in real life that they may only have ever have seen on the Disney or the Discovery Channel.

It was an excellent article and here’s a part of it (with credit to the Telegraph), that will go you a feel for what they were trying to suggest:
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How about this:-

Why not take the Obama Roots Tour?

It consists of 9 night itinerary commencing in Nairobi where there is time to enjoy the unique giraffe centre or Karen Blixen’s house. Lake Nakuru is full of pink flamingoes and rhinos also live in the park. In the magical Kakamega visitors enjoy walks in the forest. At Kogelo see the area that is home to Obama’s family. Visits can be made to a local school and community projects

Take a boat transfer to Ndere Island for a special overnight stay. The Mara is a highlight of the trip with guaranteed wildlife sightings. Lucky game-watchers will see leopard, cheetah, hippos and more. The birdlife is amazing too.

There’s a choice of 3 tours starting from £1883.

Please give us a call on Freephone 0808 1089 100 for more details.

Tags: obamaroots tour, kenya safari,

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I’m just finishing editing the video and audio files I recorded on the Masai Mara.

I recorded a lot of video footage and audio clips and have been working hard over the last few days sorting them out.

I hope to have the first of the up over the next week which hopefully will help anybody thinking of taking Kenya safari holidays decide if its’ the sort of trip they want to make. I have to say just listening to the audio again brought it all back.

Here’s a taster of what’s to come. Its’ our guide, Joram, talking about the “big cats”. Joram is a lovely man with a wonderful voice which I think you will enjoy listening to:

 

 Joram and the "Big Cats" [4:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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