Luxury Circuit in Kenya.

The luxury circuit in Kenya is a world of wonderfully remote tented camps that re-create the way big game hunters used to travel around Kenya a century ago. The locations are to die for, perched high above huge sweeps of savannah or water holes teeming with African wildlife, and many can only be reached by private charter plane or a four-wheel-drive vehicle. Exclusivity and personalized attention are ensured by capping the number of guests and maximizing the number of support staff.

Accommodations are typically in semi-permanent linen tents with fitted bathrooms (hot showers come as standard), four poster beds with mosquito nets and artisan furniture. Gourmet meals comprised of organic and locally-sourced ingredients are served at tables impeccably set with bone china and sterling silverware. Evenings revolve around a bonfire, with guests carousing over aged whiskies and brandy. Camps also employ the most experienced safari guides, increasing your chances of spotting the Big Five – lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo and rhinos.

Transiting in Nairobi inevitably carves a few days out of most travel schedules. But fret not as you can get a head start on wildlife watching at the Giraffe Manor, a stately colonial manor occupying 56 hectares in the suburb of Langata. The grounds are the site of a breeding program for the endangered Rothschild’s giraffe, which means that might you have an inquisitive head peering through your second-story bedroom window. Fans of the movie Out of Africa should ask for the Karen Blixen room decked out with furniture that the famous author gave the owners when she left Africa for the last time.

In Masai Mara National Reserve, the Governors’ Camp is comprised of four magisterial hideaways nestled along shaded river banks. With more than thirty years in the business, this luxury collection has mastered the subtle refinements that distinguish the upmarket price bracket. Individual adornments vary from camp to camp, but the sum total includes oil lantern-lit environs, Victorian claw-foot bathtubs and olive-wood carved beds. Beyond the usual game drives, you can also organize sunrise ballooning excursions, which are followed by champagne breakfasts out in the open savannah.

Heading north to Samburu National Reserve, the Elephant Watch Camp is nothing less than an architectural gem. Massive roofs cling to crooked acacia branches, and tower over palatial, eight-sided tents that are fronted by grass matt-clad terraces. Natural materials pervade as the entire camp is built from recycled wood, and the environmentally-sensitive bathrooms are fitted with eco-flush toilets and solar-heated showers. The owners, Iain and Oria Douglas-Hamilton, are renowned elephant experts, which is comforting given that the animals have free reign of the property. Samburu warriors are also on hand to safely escort you around.

At the heart of Amboseli National Park, lying in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tortilis Camp is another award-winning eco-lodge. The name is derived from the Acacia tortilis trees that grow in thick concentrations around the camp. Semi-permanents tents have been constructed with makuti (thatch) roofs, stone floors and naturally-dyed fabrics to create a soothing ambiance. Lavish meals, which are based on North Italian traditional recipes from the owner’s family cookbook, are accented by fresh-picked vegetables and herbs from the on-site plots. And if you really want to push the exclusive factor, you can opt for a professional massage while staring at the glaciated peak of Africa’s highest summit.

Last, but certainly not least, there is Finch Hatton’s Safari Camp in Tsavo West National Park. The property is named after Denys Finch Hatton, the big game hunter and playboy lover of Karen Blixen. Before dying tragically in a plane crash in 1931 he was renowned for his obsession with maintaining class and civility in the middle of the bush. Even today, guests are required to dress up for dinner, which is an elaborate six-course affair accompanied by vintage wines from one of Kenya’s largest cellars. Tents are decorated with colonial-style furniture and Afghan rugs, and are scattered amongst a string of sheltered hippo pools.

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The Northern Bald Ibis

The Northern Bald Ibis, Hermit Ibis, or Waldrapp is a migratory gregarious bird found in barren, semi-desert or rocky habitats, often close to running water. This 70–80 cm (28–31 in) glossy black ibis, which, unlike other members of the ibis family, is non-wading, has an unfeathered red face and head, and a long, curved red bill. It breeds colonially on coastal or mountain cliff ledges, where it typically lays 2–3 eggs in a stick nest, and feeds on lizards, insects, and other small animals.

The Northern Bald Ibis was once widespread across the Middle East, northern Africa, and southern Europe, with a fossil record dating back at least 1.8 million years. It disappeared from Europe over 300 years ago, and is now considered critically endangered. There are believed to be about 500 wild birds remaining in southern Morocco, and fewer than 10 in Syria, where it was rediscovered in 2002. To combat these ebbing numbers, recent reintroduction programs have been instituted internationally, with a semi-wild breeding colony in Turkey, as well as sites in Austria, Spain, and northern Morocco.

The reasons for the species’ long-term decline are unclear, but hunting, loss of foraging habitat, and pesticide poisoning have been implicated in the rapid loss of colonies in recent decades.

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Jewel of the semi desert- Sibiloi National Park

Sibiloi national Park in Northern provinces of Kenya is certainly one of East Africa’s best-kept secrets. Mostly arid semi desert, commiphora woodland is prevalent. Euphorbia and stunning pink flowers of the desert rose stand out amongst the dark sandstone outcrops. Dry sand rivers lined with shady thorn trees intersect the landscape. Kenya’s Lake Turkana is undoubtedly the most striking feature of this region; algae-inspired shades of green give the lake its name “The Jade Sea”. Lake Turkana is not only the largest alkaline lake in Kenya but also one the largest alkaline lakes in the world.

Sibiloi was declared a National Park by the government of Kenya in 1973. This was undertaken primarily to ensure the long-term protection of the many important fossil sites in the area but also to conserve the rare fauna and flora of Kenya endemic to the area. This wildlife includes rare dry country large mammals such as Grevy zebra, gerenuk, Oryx, antelopes, topi, greater kudu, ostriches, cheetahs, and leopards.

Sibiloi National Park in Kenya and Lake Turkana lies at an approximate altitude of 375 meters (1246 feet) above sea level. The climate of the region is hot and arid.

The lakeshore provides important refuge to increasingly threatened crocodile and soft-shelled turtle populations, and serves as an important breeding ground for crocodiles, many different fish species and water birds. The combination of wildlife and prehistory makes Sibiloi National Park unique in Kenya, East Africa and has been recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The National Park is administered under Kenya Wildlife Service, which falls under the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources of Kenya.

To get to the park it will take you three days travelling by road via marsabit, north horr or you can travel by air since there are two all weather airstrips at the park.

You can be accommodated at the: Oasis Lodge, Lobolo Tented Camp. KWS self-catering accommodation: Allia Bay Guesthouse. Campsites: Turkana Campsite, Sunset Strip Camp.

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Elephant census results.

It takes nature millions of years to evolve a new species. It takes only minutes to eradicate one from the wild forever.

Although droughts are terrible events poaching is steadily weakening the herds of Tsavo elephants and leaving the least desirable ones to procreate.

An international team gathered in Kenya last month, to conduct a census of elephants in the Tsavo-Mkomazi conservation area. Drought and poaching are putting pressure on the large animals, it remains to be seen whether the population is expanding or contracting.

The survey area was 46,437 km2 (17,929 mi2) and on a good day, temperatures rise to over 30 degrees celcius during that season. The area has been divided into 43 blocks and individual and whole ecosystem maps produced. There were over 120 participants, the bulk of who were the GIS personnel and pilots.

Last week the results were out and showed a drop in the population’s growth rate from a previously recorded four percent to two percent.
A total of 12,572 elephants were counted in the expansive Tsavo ecosystem, which may mark a slight increase from the previous count in 2008 of 11,696 but also represents a decline in the growth rate. From the results it shows that we still have the responsibility to take care of our animals not only in Kenya but worldwide.

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Problems facing Masai Mara National reserve.

While the completion last year of the 87-kilometre Mai Mahiu- Narok road brought some relief, another 96 kilometres to the main gate is in a bad state. Tour drivers said they are forced to divert to people’s farms, a situation which they say have led to conflict between them and the local community.

It is a shame when tourists are blocked by weapon-wielding locals, who are rightfully protesting that tour vehicles are disturbing their livestock and trampling on their pasture,

Vice chairman of the National Tour Drivers and Guides Association Andrew Mungatana and the association’s chief executive Joseph Ole Parpai said the 40-kilometre section of the Narok-Sekenani stretch was almost unmotorable.

Narok and Trans Mara county councils get more than 80 per cent of their revenue from the wild life resort.

The local authorities gain from the reserve by charging gate entries, royalties in the lodges as well as balloon settings and airplane landings. Although Narok County Council announced it had switched to electronic ticketing in a bid to shore up its revenue and seal corruption loopholes.

Tour drivers are asking the government of Kenya to intervene and make sure the road is repaired.

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Aberdares ranges- A beauty in the tropics

The AberdareRangeis a 160 km long mountain range of upland, north of Kenya’s capital Nairobi with an average elevation of 3,500 metres. It is located in west central Kenya, northeast of Naivasha and Gilgil and just south of the Equator. It forms a section of the eastern rim of the Great Rift Valley running from the Kinangop Plateau, to the Laikipia Escarpment, roughly north to south. On the west, the range falls off steeply into the Great Rift Valley and views of LakeNaivasha and the distant Mau Escarpment can be seen.

TheAberdareRangehas a maximum elevation of 3,994 metres above sea level and is heavily-forested. Much of the range has been protected within the AberdareNational Park since its creation in 1950. The range attracts large numbers of hikers and climbers operating out of the main centers of Naivasha and Gilgil. The lower slopes are farmed, higher areas are known for their wildlife. The Rhino Charge is an annual event run by conservationists in Kenya to pay for fencing of theAberdareNational Parkas a means of protectingEast Africa’s largest indigenous forest from destruction.

The former name of the range survives in MountSatima (“the mountain of the young bull”); it is the highest peak in theAberdareRange. MountKenya, 5,199 metres the second highest mountain in Africa (after Kilimanjaro) lies east of theAberdareRange.

The area is well known as the headquarters of Dedan Kimathi, leader of the 1950s Mau Mau Uprising.Also, Elizabeth II became Queen of the United Kingdom while vacationing in the Aberdares. It was also the site where J.A. Hunter killed theRogue elephant ofAberdareForest.

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Baboon cliff

Lake Nakuru is a very shallow strongly alkaline lake 62 km2 in extent. It is set in a picturesque landscape of surrounding woodland and grassland next to Nakuru town. The landscape includes areas of marsh and grasslands alternating with rocky cliffs and outcrops, stretches of acacia woodland and rocky hillsides covered with a Euphorbia forest on the eastern perimeter.

Lake Nakuru was first gazetted as a bird sanctuary in 1960 and upgraded to National Park status in 1968. A northern extension was added to the park in 1974 and the lake was designated as a Ramsar site in 1990. The foundation of the parks food chains is the cyanophyte spirulina platensis which can support huge numbers of lesser flamingo.

The best place to get a view of the park from above is to visit the lookout at Baboon cliff. It’s like looking down on an artist’s painting, where all the colours of the water of Nakuru, the pink of the flamingo, and the black mud around, plus the dry savannah lands and green of the acacia’s create swirls of colour like a surrealist piece of art.

The best month to visit this wonderful place is July, because it is in this month that the birds migrate. From the cliff you can see the birds as they take off in large numbers of up to 3000.

If lucky and you visit the baboon cliff when the sun is setting then the view is stunning, it feels like you are on top of the world watching it as the sun rays spread through the sky and the horizons are clearly seen.

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Golf safaris

Paint an inaccurate picture of golf in the 21st century and anyone who plays the game will testify if its true or false.

Golf is used to the odd sniper taking potshots at its integrity but the tired old arguments wheeled out to beat the sport about the head no longer hold water.

The reality is that the Royal and Ancient game is hugely popular and accessible, in fact it’s now considered positively hip and cool – a four ball with mates and beers to follow is about the perfect summer’s day out for many.

Its appeal is broad too; even the rich and beautiful in the shapely forms of supermodel Campbell and actress Zeta-Jones love nothing better than hitching up their golf slacks and strutting their stuff down the fairway.

However golf’s attraction doesn’t lie in who plays the game but rather the very game itself – from the physical pleasure of smacking a ball down the fairway to discovering all the wonderful rituals and traditions that surround the sport.

To explain to a non-golfer why golf is such a great game can be difficult. If you don’t play, it’s likely you just won’t get it . . . at first!

At its most rudimentary level, its appeal lies in the fact that there is something innately satisfying about teeing up a ball and thrashing it as hard as you can. It conjures up memories of youthful indiscretion, of throwing stones as far as possible and seeing them hit their intended target – a disused garden shed window or abandoned old car – and the resulting clatter of success.

But before anyone writes off golfers as unreconstructed hooligans still seeking a cheap thrill or adrenaline rush, golf proves strangely addictive for altogether much more subtle reasons.

It’s partly the ritual involved – packing your golf bag for a day’s golf is a bit like planning a trek up K2 with every contingency to be covered – rain, sun, cold, hunger, thirst, new glove, pen, scorecard, tees, balls (plenty of those) and the latest gadgets (golfers love gadgets!).

Then there is the equipment itself to marvel at – the tools of the trade. Gleaming silver irons, drivers with heads the size of Pluto, fairway woods, hybrids and putters of infinitive variety. Golfers, as you will discover if you ever take up the game, are suckers for gear. Screaming ads promise the earth and despite knowing better hapless golfers go back for more, convinced that the latest driver on the market is going to cure all their golfing ills.

Once you’re primed for action, bag loaded or trolleyed up complete with essential gadgets, the real business begins, the round itself. Four hours of mostly pleasure but sprinkled with various doses of agony, joy, frustration, hope and not a little despair.

The course is where the love affair is cemented. Driving ranges are great for practice, superb on a wet winter’s night but every golfer lives for the manicured greens and sculptured fairways where he can measure his skill and ability.
And the first tee on every course brings with it the potential and thrill of anticipation of what might be.

The first shot of every new round heralds the start of something special. Eternally optimistic, it’s always the same, today’s the day you cast off the shackles of your handicap, unleash your true potential and blitz the course like the great golfer you know you really are.

Of course reality then kicks in – you top the shot, the ball shoots off like a heat-seeking missile, maintaining its perfect height of just a foot off the ground for its entire 90 yard journey before coming to rest in a clump of rough on the adjacent hole.

Dream over for another round but there’s still another 17 holes to go and hey, hold on, if I get my five wood to this, actually manage to get a half decent connection, I’ll still have a chance to get on the green, sink the putt and play the game.

Golf is also about the challenge of beating what the legendary Bobby Jones called Old Man Par – pitting your wit and ability against the course, out-thinking and maneuvering its hidden traps and spiteful hazards, attempting to lower your handicap, and, heaven forbid, even win some monthly medals.

But it’s not all about competitions, draining putts and shaving strokes off your handicap. Golf is something more too, its beautifully civilized, the long walks between holes yielding plenty of time for introspection and reflection as you contemplate a round unfolding before your eyes and take in the agelessness and greenness of it all, letting life’s day to day stresses drift away to be replaced by a kind of happy golfing stupor. For the funs of golf at Etton we can organize special golf safaris for you in Kenya any time.

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Etton Travel and Tours

White water rafting

Kayaking or rafting on the Kenyan whitewater is of the greatest thrilling experience can get on this planet will taste the virgin wilderness together with sub-tropical river basins and open desert plains in Kenya. From fresher, beginners to the specialists, facilities are there for all to explore the wonderful yet unnerving rivers of Africa. Central Kenya is perfect for paddlers of all levels. Tourists can appreciate the thrill on numerous rivers ranging from basic low-volume grade III runs to the extremely technical medium-volume grade V creaking.

Rivers in Kenya are mostly untouched by human influence and that gives far more thrill although exploring them on kayaks or rafts makes it marvelous.

April-June and October-December are the best times to kayak even though some rivers stay open throughout the year. The following rivers can be rafted in Kenya:

Tana River:
High quality water, rich avifauna and scenic beauty and also closeness with Nairobi make Tana a well-liked site for white water rafting and flip boat trips.

Mathoya River:
This river is far more suitable. for the advanced rafters and kayakers. The 30 km lengthy river has 500 metres of descent

Athi River:
Located about 230 km from Nairobi, a minimum of days is needed to explore this river. Expedition can begin near the town of Thika and conclude near Malindi on Indian Ocean.

Ewaso-Ng’iro River:
A classic internet site for white water rafting/kayaking and wildlife viewing. Water level reliability is, even so, poor.

Other Rivers like Nzoia and Yala have reasonable water but the adjoining area is heavily populated.

Chania and Thiba still to be explored.

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Mt kilimanjaro- a sky island

Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, lies in north-eastern Tanzania and is the highest mountain in Africa at 5,895 metres or 19,341 ft above sea level that is the Uhuru Peak/Kibo Peak.

Kilimanjaro is a giant stratovolcano that began forming a million years ago, when lava spilled from the Rift Valley zone. Two of its three peaks, Mawenzi and Shira, are extinct while Kibo (the highest peak) is dormant and could erupt again. The last major eruption has been dated to 360,000 years ago, while the most recent activity was recorded just 200 years ago.

Although it is dormant, Kilimanjaro has fumaroles that emit gas in the crater on the main summit of Kibo. Scientists concluded in 2003 that molten magma is just 400 m (1,310 ft) below the summit crater. Several collapses and landslides have occurred on Kibo in the past, one creating the area known as the Western Breach

Being a sky island, Kilimanjaro has many endemic species, including the giant groundsels in the tussock grassland and other plants adapted to living in alpine conditions.

Kilimanjaro has a large variety of forest types over an altitudinal range of 3,000 m (9,843 ft) containing over 1,200 vascular plant species. Montane Ocotea forests occur on the wet southern slope. Cassipourea and Juniperus forests grow on the dry northern slope. Subalpine Erica forests at 4,100 m (13,451 ft) represent the highest elevation cloud forests in Africa. In contrast to this enormous biodiversity, the degree of endemism is low. However, forest relicts in the deepest valleys of the cultivated lower areas suggest that a rich forest flora inhabited Mt Kilimanjaro in the past, with restricted-range species otherwise only known from the Eastern Arc mountains. The low degree of endemism on Kilimanjaro may result from destruction of lower altitude forest rather than the relatively young age of the mountain. Another feature of the forests of Kilimanjaro is the absence of a bamboo zone, which occurs on all other tall mountains in East Africa with a similarly high rainfall. (Sinarundinaria alpina) stands are favoured by elephants and buffaloes. On Kilimanjaro these mega herbivores occur on the northern slopes, where it is too dry for a large bamboo zone to develop. They are excluded from the wet southern slope forests by topography and humans, who have cultivated the foothills for at least 2000 years. This interplay of biotic and a biotic factors could explain not only the lack of a bamboo zone on Kilimanjaro but also offers possible explanations for the patterns of diversity and endemism. If true, Kilimanjaro’s forests would serve as a striking example of the large and long-lasting influence of both animals and humans on the African landscape.

In the late 1880s the summit of Kibo was completely covered by an ice cap with outlet glaciers cascading down the western and southern slopes, and, except for the inner cone, the entire caldera was buried. Glacier ice flowed also through the Western Breech.

An examination of ice cores taken from the North Ice Field Glacier indicate that the “snows of Kilimanjaro” (aka glaciers) have a basal age of 11,700 years. A continuous ice cap covering approximately 400 square kilometers covered the mountain during the period of maximum glaciation, extending across the summits of Kibo and Mawenzi.The glacial ice survived drought conditions during a three century period beginning ~2200 BCE.

While the current shrinking and thinning of Kilimanjaro’s ice fields appears to be unique within its almost twelve millennium history, it is contemporaneous with widespread glacier retreat in mid-to-low latitudes across the globe. Unless trends change, Kilimanjaro could become ice-free as early as 2022.

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Etton Travel and Tours