Features
Camel Safaris
Simon Horsford
On the face of it, the camel is hardly a lovely creature. Mark Twain in Innocents Abroad compared it to "an ostrich with an extra set of legs." And yet over five days on safari in northern Kenya, these beasts of burden enabled us to enjoy an exhilarating, almost old-fashioned adventure.
For many travelers to Africa, a safari invariably involves a 4x4 or an overland truck. But a camel safari offers a closer way of connecting with the landscape and its people. You don't actually ride the camels — which, after sitting on one for half an hour, was a blessed relief. Rather, they carry the luggage and provisions, with a mixture of grace and grumpiness, while you trek alongside.
The Ngare Ndare Forest
Kenya’s latest haven
BY KAAKA NABEA
The Ngare Ndare Forest Trust is a good example of what happens when a concerned community puts its resources together to conserve natural forest and wildlife resources; they create a peaceful haven for wildlife and a perfect ecotourism spot for lovers of the wild. Camping, hiking, game viewing and swimming in the wild are excellent ideas to undertake here. The community in turn benefits from the tourism ventures, from better living conditions and a protected water tower.
Homeliness and exclusivity at Kenya’s Solio Reserve
Rosemary Behan
“Hmm. Not sure about that company - think it might be a budget outfit." Mark Barrah, who has been helping to finish build Solio Lodge, Kenya's newest luxury safari lodge, is right. I've chosen the no-frills route up and down Mt Kenya, complete with a dodgy guide, overloaded porter and transfers by 1970s Land Rovers. Yet, with a choice of either tents or freezing bunkhouses, 3am starts, blisters, and no electricity, heating or showers, there is no luxury way of climbing Africa's second-highest mountain. Ava Paton, the newly appointed South African manager of Solio Lodge, can only shudder when she drops me off in Nanyuki before the climb. "You wouldn't catch me dead doing that," she says. "Rather you than me."
Kenya Treks
John Karumba’s thoughts on being a guide
My name is John Karumba and I am a guide on Mount Kenya. I take clients up the mountain and some trips stay in my mind. We did a great trip with a group of American ladies last year for Robin Hurt Safaris. They were celebrating a 50th birthday and we camped at Lake Ellis and Lake Michaelson. Not many people camp on this side, so the clients loved being on their own with no other people around. The best thing was that weather was so clear that we were able to reach Point Lenana directly from the Simba Col and so we didn’t have to get up very early in the morning for the usual climb from Shipton’s Camp. We were the only people at the top which was very special.
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Experience Laikipia
Laikipia, lying on the thresholds of Kenya’s wild Northern rangelands stretches from the slopes of Mt Kenya to the rim of the Great Rift Valley and is larger than all of Kenya’s national parks and reserves except Tsavo. Its magnificent escarpments descend into the arid lands and semi deserts of Northern Kenya. A sanctuary for over 80 mammal species including black rhino, elephant, lion, leopard, Grevy Zebra, reticulated giraffe, aardwolf, wild dog and a wealth of African game, Laikipia biodiversity is globally unique.
