Why I love Kenya 16 by Mike Jones

NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2019 ISSUE 16

Extinction Reverse Working to save Kenya’s northern white rhino

The Coast Calls Fun in the sun on the shores of the Indian Ocean

Gifts and Goodwill Festive shopping at the Maasai Markets

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE KENYA TOURISM BOARD & KENYA TOURISM FEDERATION

NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2019 ISSUE 16

Extinction Reverse Working to save Kenya’s northern white rhino

The Coast Calls Fun in the sun on the shores of the Indian Ocean

Gifts and Goodwill Festive shopping at the Maasai Markets

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE KENYA TOURISM BOARD & KENYA TOURISM FEDERATION

Foreword by Honourable Najib Balala EGH, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Tourism & Wildlife

the forefront of giraffe conservation while providing sanctuary for the vast majority of the world’s reticulated giraffe whose numbers are estimated to have dropped by over 50% in the past 30 years alone. That’s why Kenya made a proposal for inclusion of giraffes in Appendix II at the 18th Conference of the Parties (CoP18) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Geneva, which was accepted. This means there will be regulations on trade in giraffe parts by CITES. Travelling to Laikipia, we learn how Kenya has launched East Africa’s first All-Women Anti-Poaching Ranger Unit and Academy, whose members are already hard at work, not only in protecting our wildlife, but also in promoting intercultural harmony.

Welcome to our 16th edition of Why I Love Kenya Magazine, the official publication of the Kenya Tourism Board. In this issue we are continuing with our ‘Green Theme’ by learning how some of our school students have launched a unique initiative called Plastiki Rafiki that combines the collection of plastic refuse with the launch of a new range of retail items and the creation of new earning potential for rural communities all over the country. We also meet some Maasai children who are experiencing life in a luxury tented camp for the very first time. Moving on, we learn how highly endangered Kenyan Mangabey monkeys, which are endemic to the Tana River Delta region of Kenya, are soon to benefit from a new plan designed to ensure, not only their protection, but also that they will receive many more visitors in the future. Mangabeys, which are amongst some of the world’s most threatened monkeys, are resident only in Senegal, Gabon, West Africa and the Tana Delta River region of Kenya. Elsewhere we meet some endangered Reticulated giraffes in Kenya’s arid northern region, who have recently been fitted with state of the art solar-powered tracking devices known as ‘twiga trackers’. The initiative, a global first, is expected to deliver vital biodata on giraffes in general as well as unravelling some of the mysteries of Kenya’s northern breed of Reticulated giraffes in particular. Kenya stands at

The virtual Kenyan safari continues, first with a visit to our spectacular coastline where we enjoy everything from action sport to idyllic romance; and then to Tsavo East National Park, where the endangered wild dog is enjoying a revival. We then travel on to the seldom-visited but enchanting Matthews Range of mountains where we track the progress of three orphaned baby elephants. On the eve of International Cheetah day on December 4th, we showcase the fact that Kenya remains the ultimate ecological stronghold for the East African cheetah, hosting a population thought to number between 800 and 1,200 adults. Moving on, we meet one of the worthy winners of the 2019 African Ranger Awards, Simon Irungu Wangu, Team Commander for the Rapid Response Unit on the world famous Ol Pejeta Conservancy. And, while we’re in the vicinity, we learn how Kenya is achieving a first in reversing the threat of the extinction of the Northern White Rhino, whose last two living representatives, Najin and Fatu, live out their days in their own private wilderness in Ol Pejeta. Welcome to Magical Kenya, I hope you enjoy this issue.

Honourable Najib Balala EGH, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Tourism & Wildlife

WHY I LOVE KENYA November-December 2019

32 PUBLISHER: MJS Colourspace Ltd. Victoria Towers, Kilimanjaro Road, Upper Hill, Nairobi Tel: +254 (0)20 2738004, 2737883, +254 (0)727 794041

CEO Mike Jones MANAGING EDITOR: Jane Barsby EDITORIAL & PHOTOGRAPHIC CONSULTANTS: Stuart Butler, Wanjiku Nyoike-Mugo MARKETING CONSULTANT: David Stogdale SALES: Penina Barasa, Olivia Constantine FEATURE EDITORS: Virginia Clay, Jan Fox CREATIVE TEAM: Pam Kubassu Papa, Moses Ochieng, Sam Ndung’u PHOTOGRAPHIC AND EDITORIAL CREDITS: Accor Hotels, Africa Born, Ali Barbours Cave Restaurant, Ami Vitale / Alamy Stock Photo, Asilia, Basecamp Explorer, East African Safari Rally Limited, Eric Lafforgue / Alamy Stock Photo, Giraffe Conservation Foundation, Giraffe Manor, Granger Historical Picture Archive / Alamy Stock Photo, Greg Armfield, Hemingways Collection, Jan Zwilling, Jeremy Goss, Kenya Tourism Board, Lengishu, Let’s Go Travel – Uniglobe, Mara Bushtops, Medina Palms, Minden Pictures / Alamy Stock Photo, Plastiki Rafiki / International School of Kenya, Rahul Sachdev / Caters News, Rapids Camp, Ride Kenya, Satao Camp, Serena Hotels, Stuart Butler, Stuart Price / Make it Kenya, The Sands at Chale Island, www.maasaimarkets.com, ZEITZ Foundation / Ms. Taran Gehlot

EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES: editorial@colourspace.co.ke ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES: mike@colourspace.co.ke IN ASSOCIATION WITH:

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Copyright © 2019 Why I Love Kenya Magazine. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the publishers. The publishers do not accept responsibility for the advertising content of the magazine and nor do they promote or endorse products from thirdparty advertisers. Printed in Kenya. Cover photo: Pride Rock, Borana Conservancy © Lengishu

14 48 Contents 01 Foreword 04 Zoom Lens 06 Kenya Loves Green 10 In Portrait: Out of the mouths of babes 14 Exposed: Pillow talk 18 Focus On: Time Watch Kenya 20 Positive Take: Taking things to extremes 24 Kenyan heros 26 Moving Image: Wild Encounters in Tsavo East

28 Snap shot: Warrior Boy 30 Hospitality 32 Conservation: Extinction reverse 36 Cameo Shot: Simon Irungu Wangu 38 Conservation: A tale of three elephants 42 Capturing the Coast: The Coast calls 48 Kenya Tourism Board 50 Snapped: Gifts & Goodwill 52 Kenya Brief

zoom lens

Kenya’s wildlife takes centre stage According to a recent report by the United Nations World Tourism Organization, wildlife is the single biggest revenue earner for African tourism. The figures make interesting reading: 62 million people visit Africa annually, a figure that is projected to double by 2030; and 80% of those people come specifically to watch wildlife. Not only does this place Kenya’s wildlife centre stage in terms of the world’s preferred leisure activity but it also means that opportunities for employment within the sector are significantly enhanced. According to a report by conservation organization, Space for Giants, and the United Nations Environment Programme, ‘Africa’s unique diversity of wildlife and habitat has the potential to radically transform the continent’s economy’ since nature-based tourism generates 40 per cent more full-time employment than agriculture as well as providing a whole new spectrum of employment opportunities for women.

The other migration is on If you thought the annual migration of the wildebeest only takes place in July and August, you’d be wrong. Wildebeest don’t stand still. They move with the times. And these days, they not only migrate northward from the Serengeti in July and August but they also move east-west from the Loita Plains to the Masai Mara National Reserve between January and March. So, if you’d like to catch the ultimate in gnus on the move – plan to be in the Masai Mara, or any of the conservancies that surround it, at the dawn of 2020.

WHY I LOVE KENYA November-December 2019

The unforgettable Mara National Geographic have included Kenya’s iconic Masai Mara as one of its 20 unforgettable places to visit alongside such high-profile destinations as Mount Everest, the Great Barrier Reef, the Grand Canyon and England’s Stonehenge. The magazine describes Kenya’s best-known reserve as follows: ‘The golden plains of the Maasai Mara are like pages out of an African storybook. This wild corner of Kenya is not only home to the iconic annual Great Migration, but an abundance of wildlife encounters that’ll impress even the most discerning Afrophile. First, buckle up for a drive across the savannah for sightings of hyenas, wildebeest, zebras, elephants and even the rare white rhino, before retiring back to a lodge that’s raising the conservation game and offering guests a real taste of Maasai culture. And then there’s the Kenyan sunset — considered one of the world’s most beautiful — best enjoyed with a drink in hand and worries temporarily forgotten. With this, and so much more, it’s hard not to fall in love with the hakuna matata way of life here.’ To read the full article, visit: www.nationalgeographic.co.uk

title © East African Safari Rally Limited

Nostalgia on wheels It’s time for the rally to end all rallies, the ninth edition of the world famous East African Safari Classic Rally. A bi-annual, nine-day rally that roars its way over 5,000 kilometres of Kenya and Tanzania, this ultra-nostalgic event rekindles the spirit of the original Safari Rally which was first staged in 1953 and became established as the world’s toughest rally. This year’s event (27 November to 6 December) will pit an array of rally cars built before 1986 not only against each other but also against a landscape that veers from painted deserts to sweltering swamps. For further information: www.eastafricasafarirally.com

...and now The World’s Toughest Rally is a WRC event Great news for Kenya, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, motor sport’s ruling body, has announced that the Kenya Safari Rally will feature again in the World Rally Championship calendar from 2020. The East African event (16 - 19 July) will form the eighth round the Championships and mark the beginning of the second half of the 2020 campaign. This ends an 18-year absence from the WRC. In its day, the Safari Rally reigned supreme as the ‘baddest of the bad’ featuring rough roads, unpredictable weather, glorious mud baths and a route three times longer than other rallies. Bring it on. We’re ready.

Lamu’s famous Maulidi Festival © Kenya Tourism Board

Camel-aderie The camel racers of the world united in September in Northern Kenya where the 30th Annual Maralal International Camel Derby was held. Amateurs and professionals alike took to the saddle of some of the world’s most famous hump-backed steeds. Staged against the brilliance of Kenya’s searing-hot desert region, this world-famous event also showcased the very best of Samburu dance, heritage, crafts, cuisine and culture. Proceeds will go towards promoting peace and cohesion amid the pastoral communities. For further information: www.samburu.go.ke

November is the time to visit the Alice-through-the-looking glass world of Lamu. Here, in a place where time stands still and donkeys are the main form of transport, a unique festival takes place to celebrate the birth of the Prophet Mohammed. This year’s event will be held 18-24 November and will draw thousands of visitors and pilgrims to the enchanted island for a vibrant cultural festival that features: dhow, donkey and swimming races; dancing; Swahili poetry; drama; calligraphy and art exhibits; and a street display of Swahili Cuisine and heritage crafts. Immensely popular, this event causes the tiny town of Lamu to bulge at the seams, so book early. Further information: www.discoverlamu.org

WHY I LOVE KENYA November-December 2019

kenya loves title green

Graduation Day © ZEITZ Foundation / Ms. Taran Gehlot

Girl power The ZEITZ foundation’s first intake at the All-Women Anti-Poaching Ranger Academy has graduated on Segera, a 50,000 acre wildlife conservancy in the Laikipia Region of central Kenya. The Passing Out Ceremony was attended by Honorable CS Najib Balala, Kenya’s Minister of Tourism & Wildlife. Together with the support of the Julius Baer Foundation and private donors, the ZEITZ Foundation’s All-Women Anti-Poaching Ranger Academy was launched in March 2019 with the recruitment of the first season of female rangers from Segera’s local communities. The group of women will now be deployed on the front line of conservation where, as well as protecting their region against poachers, they will also liaise with the local communities in the interests of promoting dialogue as the primary driver for peace, intercultural understanding and ecological preservation. For more information: www.zeitzfoundation.org

Crested Mangabey, Tana River Primate Reserve, Kenya. © Minden Pictures / Alamy Stock Photo

Rare Kenyan primate to receive increased protection

Hots spots They say a leopard never changes its spots, but in Kenya’s world famous Masai Mara reserve a zebra has changed its stripes – to spots. A zebra foal named Tira has been born with a dark coat and white spots, which is thought to be the first recorded observation of what is termed pseudomelanism, a rare genetic mutation in which animals display some sort of abnormality in their stripe pattern. Having featured as a zebra pinup in newspapers around the world, the young zebra is now thought to be the hottest spotting in the Mara.

WHY I LOVE KENYA November-December 2019

Mangadrills, which comprise nine groups of African monkeys including mangabeys, are amongst some of the world’s most threatened primates. Inhabiting an area that stretches from Senegal and Gabon in West Africa to the Tana River Delta in Kenya, they are also the least visited by incoming tourists. This, however, is set to change as the Tana River Mangabey, endemic to the forests of the lower Tana River, is to receive increased exposure thanks to a recent project co-led by the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), Bristol Zoo and West African Primate Conservation Action. A five-year plan already sent to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which begins in 2020, will not only establish workshops to sensitive local communities to the rarity of the monkeys, but it was also put plans in motion for specialist eco-tours that will allow tourists to visit the monkeys in their natural habitat.

kenya loves green

International Cheetah day December 4th is International Cheetah Day. Established by the Cheetah Conservation Fund in cooperation with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2013, its mission is to focus the world’s attention on the plight of the cheetah, now Africa’s most endangered big cat. And not a moment too soon. Cheetah numbers in the wild have dropped from 100,000 to only around 7,000 over the last ten years. Which, as declines go, is drastic indeed and unless it is reversed, the beautiful cheetah, the world’s fastest land animal, will be extinct within the next five to ten years. There are many reasons for the decline in numbers: loss of habitat, human conflict, climate change and the fact that cheetahs don’t do well in protected game reserves due to the high numbers of other larger predators, which steal their food and kill their young. But there is hope, especially in Kenya, which is acknowledged to be the world’s cheetah stronghold with a population of around 1,500. Here, extensive research is being carried out to determine ways of protecting Kenya’s cheetahs.

Demystifying the giraffe 28 endangered reticulated giraffes in Kenya’s arid northern region, have recently been fitted with state of the art solarpowered tracking devices known as ‘twiga trackers’ (twiga is the Swahili word for giraffe). The initiative, which aims to determine where the giraffe are, how much land they need and how they move across the landscape seasonally, is the largest satellite tagging operation of giraffes in history. It is also poised to deliver some of the first data ever to be collected from the reticulated giraffe.

Let’s Go Green The 2019 Eco Warrior Awards, organised by Ecotourism Kenya, was held in September to coincide with the United Nations World Tourism Organization World Tourist Day. The overall winner was the travel agency Let’s Go Travel - Uniglobe, who also won the Green Tourism Champion in Tour Operations Award for the fifth time. Let’s Go Travel - Uniglobe recently became the first Kenyan tour agency to achieve the Travelife green certification. www.ecotourismkenya.org/ecowarrioraward

The initiative, which is coordinated by San Diego Zoo Global, the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, Kenya Wildlife Service, Northern Rangeland Trust, Loisaba Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, and BiK-F Senckenberg, will also deliver vital biodata on all the various species of giraffe. This as part of an Africa-wide effort that Dr Julian Fennessy, Director of Giraffe Conservation Foundation, described as ‘unravelling the many mysteries that surround the African giraffe’. As one of the first countries in Africa to develop and commence implementation of a National Giraffe Conservation Strategy and Action Plan, Kenya is at the forefront of giraffe conservation, it is also home to the vast majority of reticulated giraffe whose numbers are estimated to have dropped by over 50% over the past 30 years.

WHY I LOVE KENYA November-December 2019

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in portrait

Out of the mouths of babes ‘We children are doing this to wake the adults up. We children are doing this for you to put your differences aside and start acting as you would in a crisis. We children are doing this because we want our hopes and dreams back.’ Greta Thunberg

illions are demonstrating across the world. Young and old have taken to the streets in 185 countries to demand action. It’s not all to do with a 16-year-old Swedish girl with pigtails. But Greta and her plaits have certainly started to unravel the arguments of those who continue to claim that climate change isn’t happening. ‘We will make them hear us,’ said Greta on the eve of the September New York Climate Strike. And here in Kenya her call was heard as droves of young people took to the streets wearing hats and outfits made from plastic bottles. Their aim was not only to highlight the threat of climate change but also the dangers of plastic waste, which presents an especially serious threat to people living in the developing world. Inadequate waste collection often results in the double whammy of poor health for local communities and huge damage to the environment. Kenya, however, has long been in the vanguard of those countries committed to outlawing plastic. Kenya has implemented some of the world’s strictest laws on single-use plastic bags. Here you can expect large fines for simply carrying a small plastic carrier bag. Meanwhile, on our beaches and in our national parks, forests and conservation areas, single-use items such as plastic straws, cutlery and drinking cups are to be banned completely from June 2020. Down on our Indian Ocean beaches, regular teams, made up of visitors, youngsters, activists and ordinary people alike, head out daily to collect the huge drifts of plastic that wash up on our shores. Given that around three percent of global annual plastic waste enters the oceans each year - which in 2010 was approximately 8 million tonnes – this might seem like the labours of Hercules. But some youngsters in Nairobi refuse to be daunted. And they’ve taken an ultra-practical approach to the polymer problem. In 2018, students at the International School of Kenya (ISK) set up a non-profit student-led club called Plastiki Rafiki that is committed,

10 WHY I LOVE KENYA November-December 2019

not only to cleaning up the environment but also to empowering Kenya’s local communities. The first line of attack adopted by the students has been in organizing focused plastic collections from natural areas where the removal of plastic refuse can make a visible and tangible difference. The students have also worked with local companies to design and build their own range of plastic recycling and remoulding machines. And they’ve come up with a range of recycled plastic products each of which is themed to represent the area from which the rubbish was collected. So, for instance, there’s a ‘Mount Kenya’ range of merchandise and a ‘Coast Collection’ range. Best of all, the profits from the sale of Plastiki Rafiki products are poured into the enhanced development and design of low-cost plastic recycling machines, the perfection of current product design, and the promotion of grassroots plastic collection and recycling in Kenya. Finally the students have begun working with local community groups to train them how to produce their own merchandise and use the proceeds for the greater good of the community as a whole. Plastiki Rafiki and local adventure sports company, Savage Wilderness, came together recently to lead a rubbish collection and awareness drive on Mount Kenya. As well as their own teams, the collaborators also sponsored twenty of the porters, who typically help visitors climb the mountain, to help collect and dispose of the rubbish - not only on the montane trails but also around the campsites and the shores of the charismatic lakes - Lake Alice, Lake Michaelson, Lake Ellis and Lake Rutundu. Now the students are focussing their brains on how to use their profits to install signage on the mountain that reminds hikers to ‘carry in - carry out’ their rubbish. ‘The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say - we will never forgive you,’ said Greta Thunberg at the UN Climate Summit in New York in September 2019. In Kenya, at least, the current generation seems to be doing anything but failing us. »

ISK’s Plasiki Rafiki and Savage Wilderness volunteers embark on cleaning up Mount Kenya. All photos © Plastiki Rafiki / International School of Kenya

WHY I LOVE KENYA November-December 2019 11

in portrait

Top: Cleaning up Kenya’s beaches. Middle and bottom: some of the ingenious recycled products made by Plastiki Rafiki and local communities. All photos © Plastiki Rafiki / International School of Kenya

More than 700 marine species are known to be harmed or killed either by the ingestion of plastic or entanglement - resulting in the deaths of more than 100 million marine animals a year. In Kenya, killer plastic is having a negative effect on Kenya’s world-famous turtles. The reasons are simple: a floating plastic bag can look like a lot of jellyfish, algae, or other species that make up a large part of the sea turtles’ diets. And not only are they dying from ingesting plastic bags, but they are also being ensnared in plastic nets. It is estimated that 34% of all dead leatherback sea turtles are found to have ingested plastic.

Killer plastics 12 WHY I LOVE KENYA November-December 2019

Worse still, it seems that plastic waste is affecting their ability to reproduce. Recent research has revealed that microplastics embedded in beach sand make it easier for water to flow through the sediment, which in turn affects how fast sand dries out. As microplastics accumulate, they act as an insulator, preventing heat from reaching deeper layers of the beach and affecting the temperature of sand. This affects the sex of turtle hatchlings, which is determined by the temperature of eggs during incubation. If a turtle’s eggs incubate below 81.86 Fahrenheit, the turtle hatchlings will be male.

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Pillow talk ‘What are pillows for?’ Asks the diminutive boy eyeing the sumptuous bed. We’re in a tent in an impossibly luxurious camp, in the middle of the Masai Mara National Reserve. Five-star safari camps are not his world. In his world there are no such things as pillows, or beds, or even rooms. He’s a Maasai and he comes from a village where the people live in traditional mud huts. There, he sleeps along with his siblings on a stretched hide just a few feet away from the communal hearth. It’s a tough life but, until now, he’s never realized just how far removed it is from the one he’s just been parachuted into. Nor have we. And that’s what this exercise is all about; because it is not until you spend time with people from another culture that you’re able to see your own in a radically different light. And explain a pillow. The boy is one of sixteen children participating in a programme called Twende Porini (let’s go into the bush), which is run by the travel company, Asilia. The children, who’ve been drawn from schools around the Mara, have been teleported from their own world into the surreal world of Asilia’s Rekero Camp. They’re taking part in a four-day ecological workshop designed to familiarize them with the Kenyan wildlife and wilderness. It’s a strange concept, given that they’ve grown up alongside the wilderness, but wildernesses differ. To the visitors who normally occupy this camp, the wilderness is an Alice-in-Wonderland world where

14 WHY I LOVE KENYA November-December 2019

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the wildlife is viewed from the safety of a comfortable safari vehicle; and the wilderness is tamed by luxury. To this little boy, the wilderness is a place from which wander the lions that kill his family’s cattle and the elephants that trample his family’s crops. Twende Porini, however, is an initiative that’s designed to bridge the gap that yawns between the former inhabitants of the wilderness and those who now visit it for their pleasure. Until relatively recently, the communities that surrounded Kenya’s protected areas suffered all the disadvantages of living alongside wild animals and none of the advantages of living in close proximity to people many thousands of times more wealthy than themselves. But all that has changed and Kenya now leads the world in the establishment of community-led conservancies. Here, on land that is leased to the tourism operatives by the local communities, eco lodges are built that not only celebrate the local culture but also employ local skills in the building. Here, the local people are employed as wilderness guides and, rather than killing the wildlife that once ravaged their lives, they now serve as their guardians. Here too, the money derived from tourism goes towards building local health and education facilities, sinking wells and building roads; and local produce is sold to the lodges, local cattle are allowed grazing rights across the land and local farmers benefit from veterinary services, breeding programmes, education on land management practices and, in the case of drought, water. Here - everybody wins. Enlightened and forward-thinking as the new conservancies are, however, they have not evolved without teething troubles. And one of the major stumbling blocks has been in changing the way the local community perceives the wilderness. And it was for this reason that eco-minded companies like Asilia came up with the notion of inviting groups of young, local, people into their camps where, not only could they experience the wilderness, but also learn about sustainable tourism. And pillows. »

Top: Children are much loved and the very centerpiece of the Maasai society. A man without cattle is poor. But a man without children is truly poor. Photos © Asilia

WHY I LOVE KENYA November-December 2019 15

exposed

It was a surreal experience for both parties. The organizers were faced with the problem of explaining such things as beds, hot showers and cutlery to a group of children who had never encountered them before. And the children, most of whom had grown up having to walk several kilometres to find water flowing from a communal tap had to adapt to the idea of hot water on tap and flushing lavatories. It was a big ask. But it worked. And, in a brave new world where hot-water bottles loomed as surreal as spaceships and a showing of the film, The Lion King, seemed like magic incarnate, the children learned about subjects as diverse as the importance of hand-washing and the provisions of the United Nations Charter on the Rights of Children. They also grappled with such madness as cans of airfreshener, rolls of lavatory paper and salad. ‘Salad is goat food’, they said. Taken on three game-drives daily, they also encountered elephants and lions in the wild and, for the first time, perceived them to be things of wonder rather than terror. They learned about birds and insects, snakes and plants. They learned that to poison an eagle is to poison an entire food chain. And, supplied with their own cameras, they learned how to take photographs of the wilderness and themselves in it – for the doubters back home. Incredibly, and to the credit of both parties, the experiment was a monumental success. When they’d arrived in five-star-land, the children were experts on how to scare wildlife away; when they left there was fierce competition as to who knew the most about the habits of ground hornbills. On arrival, most had aspired to be doctors; on departure everyone wanted to be a wilderness guide. Finally, when asked what they had liked best and least about their sojourn in altered-reality, the children’s answers were illuminating. They’d been enraptured by the lions but transfixed by the concept of receiving three meals a day; they’d been astounded by the elephants but amazed to learn that the United Nations had awarded them rights with regard to education and child marriage; they’d been fascinated by the sight of hippos walking stubby-legged out of the water but entranced by the discovery of hot-waterbottles at the bottom of their beds. Best of all was the little boy who, when asked what he liked least about his stay in the world of pillows said, ‘having to go home.’

16 WHY I LOVE KENYA November-December 2019

About Asilia Asilia have 19 camps and lodges in Kenya and Tanzania. Their vision is to empower the crucial wilderness areas in East Africa to thrive, benefitting local people and nature alike. Asilia believe in ‘making bold, and often pioneering, investments into areas that are ecologically and economically vulnerable and aim to turn these areas into viable conservation economies’. Rekero Camp is an exclusively intimate yet traditionally welcoming tented camp located deep within the worldfamous Masai Mara National Reserve. It overlooks the Talek River at a famous migration crossing point, and offers a selection of delightful tents as well as an enchanting central mess area. Wildlife viewing can be done on foot with experienced Maasai and Il Dorobo guides, or in custom built 4×4 safari vehicles. Other diversions include visits to local villages, guided walks, picnics in the bush, sundowners and hot air balloon safaris. For further information: www.asiliaafrica.com

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focus on ‘The ground squelches under the feet like the crust over a morass and one treads with care around great piles of garbage and open gutters. Here, they say, one can cut one’s finger and it will fester within an hour’. Nairobi in 1902 as described by a missionary from the Sagala Mission

Government Road (now Moi Avenue), Nairobi c 1908. © Granger Historical Picture Archive / Alamy Stock Photo

Time Watch Kenya Welcome to the second edition in our Kenyan heritage series, which is devoted to following the events that shaped our great nation. In this issue, we travel back in time to the early days of Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi. At the turn of the 20th century, Nairobi was little more than a huddle of shacks at mile 327 on the Uganda Railway (otherwise known as ‘The Lunatic Line’ because nobody knew why or how it had been built). Nairobi’s streets were mires, its buildings were lean-to constructions of either canvas or corrugated iron; and it was plagued by disease, rats and lions. And yet people were flocking to the town. Some, mostly the rich and aristocratic of Europe and America, came for the game hunting; others, mostly the British, came in search of a new life. As for the local Africans, they came to see what they might pick up in terms of such useful items as, seeds, tools, wire, beads and, in the fullness of time, livestock. They also came for the far more compelling reason of observing the antics of the white man, who baffled and amused them in equal measure. Nicknames were popular in the colony. The white men gave them to each other, and the Africans gave them to the white men. The white men did this out of a sense of camaraderie; the Africans did it in the interests of precision. To them, all white men looked much the same and their names were equally indecipherable so the Africans made up new names for them. It was a typically practical solution to an otherwise insuperable problem, but the white men came off worst from the arrangement. The names were apt, if playful. And once bestowed, they could not be changed. Eventually, in the interests of clarity, the administration drew up a list; on one side was the white man’s name, on the other the name the Africans had given him. When the list was published uproar resulted. It revealed that Sir Northrup McMillan, a wealthy American with a 54-inch waist, was known as ‘The Tummy’; that a certain Commander Niverson, who insisted on being called Bwana (Sir) by

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A poster from the 1920s advertising “British East Africa as a winter home for aristocrats”.

Florence Preston, wife of engineer Ronald Preston, drives in the last peg of the Uganda Railway at Port Florence on the shores of Lake Victoria in 1901. Within a year the name of the settlement had reverted to that given by the Luo people - ‘Kisumo’ (meaning: a good place to look for food).

The Stanley Hotel, 1904

the locals was called Bano (because he couldn’t pronounce the word Bwana); and that a gangling new recruit newly-arrived from London was known as ‘Squeaky Legs’ on account of his new leather gaiters. On the top of Nairobi’s only hill stood the Kenya Land Commission where newcomers to the infant colony could buy land in three classes. Farms of 5,000 acres were available at a penny per acre per annum, 990-year-lease farms were available at a halfpenny per acre annually and smaller 640-acre plots were available at rates that varied from day to day depending upon the mood of the land agents. Buying land was complicated by the fact that the map showing where the plots were located no longer existed. The man who had drawn it had drowned while crossing a river and the map had been swallowed by a python. As for the accommodation required for the torrent of newcomers flooding into Nairobi, there was only one formal hotel in town and it was little more than a large space over an agricultural supplies store, divided by lengths of canvas into ‘rooms.’ It was then that a lady called Mayence Bent arrived on the scene and established one of Kenya’s most famous hotels. Glamorous, flirtatious, reputedly unmarried and undoubtedly gifted at whatever she attempted, Mrs Bent had arrived by train, allegedly from London via Nigeria. Initially she had turned her hand to making hats. On discovering that there was nowhere for ‘ladies’ to stay in what was essentially a cowboy town, she then decided to open a hotel. The Stanley, which is now known as The Sarova Stanley, stood in Victoria Street (now Tom Mboya St) and was a two-storey structure built from galvanized iron sheeting and wood. It had a red-painted tin roof, white-painted corrugated-iron walls and a timber veranda around the first floor. On the ground floor there was a dining room (the menu included tinned salmon, tinned peaches, custard and tapioca pudding), a bar and a lounge (with a stand-up piano). On the upper floors were a number of bedrooms equipped with brass beds, marbled washstands, paraffin lanterns and curtains. Some even had glass in the windows. There was, however, a problem: not a single mattress was to be had in Nairobi or indeed in the entire Kenyan colony. It was then that a Russian immigrant called Abraham Block presented himself before Mrs Bent claiming that he could make her some mattresses. Had she known that they would be made from grain sacks stuffed with grass cut from the side of the railway line and sewn together with needles made out of bicycle spokes, Mrs Bence might not have been so quick to accept his offer. But she was desperate and, as it turned out, the new mattresses proved an instant success. Mr Block, meanwhile, earned enough money to put down a deposit on a farm. Later he was to establish Kenya’s first and most famous hotel chain: Block hotels.

The Stanley Hotel was originally opened in 1902 as the Victoria Hotel, four sparsely appointed rooms above Tommy Wood’s general store, where Mayence Bent ran the store and its post office. In April 1904, after a disagreement with Wood, Mayence entered into a business arrangement with a farmer from Sotik, Daniel Ernest Cooper, and opened the first Stanley Hotel.

Abraham Block c 1910

Next issue: Nairobi acquires its second hotel - The Norfolk.

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positive take

Taking things

to extremes It’s hard not to be amazed at your first sight of a giraffe. It’s not just its height that astounds, or its spectacular pelt. Not just its stately gait or its elegantly tessellated tail; there’s something in the mildly enquiring nature of its long-lashed gaze that never fails to enchant. Nothing new in that, though. The giraffe’s bizarre appearance has been causing consternation for nearly two-and-a-half thousand years. It was in 46BC that the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar celebrated the success of his Egyptian campaign by bringing back an exotic menagerie of creatures to titillate the jaded palate of his people. As a theatrical trick, it worked well. The normally bloodthirsty populace were so impressed by the lions, rhinos and hippos on display that they didn’t immediately have them ripped to pieces in the amphitheatre. And in the case of the giraffe, they admitted to being genuinely confounded. The Roman Historian Cassisu Dio, explains. “I will give an account of the so-called cameleopard, because it was then introduced into Rome by Caesar for the first time and exhibited to all. This animal is like a camel in all respects except that its legs are not all of the same length, the hind legs being the shorter. Beginning from the rump it grows gradually higher, which gives it the appearance of mounting some elevation; and towering high aloft, it supports the rest of its body on its front legs and lifts its neck in turn to an unusual height. Its skin is spotted like a leopard, and for this reason it bears the joint name of both animals.” The Roman people were not the only ones to be perplexed by the giraffe’s appearance. The Roman natural historian Pliny the Elder (AD23-AD79), when confronted with a giraffe described it as a ‘wild sheep’. He wasn’t that far wrong. Both sheep and giraffe are even-toed ungulate mammals; and both are ruminants (they chew the cud regurgitated from their rumen, which is a part of their digestive system). Thereafter, however, all similarities end. Because, while the sheep is generally run of the mill, the giraffe is anything but. »

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It is a creature of extremes. And the extremeness of giraffes takes many forms. The giraffe is the planet’s tallest mammal. Soaring to five metres in height, and, remarkably enough the planet’s most lofty pollinator. Pollination and giraffes are subjects not often linked. But they should be because, due to its extreme height, the giraffe acts as a giant bee. Compelled to feed from the very tops of its preferred acacia trees, it inadvertently collects pollen from the flowers that bloom best at the top of the tree. Then, wandering onwards, it pollinates other trees.

Alain Berset, Swiss Federal Council and Federal Department of Home Affairs; CITES Secretary-General Ivonne Higuero; Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UN Environment Programme; and Standing Committee Chair Carolina Caceres, Canada, welcome delegates to CITES CoP18. © Photo by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth

Every few years the world’s biggest wildlife trade conference convenes to decide the fate of some of the world’s most threatened species. The 18th Conference of the Parties of The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) recently concluded with ground-breaking decisions for elephants, rhinos, giraffes, and many other threatened African species. African Wildlife Foundation’s lead conservation experts had the chance to attend and provide recommendations on a number of proposals, such as supporting increased protection for giraffes and pancake tortoises and rejecting proposals for legal international trade of species such as elephants and white rhinos. All of AWF’s recommendations were accepted. Giraffes will, for the first time, receive protection from the unregulated international trade of their parts, while proposals that would allow for the sale of ivory stockpiles and rhino horn were struck down. The proposal to include giraffes in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (or CITES) received overwhelming support. The proposal was put forward by Central African Republic, Chad, Kenya, Mali, Niger, and Senegal. They argued that all nine subspecies of giraffes across the Range States must be protected to counter their fast plummeting numbers. While the listing will not ban all international trade of the species, it will impose stringent conditions that will make it harder for countries to buy and sell giraffe parts. ‘We note that, compared to other species, giraffe conservation and management is relatively poorly understood. We urge Range States to enhance their efforts in conserving the species, learning from the experiences behind increasing populations of Angolan giraffe and South African giraffe,’ said Dr. Philip Muruthi, Vice President for Species Conservation and Science at the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF). Giraffe numbers across Africa have continued to plummet, leading to scientists calling the phenomena a ‘silent extinction’. The continent has lost 40 percent of its giraffes in three decades and now remains with a population of less than 100,000. Speaking to journalists before the decisive vote to save giraffes, the chief of scientific services at CITES Tom De Meulenaer said that while most people’s attention has been focused on elephants, giraffes are facing a much more serious extinction threat. ‘The giraffe is, in the wild, much rarer than African elephants. We are talking about a few tens of thousands of giraffes, and we talk about a few hundreds of thousands of African elephants. So we need to be careful,’ he said.

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Another example of extreme giraffe behaviour lies in the creature’s predilection for eating bones, which is not a habit normally associated with herbivores. The fact is, however, that because the giraffe has such a huge skeleton it requires similarly huge amounts of calcium and phosphorous to maintain it. So, since neither are available on a strict vegetarian diet, giraffes chew up the bones left lying around the bush. In matters of the heart, the giraffe also veers towards the extreme: it has the biggest heart of any land mammal. A giraffe heart can weigh approximately 11kg and can pump 60 litres of blood around its body every minute at a blood pressure twice that of an average human. The giraffe also has one of the most bizarre tongues in the animal kingdom. At 20 inches in length and blue in colour, it uses it to strip the leaves off the acacia tree, which is defined by the aggression of its thorns and the inaccessibility of its tiny leaves. As to the blueness, this takes us back to the fact that, due to its height, the giraffe must feed off the very tops of the trees, where the sunlight is brightest. The giraffe, therefore, is one of the few creatures on God’s earth to be supplied with a melanin-rich and therefore sun-tan resistant tongue. Its sun-screened tongue is not the only concession the giraffe makes to the dangers of sunshine. Its extravagantly patterned pelt, whilst serving as a very efficient camouflage, also helps to keep the giraffe cool. Skin temperature, it seems, is slightly higher in the dark patches but, because this causes the vessels beneath the skins to dilate, so the heat is dissipated evenly through dark and light patches alike. An additional thermostat is provided in its nasal cooling system which ensures that brain temperature is kept up to 3°C lower than the rest of the body. It’s when it comes to giving birth, however, that the giraffe pushes the ultra-extreme button. Because giraffes give birth standing up, the unfortunate baby giraffe makes its entry into the world via an immediate 2-metre drop. And as if that were not bad enough, it is then required to stand up and walk within an hour. Most extreme of all, however, is the delicate mechanism that prevents the giraffe from fainting when it bends over to drink. A fully-grown giraffe can raise or lower its head by up to 5m – a movement so radical that, were it not for a dense network of fine capillaries that cushions its brain against rapid changes in blood pressure, it would pass out whenever it bent over. Other adaptations to prevent sudden giraffe collapse include a set of valves designed to stop the back-flow of blood and some elasticwalled vessels that dilate and constrict to manage flow. Interestingly, it was the latter extremity of giraffe construction that allowed it to participate in the space race. Such was the brilliance of the structure of the blood vessels in the giraffe’s legs that NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the USA) copied it when making the human space suit.

It is one thing to be amazed at a gorgon or a griffin, creatures which do not exist; but it is quite another and much higher thing to be amazed at a rhinoceros or a giraffe, creatures which do exist and look as if they don’t. G.K Chesterton, British author

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kenyan heros

‘Together when we run, we can make it a beautiful world’ Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge makes world history In Vienna on October 12th, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge became the first athlete to run a marathon in under two hours, beating the mark by 20 seconds. The Kenyan, 34, covered the 26.2 miles (42.2km) in one hour 59 minutes 40 seconds in the Ineos 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, Austria. The win will not, however, be recognized as the official marathon world record because it was not in open competition and he used a team of rotating pacemakers. Speaking of his win, Kipchoge said, ‘this shows no-one is limited’. The win, the pinnacle of an already stellar career, was an emotional event as Kipchoge’s fellow competitors, knowing he was about to make history, dropped back to let him sprint over the line alone, roared on by a large crowd in the Austrian capital. Grabbing a Kenyan flag and draping it over his shoulders Kipchoge said he had just made history just as Britain’s Sir Roger Bannister did in running the first sub fourminute mile in 1954. ‘I’m feeling good. After Roger Bannister made history, it took me another 65 years. I’ve tried but I’ve done it. This shows the positivity of sport. I want to make it a clean and interesting sport. Together when we run, we can make it a beautiful world.’ Kipchoge was assisted by a team of 41 pacemakers, including Olympic 1,500m champion Matthew Centrowitz, Olympic 5,000m silver medallist Paul Chelimo and the Ingebrigtsen brothers Jakob, Filip and Henrik. They rotated in and out, running in formation around Kipchoge, with former 1,500m and 5,000m world champion Bernard Lagat anchoring the final leg. With a pace car beaming green lasers on to the road to indicate the required pace of 2:50 per kilometre, Kipchoge never went slower than 2:52. The attempt was funded by petrochemicals company Ineos - owned by Britain’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe - which also sponsors the cycling team of the same name. Delivering one of his trademark inspirational one liners, Kipchoge went on to say, ‘Now I’ve done it, I am expecting more people to do it after me.’

“I am feeling good. After Roger Bannister in 1954 it took another 63 years, I tried and I did not get it - 65 years, I am the first man - I want to inspire many people, that no human is limited.” - Eliud Kipchoge speaking after the record-breaking marathon “Hearty congratulations @EliudKipchoge. You’ve done it, you’ve made history and made Kenya proud while at it. Your win today, will inspire tens of future generations to dream big and to aspire for greatness. We celebrate you and wish you God’s blessings.” President Kenyatta

Stop press: Brigid Koskei smashes the marathon world record Kenya's Brigid Kosgei won the Chicago Maraton on October 13th and broke the 16-year-old women's marathon world record held by Britain's Paula Radcliffe. The 25-year-old recorded a time of two hours 14 minutes 04 seconds adding to her win in London this year when she clocked 2:18:20 to become the youngest winner of the race. Her time would have been a men’s world record in 1964.

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Telephone: +254 (0)20 2738004, 2737883 | Mobile: 0727 794041 Email: mike@colourspace.co.ke | Website: whyilovekenya.co.ke

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eneath scattered clouds our Cessna dips and sways in the thermals rising off Tsavo’s parched plains. We are following the flat-topped escarpment of the Yatta Plateau, its prickly tentacle reaching out across endless red earth, along the entombed course of an ancient river bed. Beside it flows the shimmering Galana River, the present lifeline of this arid landscape. We begin our approach to a dusty airstrip at the base of the plateau, banking steeply over a wide stretch of exposed rock. This distinctive bottleneck of the Galana is Lugard Falls, an extraordinary expanse of striated, water-sculpted channels. Once on the ground, we explore the falls on foot, careful not to slip into its deep, churning gullies. This was the fate of an unfortunate buffalo, his shrivelled carcass now sprawled against a stack of woody debris in the heart of the rapids. A few kilometres downstream, on the bank of a sandy lugga, a mobile camp had been set up for us by Ker and Downey Safaris.

Wild Encounters in Tsavo East By Jan Fox

Our khaki tents face out across the dry riverbed, each shaded by groves of doum palms. Everywhere there are traces of wildlife – fresh hippo and hyena tracks in the sand, chewed palm fruits strewn across the ground, and smoothed doum palm trunks from decades of elephant rubbing. These are all reminders that the habitual visitors of this bountiful spot are likely to return, regardless of our intrusion. But instead of waiting for the animals to come to us, we all clamber into an open-top vehicle and go searching for them. The tracks we follow weave alongside dry tributaries of the Galana – seasonal channels that are not as barren as they seem. We come across a herd of elephants caked in red dust, digging for water beneath the sand with their feet. Once they have had their fill they move on quietly, leaving behind a cluster of small wells for other thirsty creatures. We continue to skirt the steep edges of sandy riverbanks, as dusk settles cosily on the surrounding wilderness. Our guide, Andreas, suddenly pulls into a clearing and switches off the engine. Silence. And then a barrage of unmistakable high-pitched squeaks. Four wild dogs scamper down the opposite bank and filter out onto the track beside us, edging inquisitively towards the car. Satisfied that we pose no threat, they lounge on the sun-baked track, observing their peculiar visitors. More squeaks signify that they are not alone, and three pitch-black pups poke their tiny heads out of a den in the undergrowth. Wild dog sightings are always special, but particularly in a park as vast as Tsavo. A few years ago, viral canine distemper wiped out the majority of Kenya’s wild dog population. Thankfully, their numbers are now recovering. As daylight fades we face a long drive back to camp. Astonishingly, the dogs seem reluctant for us to leave and, as we drive away from the den, the four adults chase after us. So, we stop; and they stop. We drive off again, a bit faster this time, and they sprint behind us. We play this catand-mouse game until they eventually tire and trot back towards their den.

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moving titleimage In camp, I find that a troop of baboons is roosting in the doum palms above my tent. I warm to the idea of having a dozen baboons to bark at any predators that may wander into camp. Throughout the night I hear the grumbling roars of a lion from somewhere the other side of the lugga but there’s not sound from my baboon-sentinels; other than the odd trickle of pee on my flysheet. The following morning, we leave early to find the vocal lion. He has left behind plenty of clues to his whereabouts: deep tracks in the road, and the fresh carcass of a gerenuk in the talons of a lappet-faced vulture. Then, by a picturesque spring, we finally spot the sandy coat of a lion. But it isn’t the strapping alpha male we had in mind, it’s a lanky cub. Four more cubs of varying sizes then tumble out of the bushes, play-fighting in the dust. They’re soon followed by eight lionesses. Then, at the top of a nearby ridge, there appears a thickly-maned male, keeping a watchful eye on his family. As our safari draws to a close, we spend our final night by a crackling fire in the lugga. The camp is quiet, illuminated only by the moon’s pale glow. The stillness is suddenly disrupted by a shuffling of feet and the rapid approach of a bouncing head torch. ‘There’s an elephant in camp!’ says my fiancée, visibly shaken. We inch towards the edge of camp and spot the silhouette of a big bull, hoovering up scattered palm fruits. We creep into my tent to sit cross-legged on the floor watching him through the gauzed window. After a few minutes he approaches the tent, crunching on discarded palm fronds. He moves closer, sweeping the ground with his trunk just a few inches from the window. His long tusks graze the underside of our flysheet, and we stare up at him in awe. There’s a commotion in the trees above, and he turns away and wanders off. A disgruntled baboon probably peed on his head.

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Warrior Boy In this issue we meet Virginia Clay, the author of the best-selling book, Warrior Boy, which is enthralling young readers all over the world. An adventure story, it follows the encounters of a young Maasai boy on his voyage of discovery, which leads him from London to the land of his birth.

was an unexceptional child. Like most others, I enjoyed disappearing into the limitless world of my imagination. I don’t know if I ever expected to grow out of this habit, but I think what makes me different now, is that I haven’t. As a youngster I read prolifically, forced indoors by the persistent Lake District rain, and each story I consumed would inspire me to put myself in another person’s shoes. It’s probably the reason I became an actor initially, but I distinctly remember – at the age of twelve – reading about the Maasai and thinking how phenomenal it was that they could survive, even thrive, on blood and milk alone. I wondered if I could do that too and, although I knew nothing of it at the time, that’s when the WARRIOR BOY seed was sown.

strangeness, I began to wonder how he would cope. What would happen to him if he just couldn’t fit in, would his family reject him? Send him home? A story began to emerge and I knew I had to pay attention.

When I was fifteen, one of my elder brothers took a teaching post in Kenya. Occasionally he would send letters home, filled with thrilling adventures and encounters with exotic wildlife. When I finally gave in to my curiosity and joined him as a teacher in 2009, I was immediately captivated by the beauty of the Maasai Mara – the landscape, the wildlife and the glorious people I had been so interested in as a child – but I never considered writing a book about it until a new student from London joined my English class.

But how do we carry this burden of conservation, whilst attempting to discover our own place in the world? This seems to be one of the weightier questions preoccupying our young people today. And whilst it has become a burden for them – the issues are so much more complex than they were when I was young – I feel passionately that we need to find strategies to help them carry it. I hope you will agree that WARRIOR BOY goes some way to achieving this. But it is also my heartfelt wish that, as the story takes you from inner city London to the vast plains of Kenya, you might be able to lose yourself in the adventure of it, and perhaps fall in love with this wonderful country as I did.

Matthew’s family were Kenyan but he had never visited the country himself. As his peers made jokes about his

WARRIOR BOY is an adventure story that follows its hero Ben, a boy from London, as he meets his Maasai family in Kenya for the first time. Ben’s journey unfolds and he begins to question his place in this new community, including his responsibilities to care for an environment he wasn’t born into. But eventually, he discovers more about himself than he ever could have imagined possible, including extreme bravery as he challenges the endemic problem of elephant poaching.

You can find out more about the author at www.virginiaclay.co.uk WARRIOR BOY is published by Chicken House Books and is available at all good book shops and on www.amazon.co.uk

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Marriott Hotels arrive in Kisumu

From left to right - Yasin Munshi, Director of Lodging Development, MEA, Marriott International, Bani Haddad, MD of Aleph Hospitality and Karim Cheltout, Regional VP Development, Africa for Marriott International.

Kisumu, the Kenya’s third largest city, is to have a new Protea Hotel by Marriott. The hotel will be located on the shores of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest freshwater lake, and will feature 125 rooms with striking lake views, three food and beverage outlets, a rooftop infinity pool, gym, spa and more than 500m2 of meeting space. Marriott has reinforced its commitment to Africa by announcing that it expects to add 40 properties and over 8,000 rooms across the continent by the end of 2023. Marriott’s development pipeline is estimated to drive investment of over $2 billion from property owners and is expected to generate over 12,000 new jobs in Africa. For further information: www.marriott.com

The world’s highest petanque pitch? There’s a new way of unwinding after a long day of game-driving and wildlife watching – one that’s guaranteed to relax your spine and refocus eyes that have become lion-fixated. It’s called petanque (AKA boules) and it’s a French ball game that’s played in squares all over France. Now, however, it can be played at altitude (possibly the highest pétanque pitch in the world) at Lengishu, a luxury property situated on the stunning Borana Conservancy in Kenya’s Laikipia region. For further information: www.lengishu.com © Lengishu

MGallery boutique hotel to open in Nairobi There’s a superb new boutique hotel arriving in the Gigiri district of Nairobi in 2021. The 105-key MGallery Gigiri, a boutique hotel that majors on design-style, will feature 105 rooms and suites and four restaurants, including an allday dining venue, a signature dining experience, a pool bar and a rooftop restaurant and bar. For the business traveller, there will be state-of-theart meeting rooms and a business centre and the hotel’s wellness facilities will include a gym, pool and spa.

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For further information: www.accorhotels.com

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Serene and Green Serena Hotels is one of East Africa’s bestknown and well-respected hotel groups with 35 unique hotels, resorts, safari lodges and camps spread out across the region. But not only are they a hard act to follow when it comes to the delivery of superb accommodation in stunning locations but they also boast some of the greenest credentials on the planet. Over the past 16 years, they’ve worked with visitors and local communities alike to plant some 6.64 million trees, release 58,000 turtle hatchlings into the Indian Ocean, and release 378,882 butterflies into the coastal forests. For more information on Serena Hotels and Resorts, please visit: www.serenahotels.com

Dine Africa A new study released at the Africa Hotel Investment Forum forecasts that 700 new hotel restaurants and bars will be opened in Africa by 2025, all of them in internationally branded hotels. Commenting on the report, a spokesman for the instigator of the study, Keane International Foods, said: ‘Over the last 70 years, the restaurant market internationally has been built on three factors; growing towns and cities, broad distribution of income and a growing middle class. When you take into account that the anticipated rate of urbanisation expected across Africa will outpace India and China in the next 25 years, Africa will become one of the world’s most vibrant dining scenes.

The only tented camp to offer opento-the-stars tents Time Magazine has recently released its annual list of the World’s Greatest Places 2019, which highlights 100 destinations around the world that are breaking new ground and leading industry trends. Only seven African countries were featured and one of them was Kenya. As for the destination – it was Basecamp Explorer’s Leopard Hill camp in the Mara Naibosho Conservancy. Not only is it sublimely situated but it also offers a very unusual feature – at the touch of a button the tent roof opens to reveal the stars. For further information, visit: www.basecampexplorer.com

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Extinction reverse Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not. - Dr Seuss

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Najin (left) and Fatu (right) are the last two northern white rhinos on the planet © Ami Vitale

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Jan Stejskal of the Dvůr Králové Zoo (Czech Republic) checks on Fatu, the youngest of the last two northern white rhinos the day before the procedure. © Ami Vitale

ention the word ‘extinction’ and most people will cite the dodo. Once common on the island of Mauritius, this large, flightless bird made a fatal error of judgement: having lived alongside men for centuries it assumed that its fellow bipeds were harmless. And until 1598 it was right. But then along came the Dutch East India Company whose sailors, finding that the peaceably inclined dodo made no attempt to run away from them, hunted it to extinction in just 64 years. The West African black rhino made a similar error. Having existed for 8 million years, by the 1900s there were 850,000 of its kind in existence, which made it the most prolific species of rhino on the planet. Between 1970 and 1992, however, 95% of them were massacred until, by 2006, it was thought that there was only one West African black rhino left in the cosmos… somewhere in Cameroon. However, since nobody could find it, in 2011 it was declared extinct.

Fatu is softly guided while she receives the standing sedation and before she is given the top-up medication to be fully anesthetized. Her horn is guided into position so that her nostrils are not blocked and her respiration is guaranteed.

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As for the northern white rhino, until last month, it was feared that it too would walk the extinction plank; but fate intervened in the shape of a group of determined scientists on a Kenyan conservancy called Ol Pejeta. It was here, in the shadow of Mount Kenya, that the planet’s last three northern white rhinos lived out a gilded existence in their own private wilderness enclosure: guarded day and night by guntoting rangers; cossetted by their keepers; indulged with pony pellets; and visited by carefully regulated groups of awestruck tourists. The trio had originally been reared in the Czech Republic’s Dvůr Králové Zoo but in 2009, Sudan, his daughter, Natu, and his granddaughter,

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An ultrasound inspection during the procedure © Jan Zwilling

Dr. Susanne Holtze from Leibniz-IZW (left), Prof. Dr. Thomas Hildebrandt from Leibniz-IZW (centre) and Prof. Cesare Galli (right) searching for oocytes. © Ami Vitale

Najin recovering after the ovum pickup procedure as her anaesthetic reversal takes effect. Fatu, her daughter, is undergoing the same operation in the adjacent enclosure. © Ami Vitale

Fatu were relocated to Ol Pejeta in the hope that the more conducive surroundings would encourage them to breed. It was not to be: Sudan was too old and neither of the ladies could become pregnant. Then, in 2018, Sudan died; and the threat of extinction went into overdrive. Until it was reversed. As luck would have it, before Sudan’s death, a dedicated group of scientists had harvested his semen and in August 2019, a team of veterinarians successfully harvested eggs from Natu and Fatu, a procedure that had never been attempted in northern white rhinos before. The eggs will now be artificially inseminated with the frozen sperm from Sudan, and in the near future the embryo will be transferred to a southern white rhino surrogate mother. The successful procedure was a joint effort by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) Berlin, Avantea, Dvůr Králové Zoo, Ol Pejeta Conservancy and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). “Both the technique and the equipment had to be developed entirely from scratch”, said Prof. Thomas Hildebrandt from Leibniz-IZW. “We were able to harvest a total of 10 oocytes - 5 from Najin and 5 from Fatu - showing that both females can still provide eggs and thus help to save these magnificent creatures.”

Cesare Galli of Avantea (left) with his Kenya Wildlife Service escorts and their precious cargo - the 10 oocytes from the two northern white rhino females - at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. © Ami Vitale

Kenya: one. Extinction: nil. To learn more about this extraordinary initiative, visit: www.olpejetaconservancy.org

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by Simon Irungu Wangu As the burdens of guardian angels go, Simon Irungu Wangu’s is heavy. As the Team Commander for the Rapid Response Unit on Ol Pejeta Conservancy, he bears ultimate responsibility for protecting a wildlife cast that includes all the ‘Big Five’, the highest predator density in Kenya outside the fabled Masai Mara, two packs of endangered wild dogs and 110 critically endangered black rhinos. And two of the last surviving northern white rhinos on the planet, who weigh in at nearly two tonnes each. And that’s before you take into account the community that lives in and around the conservancy and the 37 chimps in the Chimpanzee Sanctuary.

Simon Irungu and his platoon of armed Kenyan guards watch over Sudan, the last male Northern White Rhino who sadly died in 2018. © Ami Vitale / Alamy Stock Photo

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His burden may be heavy, but Simon’s efforts received global recognition recently when he became one of 50 rangers to be lauded in the 2019 African Ranger Awards. The Awards, organized by the Alibaba and Paradise Foundations, aim to raise awareness as to the critical role played by front-line rangers in conservation given that a 2016 survey revealed that 82% of African rangers’ lives were at risk while on duty while over 60% of them were directly attacked by poachers. Could you give us an example of your work as the head of an armed security team of 42 men? Recently livestock was stolen from the local community by armed robbers. They alerted us and asked for help. We discovered footprints close to the scene and, with the help of our team of anti-poaching dogs, we followed the culprits into the bush where we discovered their hiding place. They were armed, but we managed not only to apprehend them but also recover their ammunition store and the community’s stolen livestock. Do you do a lot of work for the local community? Yes, they prefer to call us in because they know we are highly skilled with high-tech equipment. Even the local police have great respect for the Ol Pejeta security team and often ask us for assistance.

Part of your job involves protecting Ol Pejeta’s rhinos; what does this mean to you? The rhinos are part of my daily routine so they are like family to me. I feel that I have a responsibility to protect them because they can’t protect themselves. I think of it as a calling. Why would you urge people to visit Kenya? There’s just so much to see and explore in Kenya. We have a beautiful coastline, scenic landscapes, stunning mountains and lakes and a unique range of wildlife. We also have an unusually diverse culture of 42 different ethnic groups, all of whom are exceptionally welcoming to visitors. For a tourist visiting Kenya, what would you say were the main attractions of Ol Pejeta? Ol Pejeta is home to the last two northern white rhinos in the wild, and the only place in Kenya where you can see chimpanzees. We’re also home to all the members of the ‘Big Five’ as well as an unrivalled diversity of other wildlife. And we offer an amazing range of luxury and budget tented camps and bush experiences. What encapsulates the essence of Kenya for you? The sounds of nature. Whenever I am away from Ol Pejeta and wake up to hear cars honking I immediately miss home. Because my work involves only hearing the sound of nature, that is what my mind and spirit consider home. Also, I grew up on the conservancy – so the sight of wildlife and wilderness means home to me.

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A tale of three elephants Like all the best stories, this is a tale of the triumph of good over evil. The evil lies in man’s desire to harm animals for the sake of money. The good manifests in the lengths to which ordinary people will go to save their fellow creatures. It’s a tale of courage and trust. And a reminder as to the power of chance. It’s also a celebration of Kenya’s own journey towards the establishment of a world-leading brand of sustainable community conservation.»

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The story begins in the arid north of Kenya, a land of drought, rustred dust, searing heat and one of the least visited mountain ranges on the planet – the mighty Matthews Range. Until recently, when a team of international scientists ventured into the Matthews Range and uncovered more than 100 species of plants and animals that had never been recorded before, including tiny rats, bats and butterflies, the Matthews lay beautifully undiscovered. A sleeping beauty rising to 2,688 meters above sea level, the Matthews divide the virtual desert of what used to be known as the Northern Frontier District, from the more lavish plains of Laikipia. And so isolated were these mountains, that the evolution of their flora and fauna took place in a vacuum what scientists call a ‘sky island’ - a remote patch of tropical highland forests that has evolved free of influence for over 10 millennia. As with most lost islands, the Matthews Range is a realm of magic and mystique. It’s a place of juniper forests as old as time. A place where rare de Brazza monkeys swing and gorgeous Hartlaub’s turaco flash through the vaulted gloom in a glory of iridescent green. It’s a sanctuary for massive cycads, which are monstrous ferns, once dinosaur fodder, that have flourished for 250 million years. And it was

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in the Matthews Range, until 1990, that the last of Kenya’s black rhino roamed; and where great herds of elephants roam still. But it was also here, where three small elephants got into very big trouble. The first of the trio, Warges, is named after the highest peak in the Matthews. When he was only four-years-old he lost his mother to a poacher and, utterly traumatized, he attempted to join a new herd. As it happens, his adopted herd had decided to scale the Matthews Range. So Warges followed. But somewhere along the way he was attacked. And so it was that he descended the mountain with a spear wound in one ear, alone, emaciated and without hope. Somehow, however, he made his way to the gates of the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, the only place within many hundreds of miles where the kind of help he required was available. It was a miracle. But elephants are good at miracles and often present themselves on an elephantine whim to those who they somehow sense will help them. Warges was no exception, he was taken in, given shelter, medical attention and (most important of all to baby elephants) love. And he thrived. Or to put it in the words of his keepers he emerged from his trauma as ‘a happy-go-lucky, friendly big brother to the other elephants, with an insatiable appetite’.

conservation title Sosian also lost his mother to a poacher’s gun when he was three. And, though he arrived at the gates of the Reteti Sanctuary physically unharmed, he was caked in his mother’s blood and, unsurprisingly, traumatised and confused. Indeed, such was the degree of his misery that all the other elephants spent the night waving their trunks through the wooden slats of their stalls trying to comfort him. And his cries echoed through the night causing the local rangers to report unusual agitation in the elephant herds of the region on the following morning. Painful though his start in life had been, however, Sosian was brave, and he adjusted well to his life with his new herd. He also became firm friends with Warges and, according to his keepers, developed a passion for mud baths. Lingwesi was found wandering, painfully thin, on the Il Ngwesi Community Conservancy in Laikipia. He had been separated from his herd at the age of eight months, but the local rangers had waited and watched to see if he would survive without intervention. When it became clear that he would not, they delivered him to Reteti where he was given the usual cocktail of food, love and elephant company. He made an excellent recovery, put on weight and, according to his keepers, ‘showed his playful side’. He also formed an unbreakable friendship with Warges and Sosian. It took many months of planning with the Kenya Wildlife Service before the good people at Reteti deemed the young trio ready for release into the wild. A special site was chosen on the Sera Community Conservancy where there was good security, low predator density and a monitoring infrastructure already well-established thanks to the presence of a community-run black rhino sanctuary. When they arrived, the three young bulls were released into a large temporary holding pen with shade, water, a mud bath and space to browse. Thereafter they were monitored to see how they adjusted to the new sights and smells of the area while the keepers continued to feed them with giant baby bottles. Originally it had been thought that the trio would remain penned for a week, but in three days they seemed keen to venture out into the wild.

And so they set forth. The release was a complete success. Though followed by their keepers (armed with monster milk bottles) the young elephants took to the wilderness with gusto showing no inclination to return to their pens to sleep at night. Now, one month later, they are fitted with radio tracking collars and feeding themselves. They’re also travelling around 14 kilometres a day – which is a long way for a small elephant. Best of all, the rangers of the area have reported that the three friends are three no more – they’ve been accepted by the other elephants of Sera – and are back within the warmth of the greater family they once lost.

About the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary Located on the Ngilai West Group Ranch on the Namunyak Wildlife Conservancy in Samburu County, the Reteti Sanctuary was established to rescue any orphaned or abandoned elephant calves found in the northern regions. Once rescued the sanctuary is committed to making every effort to reunite the calves with their families. If this is not possible, the elephants will be kept in the centre and provided with round-the-clock care, though the ultimate aim will always be to release the calf back into the wild. Visits to the sanctuary can be arranged and there are a number of accommodation options within this beautiful area. For further information: www.retetielephants.org

WHY I LOVE KENYA November-December 2019 41

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The Coast Calls Kenya’s Indian Ocean coastline dances to a different tune; it’s swayed by Swahili rhythms, governed by the rise and fall of the tides and ruffled by the breath of the Trade Winds. The warm blue ocean holds treasures; coral gardens, turtles, dolphins, dugongs and a shifting mirage of multi-coloured tropical fish; there are ancient mosques, ruined Swahili cities and mile upon mile of palm trees. And, thanks to a subtle melding of African, Indian and Arabian influences there’s a culture you’ll find nowhere else. © The Sands at Chale Island

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capturing title the coast For the very best of Kenyan weather, head to the Indian Ocean coast. It’s heavenly from November to March and superlative at any other time. We’ve also got one of the longest stretches of pristine beaches on the planet – from lyrical Lamu to sultry Shimoni (with Watamu, Malindi, Nyali, Kilifi , Bamburu, and Galu in between) there’s a beach for every mood. Some are populated by nothing more than palm trees and turtles, some promise rustic beach bars, gourmet restaurants, five-star hotels and rocking nightlife. Meanwhile just off the beach runs Kenya’s answer to the Great Barrier Reef, a wonderland of coral gardens where you can dive, snorkel or glass-bottom boat.

The lure of the SUN The glory of INDULGENCE From the five-star luxury of a Sultan-esque palace to the warm friendly service of an affordable private guest house, we’ve got the indulgence factor covered. If you’re an escapist you can bespeak your own beachhouse (private chef included). If retail’s your addiction then browse the beach buys of word-renowned Diani Beach where you can pick up everything from an authentic carving to a pure cotton wrap. Alternatively, spoil yourself in a spa, de-tox in a yoga retreat or sail away to a private island in a traditional dhow. © Medina Palms

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Eating SWAHILI Swahili cuisine is like no other. A mesmeric mix of African, Indian and Arabian with a touch of traditional British thrown in for good measure, it’s all about freshly culled spices, justsqueezed limes, coconuts-off-the-tree and seafood straight from the waves. We also boast our own very distinctive East African Indian style while our indigenous Kenyan cuisine majors on BBQed meat and such Kenyan traditions as Sukuma na wiki (spinach, tomatoes and onions) and Kuchumbari (a fiery tomato, onion and chilli relish). As for eating venues, choose from natural coral caves, ocean-going dhows, ancient fortresses or moonlit beach bars. Meanwhile, in our sparkling new shopping malls you can get everything from home-made Italian ice cream to all-American hamburgers.

WATER worlds Kenya boasts some of the finest silver sand beaches in the world, while the Indian Ocean coastline makes the ideal water-sporting venue, offering: windsurfing, kite surfing, snorkelling, stand up paddleboarding, glass-bottom boats, catamarans and dinghies, boogie boards, jet-skis, surfing, pedalos and water-skiing. Kenya also offers some world-class dive sites including wall and pinnacle dives with dramatic drop-offs together with wreck, drift and night drives. As for the wildlife, Kenya offers giant manta rays; reef, hammerhead and whale sharks; turtles and multi-coloured reef fish in coral gardens. A Mecca for deep-sea fishermen, Kenya holds many of the world and all-Africa game fishing records. Billfish catches include: striped, blue and black marlin; sailfish, swordfish, shark, wahoo, yellowfin tuna and dorado.

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Go GREEN For all those who’d like to ‘give back’, the Kenyan coast offers a myriad of different pursuits choose from turtle nest-watching, whale-shark watching, working with coastal butterflies or mangrove swamps or joining one of the many community projects working to turn the plastic that threatens our wildlife into everything from fashion accessories to house-building materials.

The other BIG FIVE Come to the coast and tick off the other Big Five. There’s the marine Big Five (whale shark, dolphin, dugong, dolphin and turtle) or the coast’s very own speciality Big Five: the goldenrumped elephant shrew – star of the Arabuko Sokoke Forest Reserve; the colobus monkeys of the Diani Colobus Trust; the elephants of the Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary; the Sable Antelope of the Shimba Hills; and the tropical snakes of the Diani Snake Farm.

Sable Antelope, Shimba Hills National Reserve

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Immediate GRATIFICATION Kenya’s fabulous new single gauge railway not only whisks you from Nairobi to Mombasa in a matter of hours, it also delivers its own safari as you glide through Nairobi National Park and the magnificence of Tsavo East National Park. There’s also a wide choice of local flights that will deliver you to the coastal venue of your choice from destinations as diverse as the wilds of the Masai Mara to the misty moorlands of the Aberdares. And even when you’re on the coast – it’s so easy to explore such world-renowned wilderness areas as The Shimba Hills, The Taita Hills, Tsavo East and West, the Lumo Conservancy or that ornithologist’s Mecca – the magical Arabuko Sokoke Forest Reserve. Day trips and short excursions are offered by all the best beach hotels - by road, by plane or by train. © Satao Camp, Tsavo East

CULTURE Hounds The coast bristles with cultural treasures that range from ruined mosques to the sacred glades of the coastal peoples – known as kayas. The twin jewels in the crown, however, are Fort Jesus and Gedi Ruins. Fort Jesus epitomizes the bloody history of the Swahili coast. Built in 1593, it is one of the oldest European buildings in Africa. Designed by Joao Batisto Cairato to protect Portuguese interests in East Africa, it is considered one of the world’s finest examples of 16-century Portuguese military architecture. And then there’s the wonder of Gedi. Just north of Watamu are the ruins of a 13th century town, allegedly deserted by its occupants at the approach of cannibals. Now it is a picturesque ruin with streets and market places, palaces and mosques, all set amongst dense coastal forest.

Coastal ROMANCE You might be getting married on the beach, you might be taking your honeymoon on the coast; you might just be seeking a little sun-drenched romance, but no matter where you go on the Kenyan coast you’ll be guaranteed moonlit walks along silver beaches, exclusive suppers under the stars, intimate dhow trips and the shared magic of swimming hand-in-hand through coral gardens dancing with tropical fish.

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Adrenaline Kenya Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain

ike everything else in life, the perception of what makes a holiday changes. The word itself harks back to the time when people took time off because it was a ‘holy day’. These days, our reasons for taking a holiday are as varied as the destinations. But one trend holds true – adventure tourism is on the rise. Gone are the days when the average tourist yearned only to ‘fly and flop’ (on a beach); the holidaymakers of today are chasing the adrenaline-rush and the action-addiction. So, how does Kenya rate on the adventure meter? Off the scale. Quite apart from the plethora of watersports available on our stunning Indian Ocean coastline, we can promise you some great uphill options. One of the most popular is a climb of Mount Kenya, the second highest mountain in Africa. Typically it takes around 4-5 days and anyone in moderate health can reach Point Lenana (4,985 metres). Alternatively you might like to opt for some hiking amid the glorious moorlands of the Aberdare National Park or the wilder Mount Elgon National Park; or you can head off into unchartered territory with such ranges as the Matthews Range in northern Kenya. For those who prefer a gentler stroll there are numerous guided nature-walks to be had in the conservancies that surround the worldfamous Masai Mara National Reserve or Amboseli National Park. Or you can take off on your own in Hell’s Gate National Park where you can walk or cycle (or rock climb with the park’s own climbing school) amid wildlife, wilderness and an extraordinarily dramatic display of geothermal geysers. There’s also Kenya’s smallest national park, the enchanting Saiwa Swamp of Western Kenya where a network of trails wind through ancient forests and the rare sitatunga aquatic antelope picks its splay-foot way through the mist-wreathed swamplands.

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When it comes to two-wheeled adventure we boast some of the world’s most hair-raising motocross and mountain biking courses while quad-bikes promise an alternative take on covering the ground in the private conservancies. For those with a penchant for four-footed travel, we can suggest a horse-back safari through the Masai Mara or the Chyulu Hills, a donkey trek through the stunning scenery of northern Kenya, or a camel trek amid the sand dunes of the coast or around the enchanted shores of Lake Turkana, the legendary ‘Jade Sea’. Kenya is also the land of the runners and home to the Lewa Marathon, the only marathon to be run through one of the world’s most beautiful conservancies. Dedicated runners may also like to head up to Iten, home to Kenya’s Olympic runners, where you can train alongside the greats. If heading underground is your passion, you can do no better than to explore the lava tube caves of Tsavo National Park. And if jumping off into the unknown is more to your taste then we’ve got forest bungee jumps, plunge pools and zip lines to cater for all levels of proficiency. We can also promise some of the world’s most pulse-racing white water rafting down the mighty Sagana and Tana Rivers. As to other pursuits, choose from golf, paragliding over the stunning Kerio valley, ornithological treks (Kenya boasts over 1000 species of birds) or cultural discovery (UNESCO World Heritage sites and paleontological sites abound). Finally, like many other people, you might like to learn a new skill such as archery, cultural dancing, dhow racing, camel racing, rally driving, volcano-exploration, SCUBA diving or bush-tracking for lions and rhinos. Or, you might like to ‘give back’ by taking up community work such as sinking wells or building schools. Whatever your choice – we’ve got all the options.

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Kenya Tourism Board, Kenya Re Towers, Ragati Road, Nairobi. Tel: +254 20 2749126. Take a tour: www.magicalkenya.com

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GIFTS &

GOODWILL

Maasai Head Set Medium (Nomadic Style) Kshs 3,900/-

All photos courtesy of www.maasaimarkets.com

he festive season has arrived and the most glorious of our habitually lovely weather. Meanwhile, in impromptu markets all over the country, our artisans are laying out their wares – as they always do. However, since it’s the festive season – you can expect to find such seasonal items as handmade Christmas tree decorations, hand-knitted Christmas stockings and some uniquely charming Kenyan ‘takes’ on reindeers and Santa Claus (many of them made from recycled materials). The so-called ‘Maasai Markets’, which are by no means exclusively Maasai but just a general gathering of artisans, take many forms; some are held against the backdrop of our glittering shopping malls. Others, in time-honoured tradition, are simply laid out on pavements. Down on the coast, you can do your shopping on the beach. And if you’re on safari, expect a gathering of ladies displaying their handicrafts at the entry gates to the national parks. What can you buy? Choose from fashion-savvy beaded sandals and jewellery, hand-woven sisal baskets, carvings in wood and soapstone, traditional Maasai shukas (wraps), plus a treasure-trove of masks, talismans, and genuine African cultural artifacts. A visit to a market is also an opportunity to chat with locals and practice your bartering skills.

Kitenge Clutch Bag - Beige Kshs 1,500/-

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Maasai Beaded Necklace Kshs 1,000/-

Kitenge Bracelet Bunch Kshs 1,500/-

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Calabash Shell Instrument Kshs 2,000/Divided Olive Bowl and Spoons Kshs 2,500/Olive Round Bowl Kshs 1,500/-

Soapstone Fish Plate Kshs 5,000/-

Long Wooden Mask Kshs1,900/-

Pearl Necklace Kshs 12,500/-

Turkana Key Holder Kshs 800/-

Kitenge Backpack Kshs 3,500/-

Diani Kikoy Kshs 1,900/-

Malindi Beach Bag Kshs 2,900/-

Jacaranda Wooden Giraffe Kshs 3,500/-

Beaded Salad Spoons Kshs 1,500/-

Banana Batique Kshs 1,500/-

Three Maasai Giftbox Kshs 7,500/-

Set of Kitenge Animals Kshs 1,700/-

Soapstone Rhino Kshs 600/-

ENJOY A 10% DISCOUNT FOR ‘WHY I LOVE KENYA’ READERS! USE VOUCHER CODE ‘SAVE10’ AT CHECKOUT WhatsApp or Call: +254 757 628 521

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kenya brief

Need to know For full information on Kenya visit www.magicalkenya.com

Climate

Language

The coast is always hot with an average daytime temperature of 27-31 degrees centigrade whilst the average daytime temperature in Nairobi is 21-26 degrees centigrade. Temperatures elsewhere depend on altitude. July and August mark the Kenyan winter. Typically, JanuaryFebruary is dry, March-May is wet, JuneSeptember is dry, October-December is wet.

English (official), Kiswahili (national), multiple ethnic languages (Bantu, Cushitic and Nilotic language groups).

National Parks and Reserves Kenya has 56 national parks and reserves covering 44,359 sq km.

Historical sites

Time GMT +3 all year-round. Kenya maintains an almost constant 12 hours of daylight, sunup and sun-down being at around 6.30 and 18.45 daily, and varying only by 30 minutes during the year.

Kenya has over 400 historical sites ranging from paleolithic remains, 14th century slave trading settlements, Islamic ruins and the 16th century Portuguese Fort Jesus.

Fauna There are 80 major animal species and around 1,137 species of birds. Spotting over 100 bird species in a day is not uncommon.

Health A number of vaccinations are recommended (check with your doctor in advance). A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required ONLY if you are arriving from an infected country. Malaria is endemic in tropical Africa and protection against it is necessary.

Tawny eagle Ol Pejeta Conservancy

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Currency Kenya shilling. ATMs are available countrywide with 24-hour access. All major international cards are accepted.

Telephone International telephone code +254.

Electricity 220-240 volts, with standard 13-amp square three-pin plugs.

Entry To enter Kenya, a valid passport, not expiring for at least six months, is required as well as a valid entry visa (obtainable on arrival for a fee of US$50 or online via evisa.go.ke)

Travelling to Kenya Numerous international carriers serve Kenya, and Nairobi is the hub of the East African region. Kenya has two international airports: Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is half an hour’s drive from Nairobi’s city centre, and Mombasa’s Moi International Airport is even closer to the town centre. Taxis are readily available at both airports (officially regulated tariffs should be displayed).

The Elewana Collection of boutique lodges, camps and hotels is known for its unique accommodations and iconic locations. Elewana crafts authentic and memorable safari experiences, providing the highest quality of luxury and comfort.

industry’s private sector. Its mission is to provide a single voice for the industry, to enhance standards, role in destination marketing and was the driving force behind the Why I Love Kenya campaign.

Kenya Association of Tour Operators (KATO); Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA); Kenya Association of Air Operators (KAAO); Ecotourism Kenya (EK); Kenya Coast Tourism Association (KCTA) and the Pubs, Entertainment and Restaurants Association of Kenya (PERAK). For more information visit: www.ktf.co.ke

NUMBER 11 IN THE TOP 50 RESORTS IN THE WORLD NUMBER 5 IN THE TOP 50 RESORTS IN AFRICA

NUMBER 30 IN THE TOP 50 RESORTS IN THE WORLD NUMBER 8 IN THE TOP 50 RESORTS IN AFRICA

www.elewanacollection.com

NUMBER 11 IN THE TOP 50 RESORTS IN THE WORLD NUMBER 5 IN THE TOP 50 RESORTS IN AFRICA

NUMBER 30 IN THE TOP 50 RESORTS IN THE WORLD NUMBER 8 IN THE TOP 50 RESORTS IN AFRICA