February 25, 2015
My new favourite animal is the Grevy zebra. It is the Maserati of the horse family: a rare thoroughbred with elegant lines and a muscular poise which distinguish it from the more common Burchell’s zebra.
The only significant population is in Northern Kenya where I have recently spent a couple of wonderful weeks. I have been lucky enough to visit sub-Saharan Africa on at least fifty occasions and I think I have to come out and say publically that of all the countries I have visited Kenya is my particular favourite.
Sadly for Kenya it gets lots of bad press; some is justified, but then Nairobi does happen to have a huge number of journalists to keep busy. In fact Kenya is undergoing an industrial revolution, and venture capitalists are pouring large sums into the economy. Property prices in Nairobi have soared. There is a strange juxtaposition of a thriving economy and the lower number of tourists visiting.
We drove up the Great Rift Valley to an original 1930s ranch house on Lake Naivasha. The early pioneers always got the best locations, and the view across the shimmering lake framed by a half dozen majestic fig trees was perfect, whilst the dawn chorus was magical. We moved farther north on a vast cattle ranch teeming with game owned by one of Kenya’s oldest families.
Our simple but imaginatively styled rooms at Suyian were open to the elements. We were connected to the bush sounds all around us. We enjoyed listening to stories from the old days, swam in the Ewaso Narok river, learnt all sorts of botanic secrets, clambered up huge rock inselbergs, and got so carried away by our explorations that we had to have a moon riser rather than the traditional sun downer at the end of the day.
Kenya has a tradition of bush flying. In the 1950s a former spitfire pilot set up one of the aviation companies that still flies out of Wilson Airport in Nairobi.
The pilot who usually flies me used to fly by instinct – a real bush pilot. Nowadays he has the back up of sophisticated GPS equipment. Still, many bush strips are kept mown by grazing gazelles, and those zebra do need a little encouragement from the plane to move off pre-landing.
Viewing animals from the air is all part of the safari experience. How often have you heard a pilot tell you that there are some elephant in the shade of that acacia tree down on the left? We flew farther east and north to the Mathews Range at 500 feet above ground, spotting more game and marvelling at the stunning scenery.
Back on the ground we climbed into these hills with Samburu warriors and a train of camels which was carrying our fly-camp for the night.
Our walk the next day took us to what seemed like the top of the world with the sacred mountain Ol Olokwe in the distance and a vast expanse of untrammelled African scenery beneath us.
As we descended green-winged pytilia darted amongst the cycas trees, crowned hornbills were feeding on euphorbia fruits, and we saw the flash of emerald cuckoos dashing about in the tree canopy, listening to each other’s sweet whistling calls. At the fly-camp I slid rather too fast down steep rocks into clear pools below; the warriors were particularly keen on showing me how acrobatic they were at this very cool activity.
Farther down in the dry river luggas we watched the Samburu herdsmen drawing water from wells and listened to their rhythmic singing.
After some prolific game viewing at the brilliant Lewa Reserve including some wild dog interacting with Grevy’s zebra we chilled out at Tassia, a community owned eco-lodge perched on top of a rocky bluff with yet another awesome vista. Antonia Hall is an inspirational cook and the perfect hostess.
We used this place as an alternative to the coast: lazing by the pool, having massages with the calming sounds of the bush around us, going on gentle walks in the bush, checking out their raptor rehabilitation programme and indulging in a little more sporting activity in the form of Maasi-inspired Olympic trials along a dry river bed.
Kenya really does deliver a special holiday.
Miles Barber: 0207 723 5858
NB prices shown were current at the time of writing the newsletter and are not necessarily current now.
Please ask for an updated quote.
- A Sense of Place: Poignancy in KwaZulu Natal
- A Sense of Place: Northern Botswana
- A Trio of Treats in India
- And now for something completely off grid and different: AFRICA’S ULTIMATE RAINFOREST SAFARI
- A Trio of Treats off the beaten track – We get you to places that others don’t!
- A Trio of Treats On The Rift Valley
- A Sense of Place – Can the muppets save a species?
- Trio of treats (Rajasthan, Maldives and Garden Route)
- A Sense of Place – A favourite place: Tanzania and Ruaha
- A Sense of Place – A favourite place in Botswana: the Okavango with elephants galore
- A Sense of Place – Here be dragons and a dark past
- A Sense of Place – Justice Regained
- A Sense of Place – Summer rains make the roads impassable
- A Sense of Place – ‘Those two ladies put light in my future.’
- A Sense of Place – The bird who lost its nest
- A Sense of Place – Talking with the Maasai
- Newsflash: first American guests to Tanzania since March 2020
- A Sense of Place – AFRICA NEEDS YOU
- Escape to Italy?
- Covid: the road still to be travelled.
- A trio of treats. Series of 3 (Part 3): Tiger reserves.
- A trio of treats. Series of 3 (Part 2): Khajuraho.
- A trio of treats. Series of 3 (Part 1): Lucknow.
- A Sense of Place – Engaged people may save the planet
- A word on lions and a trio of treats
- A Sense of Place – India’s most holy city
- A wealth of wilderness walks in Namibia
- Travel snippets from Miles
- A trio of treats on the green island of Pemba in the Zanzibar archipelago
- A Sense of Place – THE INSIDE TRACK on Cape Town guiding
- A Sense of Place – Migrations of people and beasts: East Africa
- A Sense of Place – An era of revolution and global alliances
- A Sense of Place – A walk on the wild side
- A Sense of Place – The ghost ingredient is back
- A Sense of Place – Liuwa Plains and Kafue National Parks – Zambia
- A Sense of Place – Literati in the Pink City, the Capital of Rajasthan
- A Sense of Place – A Tamil town still connected to Europe, Art Deco architecture, and temple antiquity in Southern India.
- A Sense of Place – Dreamy aquamarine sea and stunning safari with the Makuleke people
- A Sense of Place – A trio of lovely ladies in Hyderabad
- A Sense of Place – Entamanu, the wishing tree and walking with the Hadza tribe.
- We get you to places that others don’t… St Helena, Gt Zimbabwe ruins and Papua new Guinea
- A Sense of Place – Walking in the hippie hills of the Himalayas
- A Sense of Place – The Okavango: the river that never finds the sea
- A Sense of Place – The Great Rift Valley, Laikipia, Samburu warriors and Maasai Olympics.
- A Sense of Place – Escape the world in the Namib Desert
- Africa is a massive continent: a collection of 55 countries
- A Sense of Place – Zambezi Watery Wilderness
- A Sense of Place – Burma: the road beyond Mandalay
- Lake Malawi – Would you rather pay for the advertising or the experience?
- From shoe-shine boy to tourist guide in Ethiopia
- A Sense of Place – Ladakh, the Himalayas
- Dhow sailing, Lions are back in Malawi, Self-drive in Namibia
- Sacred rivers and forts, India
- Piranhas, sting rays, caimans – and still people go into the River Negro!
- Kerala, Southern India – God’s own country
- South Africa: Crucible of the rainbow nation
- Madagascar: croissants and lemurs
- Argentina vs Africa on wildlife drama
- Uganda – Gorillas and Gardens
- Mozambique & Kenya: immigration official on holiday
- Mozambique: Gorongosa and reconciliation in the bush
- Zimbabwe is ready for Tourists again
- Serengeti ecosystem and unbeatable savannah
- Lamu: crab complaining
- Kenya: circumcision
- Zambia: Ellie rescue
- Africans: always smiling
- Tswalu
- French sketch
- Kenya: the best hosts
- First visit to Africa 1986
- Namibia, Namib Rand, Skeleton Coast and the ultimate flying safari
- A few gems off the beaten track: Fanjove Island, Tanzania; The Singular Hotel, Patagonia and Isla Palenque, Panama.
- Elephant relocation, quad bike expedition and new Sossusvlei reserve
- Templed out in Tamil Nadu and elephant refuge in Jaipur
- Kenyan sanctuary and family run camp in Zambia
- Australia: Arkaba, Tasmania and Lord Howe Island
- Australia: in the outback and off the beaten track
- India: heavenly Himalayan hideaways, Botswana: fun safari for children and Argentina: hidden homestay in a mountain desert
- Limpopo retreat, Serengeti spectacle and adventure on the Zambezi
- Value for money in Kenya and the trail less travelled in Peru
- Lions in danger, free nights and a new coastal gem
- G and T on demand, hidden beach, micro-light and sleeping on a dam
- Off the beaten track