Family News

Family life here in Kenya continues to be fabulous. Zoe is now 5 ½ years old and Oscar has just turned 4. They are both in the kindergarten section of the Banda School, the school that I attended for 8 years so long ago. How time flies! Zoe thrives in the learning environment and is doing well in the reading/writing and adding departments. One of her outdoor passions is horse riding, so we have duly invested in a pony, a pretty gray called Eclipse. Oscar is also thriving in the school environment and triumphed in both his inaugural sports day events – the egg and spoon race and the flat race for 3 year olds. He also shows great interest in anything crawly and takes great delight in gathering such wildlife and presenting them to his teacher.

Fiona’s real estate and relocation business, Fastrack, continues to do well. Property sales and rentals are up; and relocation contracts with BAT, Virgin Atlantic and Nokia - amongst others - that use Fastrack exclusively for relocating all incoming personnel have kept her and her partner busy all year.

There have been more family safaris to the Mara and Samburu this year, as well as a visit to the coast at Lamu. There are competitions for the first to spot animals such as an elephant or giraffe or big spider! Zoe readily identifies males or females without much difficulty, more than I can say for some other visitors this year! Our visit to Lamu was the opportunity for Zoe to learn to swim and for Oscar to make great progress. Walking the streets of the ancient town and sailing boats were the other activities enjoyed by all of us. 

Kenya News and views
Kenya’s reputation obviously took a serious down-turn at the beginning of the year with the election fiasco and associated post-election violence. The good news is that the relevant political leaders did recognize the serious nature of the situation quickly. They entered into a visionary and successful power sharing deal, with a new position of Prime Minister being created alongside the existing Presidential position. This has put the country back on track as the economic power house in the region, and example to the rest of Africa. Tourism was certainly affected by the election violence and more recently the global credit crunch and fears of recession are undoubtedly affecting the tourism business - both internationally as well as locally. National trends in Kenya show a general reduction of 20% in number of visitors in comparison to 2007. As well as affecting business and the national economy fears are starting to grow for the general well being of the wildlife. With the reduction in revenues being generated from park entrance fees, the parks have to cut back on activities such as anti-poaching patrols. Combine this with the now more desperate nature of the rural communities in the face of reduced opportunities, or even job losses, and the threats to wildlife become a very real concern. We in private industry have been working closely with parks, reserves and communities to address this threat in the short term. For the long term we can only trust that the world economy will return to normal as soon as possible.

 

Safari News
Early in the year my assistant Mickey left to move out of town with her family, but I was fortunate to gain the services of Lindsay Calder as her replacement in the administration of Onsafari. Her history and knowledge of the tourism industry have been a welcome addition to the Onsafari team.

Favourite camping destinations in Kenya, continue to be Shaba and Lewa in the north; Lake Nakuru in the Rift Valley; Amboseli and Tsavo in the south; and the Mara in the west. I continue to enjoy Elsa’s Kopje (Meru), Wilderness Trails (Lewa), and Chui Lodge (Rift valley) as preferred lodge destinations, but with additional options now being Sasaab in the north and Peponi Hotel in Lamu on the coast. Sasaab is in a stunning location overlooking the Uaso Nyiro river just east of samburu, each individual room with its own plunge pool. Key attractions here are the very traditional nearby communities. Lamu is a very traditional coastal town on the Indian Ocean which has changed little over the decades and a visit here provides an insight into the traditional trading practices with Arabia. There are no vehicles on the island, all transport is by traditional sailing dhows, by donkey, or by manual labour. Peponi Hotel is luxurious and an ideal place to experience this from, well outside the hustle and bustle of the town. The turtle watch program is instrumental in the successful breeding of wild turtles on nearby beaches, and guests at Peponi are invited to assist in escorting of hatchlings from the nest to the sea.  

While safaris in Kenya continue to be the most rewarding generally, adventures in Tanzania to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater and in Rwanda to visit the mountain gorillas have also been memorable. The Rwanda experience is improving with newer, more modern, facilities being developed to cater to the ever growing number of visitors, and the gorilla trekking experience gets you up close and personal to these magnificent beasts. While being reasonably strenuous hiking into the forests to view the gorillas, it is certainly not exhausting. Anybody who has not experienced this should seriously consider it.

The wildebeest migration in the Mara this year was fabulous, and deserves mention. On one occasion we encountered a massive crossing of wildebeest over the Mara River, beginning at about 8.00am in the morning, and still continuing at midday, when we departed the scene after witnessing several crocodile attacks. My campsite on the Mara River, in the heart of the Mara Game Reserve and the migration zone is the envy of many. Most memorable morning drive of the year for cats was October 20th when we saw a total of 23 different lions, 7 cheetahs and 2 leopards!

 

I hope to see many of you in 2009, Merry Christmas!