Here's another one of my old haunts.. Bahari Beach Hotel  my friend and I would drive out there sit on the beach  it was fantastic.. great food..good ambiance.. we used to go dancing at the Hotel on Sundays I miss those days..  



Mutha is Agip hotel still there? Another of my favorite places on the patio bar.. boy oh boy I have some stories

I have to confess I was staying at the African Safari Club at Shanzu. You can thank - or blame - them for my presence here, because if I hadn't had such a bad feeling about that place, I wouldn't have gone looking for an African forum where it was being discussed. I turned up in the Africa Online forum just when the story broke about the Kenyan being beaten up at Flamingo Beach. And I got dragged in  :)

Anyway, I was scuba diving with a big group from my club. We had a wonderful time with the Kenyan divers. They were super and there was absolutely no feeling of "us and them".

There was one unpleasant moment in Mombasa when we (my group) went to the central market - we were waiting in the tourist bus and a vendor came to sell his kangas. He was threatened by a gun-slinging policeman and it got a bit nasty for a moment there. But nothing bad happened to us.

Even when we went shopping in the village outside the hotel compound, the shopkeepers were very polite, didn't hassle us too much. You'd just say no thank you, not today and they'd leave you alone. There were children begging for money along the road - that is always difficult - they were obviously very poor - I never know what is the right thing to do!

I made friends with one of the guys from the diving outfit and he invited me to visit his village and meet his family and have a meal with them, which I did, and it was wonderful. He also took me on a private guided tour of his Mombasa, we walked and walked, took the Likoni ferry - that was amazing, I really was the only mzungu in a huge crowd! But I had my Kenyan guardian angel with me so felt perfectly safe  :)

I felt so bad at the ASC that I hardly spent any time there, just for sleeping - I was either diving or out with the locals.

So I didn't really have the "normal" tourist experience, but I guess as you've all figured out by now I'm not really normal

What I loved: the contact with Kenyans
What I hated: African Safari Club and the Baracuda Dive Center for their mistreatment of their employees

Ooops! That link is

[URL=http://www.beachcomber.co.tz

Mutha

I spent one of the most frightfull night under the stars of Amboseli.
10 years ago, a group of friends of mine and i threw some Tents, a few Tusker crates, Vodka, pangas and Bananas in a couple of Troopers and took of to Camp for a few nights at the Amboseli.  We camped near the serena lodge and got ready for a night of animal watching and boozing. we build a big fire place and started drinking beer all in Adventurous mood...till the complete darkness came and all kind of noises started around us. We camped near the only bush around and soon,there were Elephants Knocking it down. Some of us ran to the cars and some men who were feeling like Heros stood up, topless and with pangas in their hands - You should have seing them from the light of the fire.They were filthy and looked like cave men about to charge a Lion. They made a lot of noices and the Elephants ran away.
The scared ones crawed back to the fire and the beer and Vodka started to disapear faster. We all got so drunk to the extent that the fear disapeared all together. Around 2 am, one person looked up the tree we were camping under and just wispered, "Please all, be quiet, there is a leopard on the tree" we teased him of trying to scare us till we looked up too...I don´t know how we all made it, but in a second we were all in the cars and completely sober.
Nobody got out of the cars or sleep that night and we were still very very drunk at 6 am when we decided to uncamp and get back to Nairobi. All of a sudden the nairobi we were running away from sounded like a paradise. We started back. We got lost and ended up by a masai manyatta. we were so dirsty. Some of us had gotten blond hair from the dirst. A masai moran fell in love with me and didn´t want to let me go. I even got scared b/c  his eyes were bugging out of his face. At last they agreed to drive with us till we find the right way out.
As soon as we found the way and the masai were gone, we got a puncture. As i was getting out of the trooper, i opened the door and looked down. There was a huge full grown python snake exactly under where my foot should have landed. Oh yee... Drunk and snakes and puncture... I just shurt everything off and stayed in the car till sometime later when i walk up already in Nairobi.

That was the first Adventure ride for me...In the nature world. Before that, i only knew the dangers of the homosapia Jungle(town) After that i got hooked on danger and i have done even more nerve racking expenditions in India and the Amazonas.

Thirsty for Danger  :hairfreak:

oh man, I can well imagine how it must have been!! Camping out properly is a real thrill. We should do a thread one of these days on great Kenyan campsites, there's so many of them...!

and yeah, Kenyan school trips are a little bit special, aren't they?

:laugh:  Hehe re: the binoculars. And guess what Kat? My brother has them... he's kept them as a 'memento' of the good old days.

I sometimes feel sad b/c I left Kenya while young and missed out on a lot of the childhood stuff. But I did have tonnes of fun in the other places I lived... and had tonnes more when I returned... and continue to have tonnes...

You might be better off to send them to Mambo, he can upload download or whatever you're supposed to do with the darn things..I'm with you Observer haven't figured the thing out myself..  :hehe:

The January Condé Nast Traveller (US edition) has a 'gold list' of the world's best places to stay.

There are four listings for Kenya and three for Tanzania.

I don't know how many of you have been to those places but I've only been to two of those listed in Kenya, and only when I was very small.

I thought it would be nice for us to talk about the places we've been that are accessible to travelers on a budget. I know I can't afford to stay in some of those places and anyway, I like going off the beaten track.

I thought this might be a good thread for those forumnistas who go to Kenya on holiday, but who may end up only doing the more 'touristy' stuff and miss out on interaction with Kenyans in their 'regular' day to day living.

So, here are the listings with links to websites. Then we can each add something to the list and talk about why we've recommended the place.

Condé Nast Kenya Listings

1.Amboseli Lodge (no website) - Amboseli National Park

2.Nairobi Safari Club -   Nairobi Safari Club

3. Larsens Tented Camp - Samburu National Reserve Block Hotels

4. Samburu Serena Safari Lodge - Samburu National Reserve Serena Hotels


Condé Nast Tanzania Listings

1. Ngorongoro Crater Lodge - Ngorongoro Crater Website

2. Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge - Serengeti National Park Serena Hotels

3. Serengeti Sopa Lodge - Serengeti National Park - Sopa Lodges

Camarada & forumistas here are a few places I've stayed in and around Tanzania.



Ndutu Safari Lodge



Ngorongoro Crater Lodge

The view is incredible right on the crater's rim




A couple of others are Lobo Lodge, Seronara Lodge, Gibbs Farm

I'd also like to ask those who've travelled to Kenya to tell us of what they didn't like.

It would be beneficial for Kenyans to hear from the horse's mouth.

What is it that you think we can improve on and how? What made your experience slightly less enjoyable than it could have been?

Where did you stay? How do you rate it?

Et cetera...

Well,

A good road with minimum traffic is the Kitale - Lodwar Rd, on the way to Lake Turkana. Granted, I've never ridden a motorcycle on it, but it's a wonderful ride by car.

Going to Garissa is also good, also Nairobi - Nanyuki (I'm talking scenery).

The problem with the Garissa stretch is armed robbery which is always very, very violent.

The Road to Lamu was okay when I was last on it, though I haven't been up further north. But the Coast Express buses are horrible are prone to gruesome accidents.

Come on Sooz, other than roads, is there anything you particulary depised. Being hassled? Treated 'different' because you were a foreigner...?

Anyway, I was scuba diving with a big group from my club. We had a wonderful time with the Kenyan divers. They were super and there was absolutely no feeling of "us and them".

I forgot to say, except that they were not allowed to eat lunch with us or even have a drink with us at the marina bar. We all felt really bad about that. Never experienced that before on a diving holiday.

Well sooz

Next time make holiday in kenya, don´t book a package like that one. All this clubs are the same. Robinson club etc. You can fly to watamu beach or Diani beach for Diving. There are some quite good diving clubs there. Indepented ones. Or even Kilifi. Oh, you can have a great holiday at our coast. But flying with ASC... Thats a waste of money and time. You can as well fly to Mallorca.
Next time you want to fly to kenya, give me a notice and tell me what you want. I will give you tips.

The mention of Amboseli Lodge in the Conde Nast is out-dated. The lodge was so run down through out the 90's and I would not proporse it to any traveller. Amboseli national Park is however one of the most beautiful parks in Kenya. It boasts the largest herds of elephants, has a lake right at the middle with commendable bird life, buffaloes and hippos. The back drop of Mt. Kilimanjaro to crown all this is amazing.
Ths Serenas are well amanegd, good properties but stiffly priced.
Should you want to come to Dar es Salaam, try the Jewel of Dar - The Beachcomber Hotel & Resort www.beaccomber.co.tz.
I will personally ensure that you are taken care of like royalty.

Mutha,

Funny enough, though the Amboseli lodge is on the Condé Nast list, it has the lowest ratings of the four Kenyan choices.

Is it true that there's too many tourist vans clogging the Amboseli park and that the authorities want to close it down for some years for the wildlife to 'get a break' from the noise and clutter?

I'd heard or read about it somewhere...

Cam,
Please change that avater. Now!
Mbaka
You aint seen nothing until you spend 3 nights in Amboseli.
Huruma is a rough elephant who was so smart he could tel where elephennce (Electric phence is broken) He used to creep in at dawn and say his prayers in th compund of Amboseli Lodge. We gathered he had to walk 19 miles some mornings to do this and so faithful was he. it hurts to this day.
Amboseli is so unique, you would have to cultivate the feel of it in the hard way. Elephants, buffaloes lodging on the swamps with the hippos, the mentally disturbed warthog, the bird life aroung lake Amboseli, and not to mention the back drop[ that is Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Great story Mbaka, the Wild One  :laugh:

Mbaka & Mambogani

There is no doubt in my mind, that school trips to the parks and camping is what makes schooling in Kenya such a memorable experience.

I had my share with with my school buddies when we went camping in the Samburu. The weather was wonderful and we were all cheerie and singing our hearts out. Pitching the tent was a breeze, since most of us had been in the Boy Scouts. Just like the wild kingdom, the girls chose to pair with the guys who knew a thing or two about tent pitching. The stronger the foundation, the safer the tent, so the assumption went. This view was reinforced by the fact that, on our way to the camp ground we had witnessed a lion kill, a cheetah nursing, hyenas fighting over scraps and no human life to speak of.

Boys will be boys. As soon as darkness fell our bonfire attracted hyenas to the camp. Some of us guys decided to scare the hyenas. This is alright if they are few, when there are many of them, they become bold. This game went on for a good half an hour. The whimpering and howls from hyenas did not go unnoticed by some rogue lions who appeared from nowhere.

Let me just say nobody got out of their tents even to pea. The fighting was vicious and brutal. Lions and hyenas can't stand each other. We were lucky, in that the fighting was more than 500 yards away from our tents. Everybody was scared to their wits end. The girls were crying and holding on to each other for dear life. The noise coming from the outside was pure death. The fighting might have lasted 45 minutes but to us it was eternity.

The next morning we had to gather courage to peak a look outside the war zone. There were hyena carcases everywhere. We were afraid that there might be a wounded lion in the vicinity and that could spell danger. We quietly dismantled our tents in a hurry and within no minute we were on our way to Nairobi. Guess who we found on the road basking in the morning sun? The lions! They were caked in blood all over. They must have been the ones who did the damage to hyenas. The two males seem to be really irritated by our presense. All the windows in the bus were shut and we could only wait as they took their sweet time to get off the road.

Since then, I have been to many camping sites in both Kenya and Tanzania but that was the only time I felt helpless. My kind of camping is do-it-yourself. I grab a few buddies, a tent or two, buy a few necessities and off to the wild. It is not for the faint hearted. The idea is to use common sense. You always have to remember, that you are the one intruding in the animals territory and not vice versa.

Such nice stories you guys have  :) .

A nice place to camp is Hell's Gate in Nakuru. I went there last year and spent three nights (it was dusty as heck), but there's tremendous cliffs for rock-climbers, gulleys you can explore, caves and great views all around.

Plus they have a really neat 'museum'/shop right at the gate.

Only problem is that there's no toilets so you have to dig a hole.

And the Samburu wardens are goooood looking yum yum.

I remember taking this ancient pair of binoculars with me on that trip and I truly was the star. My dad had bought them in the fifties probably, and they were gigantic...

Camarada I'm laughing because my father also has a pair of those. He's not a very big man so looking out of them gives him the appeance of being that much  smaller.
 

I have three binoculars at the windows of the sitting room, kitchen and bedroom. One is an antique one from the colonial time, another is a huge military one from Steiners. I have very interresting neighbours      :cool:  :devil:

Wow! O!,

I am jealous

And I can't wait.

Please send me an invitation.

For some reason I can't seem to post pictures up on this board though I've seen pictures elsewhere here (especially a very good one of chapatis if I remember correctly). Would someone be so kind as to offer me the idiots guide so I can put one or two up for you?

Wow!

Amazing journeys Observer. And the Mikindani website is incredible.

One place I think many Kenyans and visitors should travel to is Namanga.

There is a Peugeot service (Ksh 200 one way) from downtown Nairobi opposite the bicycle shop infront of the old OTC bus stop.

The ride to Namanga is short and the road is pretty good except for a stretch between Athi River and Kajiado.

In Namanga, the only 'big' hotel is the Namanga River Lodge which is quite old but pleasant and cheap. There are barely more than three guests staying there at a given time and all rooms have mosquito nets. The food is fresh (whenever I am there, somebody has to run to the shops to buy milk, eggs etc to prepare my meals).

Things to do:

There's a very big hill behind the hotel that you can climb. If you need a guide, you can ask one of the morans to take you up there and the view is terrific. You can see Mt. Meru and Kilimanjaro from the top. The best thing about Namanga is that it's not touristy. Most of the tourist vans just drive through on their way to Arusha, Tsavo and Mt. Meru.

There are some wooden shops by the Kobil Petrol Station which are run by Somali women. I buy all my vitenges and wraps there, usually five hundred bob ($6); also henna, kohl and incense.

At the border itself, there are many Maasai women selling jewellry. You can negotiate to have them make you a full Maasai bridal dress.

The officials at both borders are very friendly and once you cross to the Tanzanian side, there's many shops in which you can buy the latest Zanzibar lesos, taarab music and Franco tapes.

And around four in the afternoon, you can take a Peugeot back to Nairobi and be home before sundown.

Well I'd like you to fix up the roads and teach a bit of road safety to your compatriots so I can go on a motorcycling tour around Kenya. I'm afraid at my age I'm not Paris-Dakar material  :)

Thanks Mbaka. No way I'll ever go back to ASC anyway. Will ask your advice... soon I hope!

Camarada
Do you have many heads to change? How do you do that? Imagine how nice it would be to change your  head daily..haaaa..Luxury.

I havent heard that and i cannot imagine closing Amboselli. After masa mara, is Amboselli the second important Park. Tsavo is nearly dried up of Animals.

now Mbaka how much did you drink that night, eh..      

was there really a leopard on that tree... they are after all notoriously secretive..  ???   ::

another Amboseli tale...

this was back when I was in primary school in Mombasa. The school organised a trip to Amboseli. It was a two day trip, spending one night at Kilimanjaro Safari Lodge. Of course I was thrilled with to have the chance to visit a famous park like Amboseli...I think in those days, that was the first time I went on 'safari'. Now, in the schools infinite wisdom, it organised the trip in......April! Bang in the middle of the rainy season. And even worse, we went in a great big bloody bus! Yes, the real 50 seater coach variety! So we're in the vicinity of the park, almost at the lodge, and we get stuck in the mud. Really stuck. Anyway, three hours later, we're still there..in the middle of nowhere, its getting dark, and our efforts of pushing the coach out of the mud have only served to bog it further into the mud. We're all tired and weary. Another couple of hours and its getting dark, the lights fading fast and we're resigned to spending the night in the coach. All of us are milling around the coach, all mud-splattered, when somebody spots something running towards us from the left. A shout goes up, "Lion!!".

And there is this almight scramble to get back into the coach. You can imagine the scene: about 40 kids trying to get in through this one door, and all the time this animal is getting closer.

Then it get closer, and it turns out to be a Masai moran!       Man, the sheepish looks on our faces... But really in the gloom of the evening, it looked like an animal running towards us!

Eventually, the lodge sent out a search party, and we arrived at the lodge exhausted at about 10pm. Thankfully, they had kept dinner for us!

Mambogani

No, i had no delirium
It was a Leopard. Strange things happen at the Amboseli. The Animals seem to be bored with the visitors and think "not again this tourist" and go back to sleep.

Just came back to add that those school trips were excellent.

I got my first kiss from my first boyfriend on a trip to Lake Bogoria... If only our parents knew what went on during those 'educational' sojourns...

And everybody would try to outdo one another. Who brought the best gear, best music..., sunglasses, binoculars.

I remember taking this ancient pair of binoculars with me on that trip and I truly was the star. My dad had bought them in the fifties probably, and they were gigantic...

The road from Lodwar to Kapenguria is now to dangerous to travel by car, but it is still OK by motorbike which I did in 2000 on the way back from Eliye Springs - gorgeous - on the way up we went overland via Baringo, Kapedo, Lokichar, Napaitong - we through the back route cross country. Truly a memorable journey... Marich Pass on the way out of the Rift heading up to Kapenguria is still one of the most spectacular roads in Kenya in that within one hour you go through several landscapes as you rise out of the rift valley - from desert scrub through to mountain forest. Its highly underrated as I suppose its not really that well travelled except for the aid trucks heading to Kakuma refugee camp, hardly a tourist destination. At the foot of the escarpment is a research centre where you can camp in  riverine forest - elephants and buffalos all around.  

Last year I also went overland from Nairobi up to Ethiopia via Marsabit and Moyale. Marsabit is a fascinating town on a misty mountain in the desert. Ethiopia is a part of Africa I'd never seen before; in Europe one is used to seeing castles and ruins and the legacy of millenia of history, whereas in Africa it is rare - Ethiopia really stands out as a travellers jewel right now, hard travel with few facilities but immense rewards and unforgettable memories.

I also travelled overland to the south tip of Lake Natron in Tanzania and around the back of the escarpment to northern Serengeti past Ol Donyo Lengai. This journey also requires preparation and time, but is a specacular part of the earth, with plenty of game, volcanoes, giant edifices of the the  earth's violent geographical history, lakes and waterfalls. There is also a ruined city at the village of Engaruka believe it or not, the origins of which are not clear but Louis Leakey estimated it maintained a population of 40,000 inhabitants who constructed an irrigation system that still functions today. Remarkable, and beautifully situated at the foot of an immense escarpment, watered by springs.

Another jouney was also last year south along the Tanzanian coast from Dar es Salaam to the Mozambique border across the Rufiji River - its bit of a mission to et down there but is paradise - totally devoid of Western influence, and a vision of the old Swahili trading coast sadly destroyed inmany parts of Kenya due to mass tourism. Check out www.mikindani.com for a view of the regions delights.  

Photos of these and other journeys in Africa and around the world will be posted on a private website shortly still under production - I'll put the link up when its ready.

you peeps have fascinating stories to tell and Observer you are surely well travelled Well i hope u get the idiots guide to attaching flicks soon.

Am too lazy to type in my own stories