Category: Travel
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The sights of Tsavo West
Last month I wrote a feature on the excellent Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge. I’ve been back to Tsavo West since, and I wanted to focus this piece on the park’s incredible geology. The view to the north-west in the ‘developed area’ – a 1,000 square kilometre section of the park that receives the most visitors…
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The magic of the Mara Triangle
Along a steep stretch of the Mara River, a cluster of still wildebeest and zebras gaze down at the shallow water below. Beneath them, a bloat of hippos splash and snort, and enormous crocodiles bask on the surrounding sandbanks. As others begin to lose their nerve and turn away from the river, a brave wildebeest…
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Street names: signposts to history
‘What’s in a name?’ Juliet asked, when she was telling her Romeo not to worry about the rivalry between their clans – the Capulets and the Montagues. She was wrong, wasn’t she? Shakespeare’s plot took a more realistic and tragic account of clan conflict. For some time, I have enjoyed taking note of the history…
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The ghost at the Railway Museum
The sun was out last Sunday morning, but there was still a chill in the air. It was an indoors day. I decided to check out the Railway Museum near the old railway station; I hadn’t been there for years. As soon as I parked the car, a figure appeared from behind one of the…
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Sunday lunch at Macushla House
Last Friday afternoon I rang Macushla House to book a table for two for Sunday lunch. We hadn’t been there for many years. But we remembered it as a cared for and secluded place, tucked away in the Langata lanes carved out of an indigenous forest – in Ngurure Road and not far from the…
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In the land of lava and leopards
As they scouted Tsavo West in the early ‘60s, the developers of Kilaguni would have been spoilt for choice while deliberating the location of Kenya’s first park lodge. 60 years on, and the site they settled on still ranks highly among the country’s top safari destinations. The lodge’s long thatched terrace frames a spectacular panorama:…
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A night in Naivasha
The rapid rise of Airbnb over the past decade has transformed the way we travel. There are now over six million rooms, flats and houses listed on the Airbnb website, in 100,000 cities and towns across the globe. The affordability of these rentals, relative to the cost of staying in a hotel, is central to…
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Camping at the Rocky Mountain
Both mornings we woke to the calls of francolins. I used to have them as the ringtone on my mobile phone – until a friend pointed out that it sounded like someone having fun on an old spring mattress. At any time of day when at our tent – one of those luxury-style tents, with…
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A Night in the Forest
I’ve enjoyed plenty of gamedrives in Nairobi National Park over the years, but few as much as my drive in the park last Saturday evening. An overnight shower had washed the air clean of dust, and the city lights shone bright against a lilac sky. We trundled along a rocky track near the park’s Middle…
Going Places Africa 