Tag: kenya
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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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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…
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Exploring Oloolua Forest
Last week’s article was all about the new Land Rover Defender, which I had the opportunity to test in Oloolua Forest. The dirt tracks that we used were beneath the SGR, which runs right across the southern portion of the forest. I’ve written a few articles for this column recently about Nairobi’s forests, and the…
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A Review of the New Defender
I don’t envy the designers at Land Rover. Creating the new Defender must have been one of the most challenging jobs of the automotive world. The old models have been adored across the globe for decades, for their flaws as much as their off-road capabilities. Their designs were simple, rugged and instantly recognisable. The new…
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A Night on the Sacred Mountain
‘Maape!’. ‘Let’s go!’. Our Samburu guide, Lemaiyan, urged us to continue our climb after a long water break. The mid-morning heat had been turned up a notch, and our progress was slow. We zigzagged up the eastern slope of Mount Ololokwe, along a path well trodden by elephants and cattle. Stumbling under the weight of…
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Driving Kenya’s Roads
‘I think you could well be interested in this,’ a friend said, as she handed over a book. It was the AA Members Handbook for 1982-84: ‘Guide to Motoring and Touring in Kenya’. I was certainly well interested – particularly, because it was published around the time I came back to Kenya to stay. Gavin…
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Life and Death on the Mara River
Of the 1.5 million wildebeest that trek into the Masai Mara from the Serengeti each year, an average of 300,000 die, most while crossing the Mara River. While death at such a scale may seem senseless, it plays a vital role in the nourishment of the river ecosystem for years after the dust settles.
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Exploring the Ngong Road Forest
A few years ago, a good friend of mine told me a story that has stuck with me. He was driving around town with his buddies one evening, with a chocolate cake from Java on the backseat. They hit traffic on Ngong Road, and decided to take the loop behind Jamhuri Park. It was getting…
Going Places Africa 