Articles on African Safaris, Wildlife and Kenyan Travel

Welcome to the page of Safari 2today newsletter. This is a regular e-bulletin to enlighten our readers and customers through updates, reviews, and anecdotes that may interest you while on safari in Africa

We hope to establish a relationship with all our past customers, readers and prospective customers and friends all over the world. We also hope, and shall strive to be, a respected reference point on travel and safari throughout East Africa. We shall be keeping a tab on events taking place in or concerning national parks, wildlife and general conservation. Also news watches on social, political and business frontiers and their relationship with travel and safari.

We appreciate your feedback on our newsletter and invite you to share with your friends who may benefit from the information herein.

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Bulletin Archives

In this edition...

           Announcement: New Park Fees Unveiled

           News: Nairobi-Atlanta Flights to Start

           Natural History: Teaching a Baby Giraffe to Suckle

           Last Word: Barack Obama - A Kenyan Perspective

SAFARI IN 2009

New Park Fees Take Effect

The Kenya Wildlife Service, the national body managing Kenya's national parks and some reserves, will effect new park entrance fees starting January 2009. The revised fees were slated for July 2008 but the service put them on hold after recession hit the industry due to post election crisis early 2008.

Among the highlights is slightly new fragmentation that puts Lake Nakuru and Amboseli in one "Premium" category whose new entrance is 60 USD per person per day. Aberdares, Tsavo East and West, Meru, Chyulu Hills and Kora now fall under "Wilderness" category at 40 USD. "Scenic and Special Interest" category covers Hell's Gate, Mt Elgon, Shimba Hills, Arabuko Sokoke, Tana Primate and Kakamega Forest with entrance fee at 25 USD. Nairobi National Park falls alone under "Urban" category whose entrance fee is 40 USD.

Another highlight is granting nationals of Rwanda and Burundi citizen status with respect to park entrance fees in the spirit of East African Cooperation.

The KWS has promised to invest more in infrastructures in the national parks to improve visitor experience

The Editor hopes KWS, as a first priority, will upgrade all the toilets at the national park gates and campsites into internationally accepted standard of clean washrooms with flush loos.

Travel Quote

"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move."

Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish Author, 1850-1894)

SNAP SHOT

Breeding Like Rabbits

South Africa's Robben Island closed for two weeks last month to facilitate culling of rabbits which have reportedly overrun the historical isle. This is the place where South Africa's first popularly elected President and world's most famous political prisoner and global icon, Nelson Mandela, was imprisoned for 18 years under the apartheid rule.

The rabbits are said to be so numerous that they "threaten to permanently damage the islands sensitive vegetation, and poses a serious threat to other fauna species" said an official of the Robben Island Museum. The island is World heritage Site and one of the country's most famous tourist attractions.

Who coined the term: breeding like rabbits!!
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Did Darwin Receive Apology from Church?

The Church of England has conceded that it was over- defensive and over-emotional in dismissing Darwin's theory of evolution. This coming nearly 150 years after Darwin published his most famous work "Origin of Species by Natural Selection" was very earthshaking to the church that still believe in creationism and still find evolution principles completely antagonistic to Christian faith.

The apology was written by the rev Dr Malcolm Brown, the church's director of mission and public affairs who said that in their response to Darwin's theory, Christians repeated the mistakes they made in doubting Galileo's astronomy in 17th Century. Reads the apology:

Making Amends

"Charles Darwin: 200 years from your birth, the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still. We try to practices the old virtues of "faith and understanding" and hope that makes amends"

Your lazy editor was unable to confirm whether indeed this posthumous apology was officially given by the church.

HOTEL NEWS

Global Honours for Mara Safari Club

Readers of Travel + Leisure magazine have voted for the 13th Annual World's Best Awards. Fairmont's Mara Safari Club in Maasai Mara was ranked third overall for hotels worldwide. The Mount Kenya Safari Club in Mount Kenya and The Norfolk in Nairobi were also included in the Top 25 Hotels listing for Africa and the Middle East.

Fairview Leads the Herd

Trip Advisor, a site that receives over 10,000,000 travellers' reviews & opinions of hotels and vacations worldwide, has ranked the Fairview Hotel as one of the most popular hotels in Nairobi. Read more

Porini Wins Responsible Tourism Award

Porini Camps won an international conservation award in London at the World Travel market last month. The exclusive and prestigious camps were singled out for their support for conservation of endangered species and protected areas and ensuring their enterprise benefits the local Maasai communities.

Karen Blixen "Stirs" the Scene

Karen Blixen Camp, one of the newest luxury properties in the Maasai Mara is already getting noticed internationally and The Good Safari Guide, 2008 has nominated the camp among the "Best New Safari Property in Africa" - runners up and "Best Safari Property in Eastern Africa."

Congratulations to all facilities that continue to fly the Kenyan flag in hospitality and excellence.

Funny Quote

"A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age."

Robert Frost (American poet, 1874-1963)

Look out for more funny quotes in chitchat page of our forthcoming new-look website.

NEWS WATCH

Delta Air Lines Launches Nairobi - Atlanta Services

Delta Air Lines - the only major U.S. carrier to operate scheduled services to Africa - has announced it will launch direct flights between Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport with effect from 3 June 2009. The four-times weekly flight will be the only service to the United States from Kenya operated by a U.S. carrier and will offer passengers convenient connections via Delta's Atlanta hub to around 150 business and leisure destinations throughout the United States including Washington, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, as well as destinations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Convenience for Tourists

Speaking about the new service, Bobby Bryan, Delta's commercial manager for West and East Africa said: "We are excited to pioneer new routes that expand our global reach and add convenience to the lives of our customers. The new direct service will offer many important travel options for business and leisure travellers, thanks to the convenience of Delta's connections via Atlanta and will also serve to increase commercial ties between Kenya and the United States by providing a convenient travel option for the thousands of American tourists wanting to discover the beauty of Kenya each year..."

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Elephant Census in Northern Kenya

Northern Kenya's expansive rangeland has reportedly recorded a 5% rise in elephant population in the last 4 years according to census survey released last week by Kenya Wildlife Service. The 28,000 square kilometre ecosystem covers Laikipia, Samburu and Isiolo.

The survey was conducted in the first week of December and covered the area between Solio Ranch to the south and Marsabit and Lake Turkana to the north. The KWS report hails community ranches fro playing a critical role in conservation of wildlife in the country especially for maintaining viability of populations in national parks.

Also counted in the same survey was the unique Gravy's Zebra whose range is highly confined to the Northern Kenya. Its population now stands at about 2,600 from the previous 2000 three years ago.
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Ivory Sales

Southern Africa countries last week auctioned more than 100 tones of ivory to buyers in China and Japan. This is the first officially sanctioned sale of ivory for more than a decade after the countries successfully lobbied CITES in the last conference of parties to sell off the stockpiles to raise money for conservation.

Conservative environmentalists in conjunction with mainstream conservation agencies in East Africa have always fiercely contested against any legal sale of ivory. They insist that such sales encourage poachers elsewhere in Africa to kill elephants for ivory which can then be fed into the legal market. Indeed this argument has always carried the day at the CITES meetings thanks to powerful lobbying by giant animal rights bodies who mostly underwrite conservation programs in Kenya.

It was an interesting coincidence that Kenyan authorities reported poaching incidents just prior to this sale and naturally attributed it to the ivory sales in South Africa.

SAFARI BOOKINGS

Revised Website

We wish to inform our readers that we are soon unveiling a new website. Look out for 2009 safaris, sign up for free post cards and order for African crafts from any part of the world. Coming soon.

Easter Holidays 2009

If you are already planning your 2009 Holidays, you are most welcome to Kenya during the Green Season - April - June. We offer great discounts on all our Lodge Safaris in Kenya and Tanzania.

Drop us a note: info@menengaiholidays.com

Weekend Packages

Contact us for great ideas and weekend safari and family outings to Ol Donyo Sabuk, Nairobi National Park, Nakuru National Park, Hell's Gate and private sanctuaries and campsites across the country.

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CHIT CHAT

Is Lamu the Place Time Forgot?

"With ancient dhows fishing offshore, an absence of cars, and astoundingly vast and empty beaches, the Indian Ocean port of Lamu seems a bit like The Land That Time Forgot. But it wasn't until my daughter, Lissa, rode a donkey down the main thoroughfare that we truly appreciated the enchantingly weird charm of the place..."

Say Steve Goldstein, our past customer and Editorial Director at Conservation International in the US, in a recent article entitled "Laid-Back in Lamu" in Philadelphia Inquirer

Read this thrilling article - click here

Any reader or customer with a post-safari story is invited to contribute to this safari memoirs column of "chit chat," a new interactive page soon coming on our new look website.

NATURAL HISTORY

Teaching a Baby Giraffe Old Tricks

In the previous edition, we focused on the giraffe - the tallest animal that confidently graces African savannas which is a subject of several myths and mysteries.

An interesting giraffe story has sprung out from the unexpected quarters. A baby calf was born last week at Kristian and Dyre Park in South Norway but lacks interest, any interest that is, in mother's milk. Handlers finally managed to feed the week-old calve from a bottle - by ramming the bottle down its neck!

Public Appeal

So desperate was the park authorities to entice the giraffe to its mother's milk that a local newspaper called for public suggestions. But, judging from the response, one can easily deduce there are not many giraffe experts in that part of the world. Sample these suggestions:

Smear the mother's teats with honey;
Pour half a litre of cooking oil down the baby's throat - a farmer said that this works with new-born calves whose digestive systems are blocked;
Try to get it suck the finger of one of the park staff to get it used to the idea;
Put a TV screen in the pen showing films of other young giraffes eating

Zoo Keepers Sleeping on the Job?

In response to the story in Reuter's website, a reader sums it up: "many zoos bottle feed babies. I say let the zookeepers earn their pay. They brought this animal into the world and they are responsible for it".

Well we find it a pity that no help is forthcoming from the tropics where ecologists and wildlife vets would be expected to shed more scientific insight.

Why Save "Wayward" Genes?

However in the editor's view this is great abnormality since "interest" in a mother's milk should be a natural instinct and no tricks are required to ignite it. This gives rise to this philosophical question: Is it worth saving such an animal which cannot do the most basic of life's instincts; that is to be alive? Are such genes worth the effort or should they not be allowed to just perish? A proverb in Kikuyu language roughly translates: "a calf that refuses the mother never survives." We doubt if this one will.

Tell us your views.

Share with us further observations and comments about the giraffes:
info@menengaiholidays.com

LAST WORD

The Obama Sensation

After one of the longest campaigns in US history, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, son of a Kenyan father, was elected to the white house as America's 44th President. He effectively made history as the first African-American president since the US won independence 232 years ago.

There is so much news about the new president and the hope and expectations of American people and the world, it would be superfluous to pretend to "report" anything to our readers.

Kenyan Perspective

Suffice to say there was extravagant jubilation over Obama's victory here in Kenya, thanks to his ancestral linkage with us.

But as always the "unofficial side" of important events tends to be more hilarious and Obama's election was no different. The President elect's paternal roots are in Western Kenya's hitherto insignificant village called Kogelo in Siaya District.

To start with, within hours of Obama's victory announcement, Kogelo village and specifically the home of Mama Sarah, Obama's grand mother, had electricity connections and the road gravelled. It was not clear for whom this was done - for Obama or her grandmother - and why it was done now. These are some of the foolish ironies of poor governance in Africa. So if there were resources to extend such services to Kogelo and environs why did it have to wait for an American election?

But that is beside the point. While the whole of Kenya celebrated Obama's victory, the particular community where Obama senior hailed was even more excited judging from celebrations in Kisumu city and Nairobi's Langata constituency. So naturally there are several jokes doing the rounds some quite entertaining.

Excuse me, its Luo-American

For instance it is said the Luo community are unhappy with reference to Obama as Africa-American. The correct term, they say should be Luo -American. The Luo, famous for their flamboyance and intellect, want to make it clear that Obama's roots are not just African; not just Kenyan but Luo. Though they don't say!!

Also posters and calendars immediately flooded the streets from the mills of enterprising publishers cashing in on Obama sensation. The ones appealing most in Kisumu have Obama's picture with the slogan: "from Kisumu to President of United States." But a finer version immediately sprung up: "From UK to USA". UK in this case refers to United Kisumu, as Luos have always petted their flagship city.

Following more on this, its now joked in Kenya that US embassy in Nairobi will soon be staffed by Luo security personnel and that Luos will no longer require visas to visit America. How hilarious!

And finally...

Just before the elections, American comedian Chris Rock was interviewed by a local infotainment program. Asked who he thought would win the US presidency, he unhesitatingly answered it was Obama. "Why do you think he will win" asked the interviewer, to which Rock replied:

"This guy is from Kenya. Have you ever run a race with a Kenyan and won?"

Ahaa....

We dare ask: Could Barack Obama be Kenya's best export product?