Africa Travel Information

Map of Kenya

This post is prompted by the latest Kenya travel advisory issued by the UK and France governments.

A Brief Background to these latest travel warnings
Early last month (September 11, 2011), an armed gang raided an exclusive tourist resort in Lamu, killed a British tourist, and abducted his wife. See the full story in the Daily Nation.

Three weeks later, in October 1, 2011, another gang kidnapped a 66 year old French woman from her private home in Manda Island in Lamu. You can see this story too in both the Standard and the Daily Nation.

The minister for tourism, Najib Balala, has since then assured Kenya tourism stakeholders that the government has put measures in place to ensure such incidents do to occur again. Too late perhaps, coz the harm has already been done.

Under such circumstances therefore, the travel warnings about Kenya are somehow justified. And to be fair, the advisories only advise against traveling to Lamu and the region near the Kenya-Somali border. But I know safety is an important consideration for many people planning to come to Kenya, whether on a safari holiday or a business trip. So, is it safe to travel to Kenya? Read the rest of this entry »

It is a well known fact that Kenya is one of the greatest Africa safari destinations. But where should you go when you want to see some amazing scenic sites while on your safari?

I was a bit lazy to do a full write-up about this, so I decided to create a simple video instead. It ended up taking more than two hours.

This is my first ever attempt at creating a video, so just pardon any traces of amateurism. The next videos will obviously be better. I hope you enjoy this one. Feel free to leave your comments here or at youtube.

As I write this post, the news of Prince William’s engagement to Kate Middleton is one of the trending topics in the world media, and of course in twitter. Not really surprising, considering our fascination with royalty, especially the British Royal family.

For African safari enthusiasts, you may cherish the fact that the prince proposed while on holiday in a private game reserve in Kenya – the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.

About the Lewa Conservancy
This wildlife sanctuary is situated about 250 kilometers (by road) North of Nairobi, near Isiolo town. Its history goes back to the early 1980s when rampant poaching threatened to wipe out the population of black rhinos in northern Kenya. Read the rest of this entry »

The Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) has just announced their launch of an online payment solution specifically targeting the Kenya tourism industry. The bank announced the news during the East Africa E-Tourism Conference, which is taking place at the Nairobi Crowne Plaza hotel.

This is exciting news for hotel owners, tour operators, and other players in the Kenya travel industry. Kenya recently joined the world of true broadband, and many serious business want to exploit online opportunities through e-commerce.

Just a few months ago, most operators in the tourism sector found it very expensive to accept online payments. This is because no local bank offered e-commerce services. This possibly restricted tour operators and travel agents from maximizing on the existing potential.

Read the rest of this entry »

A view of Nairobi City, the capital city of Kenya

Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, is the main point of entry for most people travelling to Kenya. Whether coming for a safari, a business trip, or you are on transit through Nairobi to another destination, you’ll most likely arrive through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.

Sometimes you may not need to spend more than a few minutes in Nairobi, especially if you are proceeding on safari immediately. Other times however, you may have to spend a night or two. With its wide choice of hotels, Nairobi will not disappoint you.

Some of the best known five star hotels in Nairobi include the Nairobi Serena hotel, the Hotel Intercontinental Nairobi, Panari hotel, Nairobi Hilton hotel, and the Fairmont Norfolk hotel . There are several other hotels ranging from five star luxury hotels to budget hotels. So whatever your budget, you’ll definitely find suitable accommodation for your stay in Nairobi.

Lately, several new hotels have been constructed in Nairobi, perhaps an indication that the Kenya travel industry is recovering from the woes of the recent past. The three most notable of these new hotels are Ole Sereni, Crowne Plaza, and Sankara Nairobi hotel. Read the rest of this entry »

Wildebeest crossing the Mara river in Masai Mara. Picture by BrianScott: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianscott/

In the past few months, one of the most predominant news item from the Kenya tourism industry has been the existence of illegal camps and lodges in the Maasai Mara game reserve. According to the Kenyan government, more than 70% of the Masai Mara lodges, safari camps and resorts are operating illegally. Kenya’s Minister for tourism, Najib Balala, went as far as threatening to shut down all these lodges (see this story).

A twin issue related to this is that some of these camps are said to be intruding in the niches of endangered species like the black rhino, threatening the already fragile ecosystem (see story here).

Of course, if these camps and lodges have not been licensed, shutting them down is a very logical action. But this would present one big problem: a drop in tourist numbers. Currently, there are approximately 108 camps and lodges in the Masai Mara area, with a total bed capacity of about 4000. If you forcefully close 70% of these, bed capacity would probably drop by the same margin (to about 1200 persons). Considering that Masai Mara is the most visited and best known game reserve in Kenya, such a reduction would affect the entire tourism sector in more than one way.

Read the rest of this entry »