Kenya

My very first trip to Africa was a wildlife safari to Kenya twenty years ago. One of the reasons my husband and I were thrilled to accept a posting in Tanzania a decade later was because of that unforgettable Kenyan safari. We saw the wildebeest migration in the Maasai Mara National Reserve and the famous flamingoes at Lake Nakuru. I remember a boat ride on Lake Baringo when the motor died and a territorial hippo advanced on our beleaguered craft. Maybe that hippo, which made my heart beat faster every time he submerged, leaving me to wonder where he would re-emerge, is what got me hooked on the safari life. I can still see as clearly as though it was yesterday the silhouette of a Mara giraffe in front of a fiery setting sun and the family of elephants crossing a river silently at dawn.
I have traveled extensively throughout Kenya since then. I still find Nairobi, for all its traffic gridlock, an exciting safari hub and easily the safari hub with the most activities –the National Museum with Joy Adamson's remarkable watercolors of Kenyan tribes and the Sheldrick elephant orphanage to name only a few. The Lamu archipelago on Kenya's east coast rivals Tanzania's Pemba archipelago for an education in Swahili culture. A trip I made through Kenya's Northern Frontier with its colorful Samburu and Turkana peoples still rates among my most adventurous ever.

Currently, MTT Inc offers one unique tour within Kenya that is in a class by itself in terms of adventure and challenge - the 12-day, 100 mile (160 kilometer) walk across the country's largest and wildest national parks, East and West Tsavo (the world's largest elephant ecosystem), to the magnificent Indian Ocean. This safari is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. MTT has selected some unique walking and wildlife adventures with Kenyan Maasai as well. Please see Itineraries for more information.

MTT also recommends visiting the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's Ithumba Camp in Tsavo. This is where the older elephant orphans from the trust's Nairobi orphanage are brought when they have outgrown the nursery. It is expected that these older elephants will rejoin wild herds in Tsavo when they are ready. Guests at Ithumba Camp must be registered elephant foster parents at the trust. See www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org.

MTT has many other ideas for tailor-made travel within Kenya. Please contact me.