Thursday, April 7, 2011

Finch Hattons:A jewel in the park and a story behind the name

Finch Hattons Tented Camp
F is for Finch Hattons, a luxury tented camp that is located in Kenya's own Tsavo West National Park.This camp is definitely one of Africa's best safari accommodation places.The Unique tented camp not only has a great location, well-done decor and great service,this camp's name has a great history behind it.The camp is named after Denys George Finch Hatton (24th April 1887 - 14th May 1931, who was a big game hunter and the lover of Karen Blixen (also known by her pen name as Isak Dinesen ), who wrote about him in her autobiographical book Out of Africa first published in 1937.


Finch Hatton was not known to have had any serious romances before he met Blixen. History has it that they were introduced on 5 April 1918. Soon afterwards he was assigned to military service in Egypt. On his return to Kenya after the Armistice, he developed a close friendship with Blixen and her Swedish husband, Baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke.He is said to have left Africa again in 1920, but returned in 1922, investing in a land development company.By this time, Karen Blixen had separated from her husband, and after their divorce in 1925, Finch Hatton moved into her house and began leading safaris for wealthy sportsmen.

Finch Hattons room...
Among his clients were Marshall Field and The Prince of Wales. According to author Mary Lovell, in 1930 Finch Hatton began a love affair with Beryl Markham, who was working as a race-horse trainer in Nairobi and the surrounding area. This relationship inspired Markham to take up flying; later, she would become known as a pioneer flyer herself!
The Lounge...

The restaurant..
On the morning of 14 May 1931, Finch Hatton's Gypsy Moth took off from Voi airport, circled the airport twice, then plunged to the ground and burst into flames. Finch Hatton and his Kikuyu servant Kamau were killed.

Now would you not want to experience this luxury?!

4 comments:

  1. What a fun place! It looks like a tree house. I'd love to stay there.

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  2. WOW... A posh safari place to gather and discuss the activities of the day
    Interesting F day.
    Manzanita
    Wanna buy a duck

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  3. Absolutely! What a gorgeous setting, and such luxury.

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  4. How romantic. I bet staying here would inspire much blogging and/or journaling. I'm certainly inspired to Google this place and learn more. Honestly, though, I would miss my air conditioning!


    Sincerely,
    Spoiled Brat

    ReplyDelete

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