African Jungle in Images (Part 2)

Cheetah Family by Chris Johns - National Geographic

African Lion Cub  by Beverly Joubert - National Geographic

by Beverly Joubet - National Geographic

by Beverly Joubet - National Geographic

Leopard Mother & Cub by Beverly Joubet - National Geographic

The Migration is on!

So very typical, any safari enthusiast or consultant will tell you that this is it! The Wildebeest migration is on!
Reports indicate as from late last week, the sighting of these amazing and unique creatures have been seen both from the Loita Plains and the Serengeti.

About the Migration: 
Each year, round about the same time, thousands of Wildebeest, some Topis and Zebras move across from the Serengeti in Tanzania, across the Mara river into the Masai Mara reserve. The migration is accredited to change of weather patterns across the Serengeti and Masai Mara Eco-system, these animals are said to move in search of their "survival" looking for fresh grazing areas.
 

Even though this is considered one of the most expensive periods to travel to the Masai Mara, it is very possible to get a good travel deal to witness the Migration. Also, you could always consider camping if you are a group or join one of the many camping groups that have set departures across the migration season (July - end October) and be assured to have an adventure of your life time!

For bookings or enquirers to experience the Masai Mara, email me.

Images courtesy of Google.

Untapped Destinations and Unique Attractions

Recently a place known as Terra Encantada, An Abandoned Theme Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil made news after a feature from untappedcities.com. The thing that caught my eye about this abandoned theme park is the fact that it sits only a short distance to where in 2016 the Olympics will be held; Rio de Janeiro. The thought of an attraction like this, after being opened in 1998, it was abandoned due to a bad accident of a 61-year old woman being killed after being thrown from a ride and an investigation uncovering multiple engineering and maintenance failures led to it being shut down and abandoned....

Courtesy of Untappedcities.com

Courtesy of untappedcities.com

This led me to thinking of which places in Kenya do we have that could turn into fortune makers but somehow we are blind to that fact either because of a past negative event or simply because we choose not to think of the potential of that destination, we could be missing out! Think of it, Kenya has 47 counties as of now, and out of those 47, only about 10 of these can say they are maximizing on the attractions they have to bring in a good amount of income?

Previously I did a post on most talked about attractions inAfrica and this same question seemed to pop up? Have we explored our areas to the maximum? What can we do to bring them to life? What life can is there to bring more to that life?

I am not only talking to the people in Kenya and Africa, as you read this article...there ought to be that one fine outstanding thing about your area that is striking and makes you different from other areas? Are you using it to show the world your home? Even if it is not for an economical gain, just for the sake of appreciating where you come from... 

Nairobi National Park - The only Nationl Park in the world within a City!

What uniqueness can be found in your home town area that you feel makes it outstanding and the rest of the world should know? It could be a special cocktail, a unique dancing move or how people enjoy riding bicycles, or maybe it could be the way you great (salute) each other when you meet in the market place / town? Or maybe it just could be......tell us!

Underground Hotel in Shanghai

Intercontinental Shimao Shanghai

Construction has begun on the Intercontinental Shimao Shanghai Wonderland, a 19-story hotel outside of Shanghai, China. Almost all those floors will be below ground level. Building them is not as difficult as you’d think at first, as the site is a former rock quarry and most of the underground digging has already been done. There will be an underwater restaurant at the bottom.

Sins nightclub - Diani Reef Hotel

The closest I have been to any underground place that is not a parking lot is the Mau Mau caves (Kenya) and it's not like they are exactly underground..... and Diani Reef Hotel's Sins nightclub (Diani Beach) which is built in / around coral reefs! It would be awesome to actually spend a night in an underground hotel although I might feel as though I am trapped in there....LOL!!What do you think?

Most Talked About Attractions in Africa

Today I got a very interesting list of most talked about attractions according to the trip advisor website visitors/members over the past year. My first impression of this list was.....really?!! But this also made me question which attractions in Kenya besides the Masai Mara are worth being on such a list?

#Attraction 1

Table Mountain, Cape Town Central - South Africa

#Attraction 2

Majorelle Garden (Jardin Majorelle) Marrakech, Morroco

 After boxing my brains out, I thought of the well known Kituluni Hill in Kenya's Eastern Province (Ukambani) where the area is known to have no earth gravity in other words the hill is anti-gravity. :) :)
(I am yet to see it but as soon as I do, I will let you know.)

Kituluni Hill

So what place do you think would stand out as a unique attraction in your area or in any area at all?

Lions: Another on the Endangered Animals List

I would love to start of by thanking Mshatch from  Mainewords blog for the "One Lovely Blog Award"  I am so gratefully. You really made my day!

Moving on to a touchy topic, I feel that this is not a new topic to us, many animals are nowadays finding themselves on the endangered species list. It is as though the animals are competing for who will be the first to become extinct! It is a rather very sad, considering we have so many animals on this endangered list already!

Lions are well known for their beauty, majesty and prestige with many hit films such us Africa Disney Cats or The Lion King, portraying the image of a lion as should.... a strong, confident and brave creature, like depicted, the king of the jungle.

Lions vary in colour but commonly are those that sport a light yellow-brown coat. Mature male lions are unique among big cats due the thick brown or black manes that encircle their necks and protect them while fighting, whereas the mature female lions are the pride's primary hunters, often working together to prey upon antelopes, Zebras, wildebeest and other animals in the naked wild.

Lions population in Africa has rapidly reduced to approximately 21,000. They face an indirect threat from climate change called co-infection and periodically face outbreaks of the disease distemper though this causes few death with an exemption of the period 1994 - 2001 which caused massive die-offs with researchers saying the epidemic was due to the occurrence of a server drought. Drought which is caused by humans due to deforestation with more human threats such as population growth and agricultural expansion, resulting in loss of natural habitat, hunting, poisoning and poaching just to name but a few.

Animal protection and conservation groups are continually trying to curb the factors contributing to the Lion's endangerment but they also need you help to spread the word! This is my plea  to you, spread the word, lets save the lion!! 

Tana River - The longest river in Kenya

Images courtesy of Google

Seychelles is part of Africa

When I was growing up, I was convinced that Africa was only the countries found within the continent Africa. Confusing as that statement is, I was a rather an inquisitive child who had questions after questions and with every answer a whole new chapter of questions would be formed. I remember my grandfather had a world map on a globe mostly found in geography classrooms or libraries and he would explain to me using the globe every time he traveled and during these times i would always enquire about the small tiny maps on the globe which he would tell me were known as  islands.

I used to think how lonely those people on the islands would feel with all the water surrounding them as opposed to we "the lucky ones" who had other countries surrounding us! These thoughts recently had an occurrence thus the inspiration to write this post. I was browsing the net and i came across a football conversation discussing Kenya's next footie match against Seychelles and someone in the conversation was asking why we would be facing Seychelles in the world cup qualifier group stages, yet Seychelles are not an African country!

I was bewildered that there were people who thought like the six years old me! How ignorant could one get,  I thought to myself! Trying to control my mind not to judge, I promised to write at least some pointers about Seychelles, one of the lonely perceived land, by the six year old me.

Facts about Seychelles Islands 

• The Republic of Seychelles comprises 115 islands, an Exclusive Economic Zone of 1.4 km² in the western Indian Ocean. It represents an archipelago of legendary beauty that extends from between 4 and 10 degrees south of the equator and which lies between 480km and 1,600km from the east coast of Africa. Of these 115 islands, 41 constitute the oldest mid-oceanic granite islands on earth while a further 74 form the low-lying coral atolls and reef islands of the Outer Islands. 

• The granitic islands of the Seychelles archipelago cluster around the main island of Mahé, home to the international airport and the capital, Victoria, and its satellites Praslin and La Digue.  Together, these Inner Islands form the cultural and economic hub of the nation and contain the majority of Seychelles’ tourism facilities as well as its most stunning beaches. 

• The Islands heavily depend on tourism and have built their economy around the pillar of tourism, with economic strong holds being felt from sectors such as fishing and sea food exports.

• It is a great holiday getaway, especially for honeymoon or romantic getaways!
• Last but not least, it is considered as part of Africa, especially because of it's georaphical proximity to the African continent.

So don't you think this should be your next holiday destination? 

Images courtesy of  http://www.seychelles.travel.net

The Wildcat

I always used to think that wildcats were big, mean and ..well, wild as the name suggest. This may be because i am obsessed with wild animals and when someone utters the word wild all that comes in my mind are game reserves and forests.... My thoughts were however not wrong but partly wrong.

Real facts about Wildcats
According to wikipedia and the little knowledge i have, wildcats are small, similar to the domesticated cats, native to Europe, western part of Asia and Africa.They hunt small mammals,birds and other creatures of similar size.There are several subspecies distributed in different regions world wide.

The History 
An interesting fact though, a study suggest that all current house cats in the world are descendants from a group of self domesticating wildcats 10,000 years ago, somewhere in the Near East. It is believed that this domestication occurred when the Agricultural Revolution yielded grain, which would be stored in granaries, that attracted rodents, which in turn attracted cats!

The more i learnt about wildcats the more i started to relate to them. Even though we human beings act all civil and...domesticated, we all have a wild side in us and just like the domesticated cat, when provoked we show our wild side, and just like the wildcat subspecies that choose to remain wild all these years after the Agricultural Revolution and not get domesticated, we at times choose to be a wildcat.

So do you have a wildcat side inside of you or are you simply a wildcat?

Images credited - wikipedia.org

Invisible Impala

It has been a while since i sat down and commited to writing an article on my blog. Of course there is the excuse that i am too busy and that i do not seem to have time anymore but the real truth is,i was scared that if i were to start writting, i would probably get down to saying what i really felt. That sounds quite deep!

Recently, i have been feeling like an Impala grazing in one of the Kenyan parks!Impalas are beautiful, simple and independant which are all good things but when people visit the park all they seem to see are the big five!!The lion,elephant,leopard,buffalo and rhino! If other animals are around, not much attention is given to the Impala. They are treated as though they are simply an extra in a play! I know i am runting but the truth is even though we are not the big five, it is always important to know that someone else will see your beauty as i noticed that of the Impala.

Facts about the Impala
1. An Imapala is a medium sized African Antelope. The name comes from a Zulu word meaning gazelle.
2. They are mainly found in Kenya, Tanzania, Swaziland, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Southern Angola, South Africa and Uganda.
3. There estimated to be of about 2 million in Africa.

So do you ever feel like an Impala?

The Chameleon

Lately i have been going through some very interesting life events. Things have been changing from this to that at times even without my knowledge. I must say the changes have really toiled with my emmotions.I cannot remember a time i have been this hopeful yet this full of despair nor can i recal a time i have cried so much yet laughed as much!My life situation made me think of the Chameleon...does it enoy how often it changes or does it hate or maybe, it could careless what happens to its body?!

Real Chameleon Facts

Chameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like feet, seperately mobile and stereoscopic eyes,their very long, highly modified and rapidly extrudable tounges, their tail,crests or horns on their distinctively shaped heads and especially their ability to change colour. There about 160 different species of chameleons. They are mostly found in warm habitats that vary from rain forest to desert conditions.

So coming back to my life,the religious part of me tells me my life is all planned out and should not stress at all and maybe thats how the Chameleon feels, its changing colour is all part of nature.In short, it is all normal and a part of what we call life.

September Swahili Sparrow

The Last time i actually wrote about a bird was in April when I did the April blog challange. Not that I never think of writting about birds, just that birds are those creatures who are constantly in our everyday life that we never give much attention to, as we should. What i mean is if a lion was to appear outside your window you would probably faint in shock or freeze in shock,then later narate the story to all your pals endlessly, wheras birds appear almost, if not everyday on our windows, when we are driving or walking etc but we do not pay much attention...

Introducing the Sparrow

 The sparrows, true sparrows, or Old World sparrows all in the family Passeridae are small passerine birds.
As eight or more species nest in or near buildings, and the House Sparrow and Eurasian Tree Sparrow in particular inhabit cities in large numbers, sparrows may be the most familiar of all wild birds. This means in the number of hours you have been awake today, you have probably seen more than two (2) sparrows without your knowledge!


Fact
There over 20 different species of sparrows and one which i bound to never forget is the Swahili Sparrow,which lives in the Savannah of southern Kenya and Tanzania. So which of the many sparrows do you think you have come across today?

Meet the Swahili Sparrow!!! Did you know she exists?!

Better days for the Horn of Africa...

It has been a while since i wrote, reason being many becauses which were unavoidable but all is good stuff. Following my posts on the situation facing the horn of Africa, starvation, i am grateful to God and to the friends who have been praying and sending kind notes and emails.

I must say that things are definitely looking up for the people affected which include at least 4 million people from Kenya's North Eastern Province and another staggering 8 million plus people from Somali, with people from all corners of the world coming together to help. Most of the Somalis are trying to move into the Kenya border in search of food and water, with Kenyan refugee camps already having more than they can handle. Kenyans for Kenya aid group has so far managed to raise close to KES 500M which is more than a great start!!!

Yesterday, Save the Children UK, a world non-governmental organisation took a step further with launching a campaign together with  Rita Marley, dubbed the Bob Marley Campaign East Africa where celebrities world wide have come together to help this cause. The harsh tag on twitter is #beafriend . I therefore felt that with hope you can achieve almost anything but with faith you can be assured you will achieve the impossible.

The images below depict horn of Africa without the drought and maybe what it can and will be after this devastating period.....

Horn of Africa Horror; The worst in 60 years!

Ever since i stared this blog, i have tried to write the most positive articles about Africa. Maybe i am driven by the fact that i want to believe that Africa is a wonderful place and that someday people will see its good and not its sad sobby stories or corruption and terrorism stories. Unfortunately today i get to share one of the sad sobby stories...

The Horn of Africa, Somalia, Ethiopia and Part of Kenya, thousands of people stare death in its eyes because of starvation. Famine has once again eruppted with the UN declaring its as the worst drought situation in the past 60 years! If you think that this is scary then this will terrify you.The situation is so bad that a policeman found two children suckling a mother who was already dead due to starvation. It is so bad that women are forced to pick which of their children is strong enough to walk to the refugee camps where they can get food and those (children) that are not strong enough.....left by the roadside to die!

I write this blog as i solemnly wipe, to the thousands who never planned to be born in these drought stricken areas, but somehow found themselves in the heart rendering circumstances. I appeal to all Kenyans to donate what they can with all the means possible, through organisations such us the Red Cross Society and the Kenyans for Kenya aid. I also request for prayers that God may deliver these people through this extrely difficult time.