Happy Holidays!

Greetings from Nairobi! (that sounds like a line from an ancient movie type) I like this time of the year! I know what your are thinking..hmmm really?!Think about it, it is the one time that we get  to receive so many presents and give out as many! It is the time we are allowed to eat as much junk especially chocolate and fruit cakes and nobody will question, plus it is the same time we get to spend with all our loved ones and family!

For those of you who are like me, then this means it is also the time to shop until you drop! But most importantly it is a time to celebrate my believes and sense of living, the birth of Christ. This to me means a time to forgive all those who have wronged you and a time to ask for forgiveness to all whom you have wronged. It is also a time to say thank you to God for a wonderful year but also a time to remember the less fortunate.

So every time you do something to enjoy yourself during this period, please remember to say thank you for what you have and remember to share with those who do not have.
 
I will be going on a blogging time out for the next two weeks, to enjoy sometime with family and friends. I hope to add new pages / columns for the new year, ones that i hope will keep you wanting to read more!

I wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Top 5 Things I plan to do in Nairobi this December!

This post is way over due because we are already in December! For the past two weeks I have been pursuing myself to get down to write this post considering many people are taking their getaways now, with tourists and Kenyans living abroad , all coming to Nairobi or rather country area code +254.  Even though tourists consider July - August a much better time to come to Kenya because of the Wildebeest Migration, I say this is the best time to come to Kenya! I am sure you are wondering why? Well, my reason is very simple. Short rains are just coming to an end meaning the whole country is completely green, even though this time the short rains turned into floods!

It is therefore a perfect chance to see the wildlife as they graze in the game reserves and it is also a fantastic time to soak up the sun on our white sandy beaches at the coast! (Get thoughts of Somali, Al Shabab terrorist groups out of your head.....the security down there is extra tight!!) But as a true city girl, there things that just absolutely make my heart jump when I think of December.. and this Christmas, I am hoping the same will apply to you if you are in my area code!

 1. Spa Treatment at the Tribe Hotel
The tribe hotel is a five star hotel located in Nairobi's Gigiri area and they have the best massage treatments I have ever received. The first time  I got a chance to enjoy the treatments was mid this year after I won a complementary massage gift at the first ever Kenya Tourism Awards! I vowed to treat myself but somehow, never got the time!


 2. Have lunch at the Nairobi Tented Camp
You probably expect me to say how awesome the food in this place is and how the chef has amazing menus but that's not why i want to have lunch here (not that they do not have great food).  Nairobi Tented camp is the only camp in the Nairobi National Park which is the only "real" game park in a city in the whole world! So i guess it's now obvious why I want to have lunch here...I will be enjoying wildlife without leaving the city!

3. Ice skating at The Panari Sky

Christmas is always associated with snow and ice. The unfortunate thing is, Kenya has never and probably will never experience real snow! It used to snow at the top of Mount Kenya however due to global warming that has also come to an end. Therefore my closest feeling to have an imaginary white snow..yap, an ice skating arena at the Panari Sky!

4. Shopping in the many malls
It may sound strange but when i was growing up, there were not as many malls as we have now in Nairobi! You could literary count how many they were , but now i must say we are spoilt for choice. I love Christmas lights and i absolutely adore how the malls decorate with Christmas lights,plus everything usually has a "special"Christmas discount so what better thing to do than shop, shop and shop some more!

5. Party
I love to dance, even though I am not a very good dancer, I will dance anyway! December usually is described as a party month, meaning great food, amazing dance floors and being social! From my birthday party (yes, I am a Sagittarius) to office parties, to family parties and the list of parties is endless! I plan on being present in most of them, so the more I eat, the more I will dance!

So what are you up to this December?

Happy Holidays!

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!! 

Techy Travel - The Introduction

An interesting topic because until recently I was not a technology infatuated kind of person. When I was growing up, somehow I was led to believe that or rather I made myself believe that technology was only for those intellectual in that kind of area. I always shied away from any "technological'' stuff for my liking and up until three years ago when I was introduced to Facebook! I thought Facebook was cool, then at one point I lost interest then gained it back and over the period I went from just having mixed emotions about Facebook but at the same time, joining more social sites such as twitter, linked in and I even got to fall i love with blogger!

Ipad 2..on my Christmas wish list! :)

At the time, most people viewed social networks as a negative influence in the world by saying things such as - if you are an employee, you will spend more time on these sites thus affecting your work productivity in a negative way etc. Be honest, did you not hear of companies that actually blocked sites such as Facebook and twitter? However, this did not stop people because mobile internet became more popular! Basically the more people run away from social media the more it gained popularity, reaching heights that were unimaginable and creating waves that I never saw coming! This year we saw political revolutions arising and changing governments, Egypt and Libya being great examples and it is this same year that saw my job in the tourism industry take a turn with I being put in charge of our companies social media and ecommerce. A field that if three years ago you would have told me I would be working in, I would probably have laughed hysterically at your thoughts!

We (tourism company) felt that whether we wanted it or not, we had to keep up or keep out of business. In the recently concluded World Travel Market in London, it came out quite clearly that social media was and is a determining factor to travel trends all over the world, with at least 40% of the people booking holidays across the globe having referred to social sites before taking up the trip. The truth is, like it or not, to stay in business means doing the necessary! As the old saying goes, if you can't beat them, then join them.

In Kenya, we have seen our tourism board put fourth their thoughts about our tourism through social media amongst others, especially with all the negative media reports that were/are being portrayed due to the War on Terror in Somalia. I believe it has so far worked well, with the buzz around the networks reassuring people and tourists that Kenya is a lovely destination and proving all the "negative research “that had prophesised doom on the Kenyan tourism sector as a result of the government political decision to go on war with Somalia.

In conclusion, what I am trying to say is let us embrace technology in the tourism sector and in all life aspects because in the first place I would not even be writing this article if blogger did not exist.

Note to self: Maybe I should have a page about the techy travel, writing about travel and technology?...what do you think fellow blogger or reader?

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

NAIROBI IS STILL SAFE!

Of late Kenya has been making headlines and not because another marathon runner won a race nor the wildbeest have re-started the wildebeest migration, but because Kenya has gone to war in Somalia. Even though the word war is involved, it is not what you may imagine.

Kenya being one of the stable countries in East Africa, she has opened her doors to many of her sourrounding neighbours who are subtle in war or still not stable economically. Most of these people come in as refugees and are in need of help, therefore Kenya has a number of refugee help camps on its borders especially where Kenya and Somalia borderlines are. This however has somewhat turned into a turmoil because Somalia has militia groups who have been terrorising the Somalia people for years now and they seem to have gone a notch higher by penetrating  the Kenya coast and abducting tourists especially in Lamu where our coast lines meet!

On numerous ocassions the militia group in question, Alshabab believed to be an arm of the Al-queda terrorist group,has attacked not only Kenyan or African ships but European and Asian ships too on these very same waters.Kenyan government therefore decided to send military troops into Somalia to protect herself and more so, the ever increasing number of Somali refugees in Kenya who have fled their country because of the Al shabab.

Fear has spread the streets and into other countries that with this war position, Kenya is no-longer safe. However, the government has deployed heavy security all over the cities with all buildings and malls doing the same. The tourism minister released a press statement earlier in the week, stating that Kenya and her cities are still safe for tourists and their should not fear nor cancel their trips.

I also agree with the government, i live and work in the city center and even though the Alshabab have issued threats, i do not believe Kenya should be deemed as an unsafe place. Maybe we need to take more precatution and keep our eyes open but would  this mean we close our doors to the helping the refugees too?What do you think?


 

Poaching - It must stop!

It is with deep sorrow that i write about this topic after all that has been said and done to try and curb poaching! One week ago, another rhino was killed in the act of poaching in Kenya's rhino conservancy, dubbed as one of East Africa's largest rhino sanctuary, the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The rhino was known as Chebii, she was a mother of a four month male rhino calf. 

For those of you who may not know, rhinos are among the animals on the endangered species list with only a few hundred estimated to be living! The most ridiculous and insane thing about these poaching / killings is not that the poachers are killing for just the horns of these animals because of the cash value they carry but it is believed that myths surrounding the horns of rhinos and elephants say they are good for medicinal purposes! If you think that's insane get this, Chebii (the recently killed rhino) was found not only missing her horns but her nipples and a piece of vulva had been removed!Sounds like a horror movie.These animal body parts are said to be for the use of witchcraft!! How sickening is this?!!!

In Kenya if you are caught in the act of poaching and are charged in court, your sentence would be a fine of KES 2,000 (approximately US$ 25) only!!This means if you are going to sell one piece of horn (black market) about US$ 15,000, what is a fine of US$ 25 to you?! Well, currently the government is discussing on amending the wildlife act and we just have to wait and see where that will take us. If they asked my opinion, i think these poachers need a much bigger fine and probably prison sentence to help curb poaching...


It is highly believed that the Chinese are the probable high number of buyers especially because of the cultural ties in regards to ornamental value and  (largely pseudo-scientific) medicinal purposes. It is with this effect that our friends at the Ol Pejeta conservancy have come up with a petition that they plan on passing to the China High Commission in Nairobi, Kenya and hopefully have an agreement with the Chinese government on what measures should be taken in order to protect these animals!

Please follow the link to add your name to the petition: China - Stop the killing of elephants and rhinos across Africa!

Pay it forward blogfest

I am glad i decided to visit other blogs today, otherwise i would have missed this and missed the chance to meet many new bloggers!

So as the challenge requests, here are my three blogs;

1. Karen :  Hope,Faith and life

2. Misha:  My First Book

3. Angela Felsted: My poetry and Prose Place

Please visit, Follow these blogs and if you manage, visit the below too..

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?

A little something from Wangari Maathai - Earth's greatest environmentalist

This week Kenya and the world mourns the death of a world known environmentalist after she passed away due to cancer, Professor Wangari Maathai.

Maathai became a key figure in Kenya since founding the movement in 1977, staunchly campaigning for environmental conservation and good governance gaining world wide fame when she won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her reforestation work in her native Kenya making her the first African woman, the first Kenyan and the first environmentalist to receive this honour. Her organisation, The Green Belt Movement has so far planted some 40 million trees across Africa and increasing. 

 

 

As the bird in the video above, her courage, strength and determination in conserving the environment did not only speak of what should be done but what we ought to have done, conserve, conserve and conserve! I may have not met her in real life, but from what i have read and watched, she's truly an inspiration to not only myself but Kenya and the World!We ought to walk in her shoes and continue her efforts but most importantly, we need to keep her dream alive!

Earth will miss you Professor Maathai !

The Sea Safari - Please vote for my story!

Last year i took a trip down to the Kenyan coast and gave you all detailed reports in a two part blog series. The first day was described in the blog as Mombasa; Our version of Las Vegas and Hawaii and the second day was described as What happens in Mombasa stays in Las Vegas or is it Hawaii.

This trip holds very special moments in my life especially in my travel life, thus why when i heard of this competition that was being run by one of the local airlines in Kenya (Air Kenya Airways), i knew i had to enter my travel story.

I explain my story with my pictures, from how we went on a sea game drive, to crushing a wedding and how the people at the coast are very friendly. So where's the catch? I need your Votes to win the prize!!!

 

The prize consists of a romantic cruise on the Swahiliana Dhow on the Kenyan Coast,Lamu. Lamu is an ancient town where the Swahili culture lives and thrives!It is one of those towns that time has left untouched, with no vehicles nor state-of-the art roads or technology! It is simple yet a gem in our world...and i need you to VOTE  for me! Everyday you are entitled to one vote. I am deppending widely on the blogsphere world to support one of their own! Please pass this to all the bloggers everywhere!

Thank you!

Angela, xoxo.   

For those who cant access the link please cope and paste this link:   

https://apps.facebook.com/contestshq/contests/145034/voteable_entries/28187533