Climbing Mount

The global economic crisis has adversely impacted the travel and tourism industry as travelers have cut down on their budgets, postponed or cancelled their holiday plans. International airlines, hotels, restaurants, tour operators and travel agencies have all felt the economic decline across all borders and African is not the exception. In fact, many African safari destinations have been negatively affected with shrinking visitor arrivals and increasing tourist cancellations. Tanzania, although a relatively new destination on the global tourism scene, is also feeling the economic strain. Tourism stakeholders such as tour operators and travel agencies are cutting back on staff and overhead, some are also closing their doors all together. Hotels, camps and resorts are also commanding mandatory leave on workers, reducing work hours or imposing laying-off because of their tighter operating budgets. Despite these setbacks, a price conscious African safari traveler can take advantage of this opportune time to visit Tanzania.

Firstly, many Tanzania lodging and accommodation providers are offering discounted rates for families and couples to offset the economic downturn’s impact. Some are even giving free nights to guests on prolonged stays. Upgrades, complimentary meals and gifts are also a regular occurrence at hotels and resorts. Tour operators and travel agencies are also responding with reduced prices for safari packages, cultural tours, Mount Kilimanjaro climbing expeditions and ecological excursions accordingly. Combined with other travel service providers drastically reducing the rates on their offerings, the time could not be better for the discerned traveler to take full advantage of a golden chance to substantially reduce their travel costs in Tanzania.

Secondly, with proper planning and a decent strategy, a prudent vacationer to Africa should openly ask and seek discounts and special offers. Some tourist may realize that this is perhaps the best time to experience an African safari at reasonable prices maybe even as high as 20 per cent off what they would have paid in an ordinary year. For instance, the average 10-day standard lodging safari in Tanzania with visits to the Northern Safari Circuit (Serengeti, Lake Manyara, and Ngorongoro Crater) and eventually the ‘Spice Islands’ of Zanzibar will cost about $ 4,500 per person that equals about $900 in savings. Sounds pretty close to an air ticket price doesn’t it. Yes indeed and those international carriers are also offering cut-rate prices. All you really have to do is ask and you shall receive. It is certainly a bargain, so do not let the so called global financial crisis deter you from going on your African safari in Tanzania.

Lastly, your hard earned money will take you further while on a safari in Tanzania than in years past. Costs of meals at restaurants and hotels have been reduced as demand has shriveled over these past several months. Moreover, souvenirs – carvings, crafts, jewelry and paintings can be bought at reasonable prices for the same reason. There are great deals to be had. All you need to do is believe that they are out there and then find them. Don’t get it all wrong in some obscure place where a so-called financial crisis is unfolding. Just imagine sipping on a sun-downer at a rustic colonial safari lodge on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater with few other souls between you and the teeming wildlife in the rolling landscape beyond.

Remember that a safari in Tanzania is memorable for the abundance of wildlife, the kindness and friendliness of the people, and the magic and mystery of the landscape. Make the decision to visit a land as ancient as the African savannah stretching across the Serengeti plain and as modern as any other country on earth. Unlock the beauty and the majesty of Tanzania by planning your trip with all the exclusivity and flexibility that you desire in these extraordinary times. There could not be a better time to go a ‘trip of a lifetime’ in real Africa. Don’t let the opportunity pass you by.

If you stroll into the bar at the Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club Hotel to day, you will not see Ernest Hemingway telling tales from the day’s big-game hunting, neither will you witness Ava Gardner downing gimlets in an attempt to forget her failed marriage to Frank Sinatra; nor will you have to fight pet leopards for a seat.

But in the Mount Kenya Safari Club’s heyday in the 1950s all these activities were common, Hollywood heartthrob William Holden (Bridge Over The River Kwai, Network) and his partners, oil billionaire Ray Ryan and Swiss financier Carl Hirschmann, ran the place as the most elite private members’ club hotel in the Africa. Membership was by invitation only and members included Bing Crosby, David Lean, Charlie Chaplin, Steve McQueen, Conrad Hilton, Winston Churchill and the Maharaja of Jaipur.

Stefanie Powers and John Hurt still keep houses adjoining the club.Holden, fell in love with Kenya on safaris in the ’50s, was known for his practical joking in the bar, such as snakes hidden in the bottom of a peanut tin. He was also a very hands-on manager, keeping an eye on the bar and its goings-on via telescope from his private villa.

“Bill Holden said, when he saw the hotel ‘This is the most beautiful place in the world’, remembers American Don Hunt, Holden’s friend and chairman of the Mount Kenya Game Ranch, a conservation project set up next door to the club. The club’s beauty includes sweeping highland forest that leads into dense thickets of bamboo, while rich clusters of birdlife and herds of waterbuck roam nearby.

Canadian-based hotel group Fairmont, has changed the hotel four years ago. The beauty that awaits you when you turn right past an electricity substation from the nearest township, Nanyuki, with a family of warthogs trotting alongside. A few minutes later, imposing iron gates embroidered with Mount Kenya Safari Club logo, two elephant heads, you can see what captivated Holden.

Manicured lawns sweep down to a pool, past flower-filled ponds and then on to the slopes, where they climb for kilometers to the snow-dusted peak of Mt Kenya. The club is constructed on the equator its line cutting straight through the main bar, following the curve of the national park before running straight along the seventh hole of the club’s petite nine-hole golf course.

The Mount Kenya Safari Club general manager is, Philippe Cauviere a gregarious Frenchman with “hospitality in his blood” The club’s 124 rooms are imposing and royally decorated, many with gargantuan fireplaces lit each evening to stave off the crisp mountain cold. The General Manager’s aim is to bring back the delight and the glamour to the club as well as the tradition, and he spares no details, his dream is to bring back the white peacocks that used to roam the grounds, the zebras and even cheetahs. He also aims to restore the spirit of the club as a vacation destination.

The Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi, where the history is more White Mischief than Mogambo, scenes from White Mischief was filmed in the hotel and much of the real mischief took place inside its walls. Now, the walls are adorned with paintings of another African epic by Irish artist Timothy Brooke, made from sketches of his time as an extra on Sydney Pollack’s Oscar-scooping Out Of Africa.

The Norfolk is Nairobi’s oldest hotel, opened in 1904; it is one of the few buildings to survive the razing of Colonial-era buildings in the ’60s that followed the overthrow of British rule. This venerable abode, along with Mount Kenya and the Mara Safari Club, were purchased by Fairmont in 2004 from Lonrho Hotels & Lodges. A $50-million refurbishment started and it would have been completed last year.

The Norfolk Hotel has seen the bulk of Fairmont’s investment, with Mount Kenya a close second, and it is evident as soon as you arrive. The most controversial change was to eliminate the terrace bar, which once hosted Nairobi’s hard-drinking set, with the elegant Lord Delamere Terrace, where seasonal bites replaced heavy spirits and regulars are likely to be seen working on a laptop than nursing a hangover. However it’s still a lovely bar to catch a Tusker, a Kenya beer.

Mara Safari Club Camp, a luxury safari tented camp is located on an oxbow along the Mara River. The Mara Safari Club is characterized Hippos bathing beneath your tent. The camp was leased from a Masai Chief. The main area with a restaurant, bar and library is the social focus of the club where safari stories are swapped and thirsts quenched, however the Mara is really about wildlife and savannah, safaris to view wildlife imply no time is spent in the tents.

Thousands of viewers were glued to their TV screens to watch the celebrities take up the challenge of Mount Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief 2009. Famous names such as Gary Barlow, Fearne Cotton, Chris Moyles and Cheryl Cole battled against the elements and altitude sickness to raise money for children in Africa and the UK. As they climbed, viewers saw the rugged beauty and stunning views of Tanzania that took the breath away, combined with friendly banter and aching limbs of the celebrities. In addition, viewers also saw their struggle and strife but also the elation and pride that reaching the top brought for them. If you are considering the challenge yourself, then it is important to remember that there are multiple ways up Mount Kilimanjaro, with differing levels of difficulty and time spans. Of course, the climb is a tough one but reaching the top will ultimately prove the highlight of your visit here. If, however, Kilimanjaro seems a little high for your liking, hop across to Kenya and try your hand with the smaller Mount Kenya instead. With magnificent views and even a glacier or two, Mount Kenya should not be overlooked. Another somewhat undulating landscape is Kenya’s Rift Valley, also known as Hell’s Kitchen, where cliffs and gorges have been formed by the winds whipping across the pink sandstone. After years of gentle erosion, a magnificent landscape of peaks and troughs now stands proud and features in its very own folk legend. If you prefer to keep your feet firmly on flat ground then try a visit to Kenya’s Amboseli game reserve, where the imposing figure of Mount Kilimanjaro overlooks the park with its snow-topped summit. The reserve is famed for its contrasting terrain, dry and dusty interspersed with wet swamplands, which make it a haven for many animal species. It is also hailed as being the best place in Africa to get up close to elephants. Haller Park in Mombasa is great for seeing two of Africa’s animal celebrities; Owen the hippo and Mzee the giant tortoise have a very special relationship. Even though Mzee is over a century old, the male tortoise adopted the young orphaned hippo who was found stranded out at sea. After a year together, the young hippo is now the largest of the pair, but still dotes on the old tortoise who seems quite content to play the parent. Haller Park is built within the remains of an old quarry and is home to a vast array of animals, reptiles, insects and botanical gardens. Comic Relief has once again opened our eyes to this magical part of the world, and will prove an inspiration for many to further explore Kenya holidays and everything it has to offer.