Safari Rally in Jamhuri Park

Congratulations to former Kenya champion Carl Tundo and  co-driver Tim Jessop who won the 59th KCB-sponsored  Safari Rally of Kenya  (also the 4^th Round of the FIA African Rally Championship). It was their third Safari victory.

The rally started on Friday afternoon with a 2.22km special spectator stage at Jamhuri Park, with pairs of cars racing against each other and the clock.

There was a great crowd whose excitement was shared by at least two drivers – Charles Hinga and Alistair Cavenagh – both of whom should have known better than to speed over the bridge so breaking their Mitsubishis after about a minute of the 3-day rally… boys and their toys.

The organisers need to invest more effort into crowd safety – there were far too many people in harm’s way – before there’s a tragedy, and into a decent PA system.

So tremendous entertainment on a Friday afternoon for all of those folk – including my own special correspondents – who managed not to be at work or school. Looking forward to next year.

See African Cats for yourselves

Disney’s African Cats was released on Earth Day in the US, with some ticket proceeds in the first week being donated to the African Wildlife Foundation to support the Amboseli Wildlife Corridor. The movie will open in Europe in the autumn.

The movie is a ‘true-life adventure’ and is based on stunning footage of lions and cheetahs taken in the Maasai Mara National Reserve.

The neighbourhood is  getting a crowded: Madagascar’s Alex is unlikely to give up his self-styled big cat No.1 billing without a fight fuss.

You can See African Cats and Save the Savanna yourselves by actually visiting us. Timeless will package your stay in the Maasai Mara and Amboseli National Parks, and if you wish across the border in the Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater.

Timeless will book you with companies that assist local communities and wildlife conservation. For example, Base Camp in the Maasai Mara where President and Michelle Obama stayed, or  Ol Donyo Wuas in the Chyulu Hills overlooking Mount Kilimanjaro.

You can also get up close to some animals at the Nairobi Animal Orphanage which is just inside the Nairobi National Park, and help the Kenya Wildlife Service by sponsoring orphaned animals.

Ashes to ashes

If only it was this simple…

Timeless is in contact with the airlines and safari and resort operators to minimise any disruption to its clients’ travel and holiday plans

UPDATE

Motor sports in Kenya

Masalule Kituyi (on bike 50) and Apollo Mbuki just behind

I haven’t been to a motor sport event for ages, so last Sunday’s 4th round of the national motocross championship held in Jamhuri Park was a pleasant surprise and a fun family day out.

There was a lot of close racing in the smaller classes and mercifully only a couple of minor spills. These kids are so young but having a great time. It was good to see a few girls taking part too. The bigger boys – Cruze Muigal and Shivam Vinayak – definitely need some more competition.

If you are a motor sports enthusiast Timeless can help you watch rally, autocross, motocross, cross-country and Enduro events during your holidays, or package safari and beach breaks around the Safari Rally in June and the Safari Classic Rally in November (in which ex-world champion Stig Blomqvist will compete).

Golf holidays in Kenya

It is not just the world of golf that mourns the early death of Seve Ballesteros, one of golf’s greatest players of all time. He was one of those few sports personalties who truly did transcend their game.

First, as an example of a young person who through dint of hard work and passion strove and got to the top. He was a school drop out at 16, yet turned professional and immediately won the Spanish National Championship in 1974. He burst onto the world stage at the British Open in 1976. Amongst his early successes was the 1978 Kenya Open (at the Muthaiga Golf Club), then part of the African Safari Circuit. The following year he went on to win his first major at the British Open at Royal Lytham.

Second, his skills, character plus natural flamboyance caught our imagination. He was a leading light encouraging a generation of European players many of whom like him played in Africa, and in so doing making golf a global sport and past-time.

Golf has a long history in the country.  The Royal Nairobi Golf Club is the oldest (and celebrated its centenary back in 2006). The Kenyan Open was founded in 1967, and has been mainly held at the Muthaiga Golf Club. Past winners include Seve, Ian Woosnam, Ken Brown, Christy O’Connor and the more recent Masters champion Trevor Immelman.

Kenya has a tremendous range of top golf courses, the majority are 18-hole. We offer something different as recognised by the Kenya winning the IAGTO’s award of Best Undiscovered Golf Destination of the Year in 2009. The variety in the courses reflects our wonderful landscapes: you can be playing at altitude (handy for a few extra yards…), next to coral beaches or with the local wildlife sharing the greens. Many fine courses are within range of Nairobi – so you can treat your business partners to a round.

Timeless can put together a complete golf package or include some rounds during your business, beach or safari holiday. Most clubs are private membership so you do need to plan ahead to book tee-times. All clubs have really knowledgeable caddies and most will hire clubs.

I play (occasionally, enthusiastically and – like other amateurs – with commensurate success) at the Muthaiga Golf Club, the Karen Club and the Great Rift Valley Lodge & Golf Resort.

P.S. Check out the “The New Yorker Book of Golf Cartoons”

Vive la magia Kenia

La mágica luz africana envuelve parajes declarados Patrimonio de la Humanidad, una costa apenas conocida…

The Spanish national newspaper El Mundo has an excellent web-based holiday guide to the country. Succinct, colourful and full of useful information.

¡Bien hecho!

Pueden hacer sus reservas de vacaciones con Timeless para su estancia inolvidable en nuestro país.

Lèse majesté

She’s unemployed, he’s on welfare, benefits being cut, what future?

Gosh, perhaps its tough to be a royal after all.

First being compared to pandas …

Royalty and pandas have more in common than you might think: both have found their ecological niche shrinking, but have managed to cling on by rebranding themselves as a tourist draw; both have suffered over the years from a failure to renew the gene pool; and this helps to explain why both come under intense public pressure to perform sexually and produce offspring… as things stand there is a strong chance that pandas will outlast the British monarchy.

While The Economist says that time is now up:

For the sake of the country, but also as an act of kindness, pension the royals off. Time for compassionate republicanism: it might be the best wedding present the young couple could have.

The normally acerbic Christopher Hitchens‘ suggestion is more heartfelt:

Myself, I wish her well and also wish I could whisper to her: If you really love him, honey, get him out of there, and yourself, too.

Can they themselves afford a honeymoon?

If they book with Timeless they’ll get an extra-special royal discount to holiday in our wonderful republic.

So then where to stay? The Brit royals visit Kenya a lot. They seem to like Il Ngwesi Lodge in Laipikia, Kiwayu Island near Lamu and Lewa Downs in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. The latter is home to a school girlfriend of hers, who is an ex of William. So that might be tricky for a honeymoon given what his mum said about being in a marriage of three…

I would recomend all three places unreservedly.

But perhaps for the most luxurious exclusive destinations – to be treated like royalty, and absolutely no hoi polloi – they should go to both Funzi Keys and Sarara Camp.

Enjoy it kids!

Save the world (take a break in Kenya)

A very high proportion of major inventions and discoveries have been made on a break, a vacation for example, when not actively thinking about the problem.   According to Greek historical accounts, Archimedes solved the problem of determining the gold content of the King’s crown without destroying the crown (a major breakthrough) while taking a bath.  Kepler realized that Mars had an elliptical orbit over the Easter Holiday in 1605.  The mathematician William Rowan Hamilton conceived of quaternions during a recreational walk.  In his autobiography, Nikola Tesla described suddenly seeing the design of the alternating current motor in his head while watching the sunset and discussing Goethe.  James Watt claimed he conceived of the separate condenser steam engine during a walk in the park.  Erwin Schrodinger came up with the Schrodinger Equation on a ski vacation in the Alps.  In his book on mathematical invention, the great French mathematician Jacques Hadamard concluded that this was part of the general pattern of inventions; they frequently occurred during a break.  John F. McGowan on the Math Blog 

So do yourself a favour and take a vacation, and do me a favour by booking with Timeless!

Unwinding on a (walking) safari or on the beach could be just what you need to find that something extra for your business, your job and even in your relationships.

Mathematicians are especially welcome.

Ol Donyo Lodge

It was by chance that we discovered Ol Donyo Wuas. We live in Nairobi and my favorite horseback riding lodge was fully booked over my birthday weekend. I called a friend (Rose at Timeless Tours and Travel- a great travel agency) and she suggested I head for the Chyulu Hills and Ol Donyo. Rose knows I can be picky having been on over a dozen safaris in the past two years. Ol Donyo Wuas is a dream, a haven far away from the rush of everyday life and with no other tourists around (except the lodge guests) . . .

Trip Adviser UK on Ol Donyo

My New Year reading

My New Year books

I probably drove everyone else nuts being unable to put this down one weekend – the winner of the 2010 Orange Award for New Writers – The Boy Next Door (Irene Sabatini).

Diary of a Helpless House Husband by Sam Holden was amusing.

Eat, pray, love (Elizabeth Gilbert) was good in parts but too often it was a drag. But I really like the motif about taking charge of your life, and what you are doing about it.

Too Strong, Too Black a volume of Benjamin Zephaniah’s poetry was a revelation, and his novel Teacher’s Dead is a page-turner.

I am reading a few pages of Joel Osteen’s It’s Your Time: Activate Your Faith, Achieve Your Dreams and Anticipate God’s Favour each evening.

I simply couldn’t not read out loud from Binyavanga Wainaina’s How to Write About Africa. The Kwani? Series edition also contains My Clan KC and Power of Love. Its true that his are perhaps easy targets but the writing is really excellent. Here’s a précis sample: