Galdessa Camp As Part Of A Camping Kenya Safari

Galdessa Camp As Part Of A Camping Kenya Safari

By: Ian SG Smith



A Camping Kenya safari means a tented camp with no fence or wall, and is a much better part of an in Kenya safari than sleeping in a lodge. Of course in a camp with no fence the animals you have come to see, do come into the camp especially at night. Close encounters with an elephant browsing three feet from your tent is what a camping Kenya safari is all about.

As a family our first experience of an in Kenya safari was at the famous Galdessa Camp in Tsavo East. With two small children and apprehensive parents we felt that a fixed camp was going to be about as close to the wilderness as we could cope with, and so in the purest sense of the word it wasn’t a camping Kenya safari, but Galdessa is a camp with no fences or walls. The ‘tents’ were thatched bandas and a great deal more civilized than we expected with electricity, running water, and comfortable beds. Most important of all we were sealed in, zipped up at night with good well fitting mosquito nets.

On he way to Galdessa, and by the way we had our own family vehicle and driver arranged hrough the Manager at Hemingways. He wisely said that for our first in Kenya Safari it was the best way, because we could stop when we wanted and view as long as we wanted, and how right he was.

The few vehicles we saw were mainly like mini buses crammed with tourists, which looked no fun at all.

He aso said that if a luxury african safari was our ideal, then to start at Galdessa would be best, and how right he was again.

On our six hour drive from Malindi we had already seen several giraffes, elephants, but several hundred yards away, a lioness looking for her cubs, and a whole variety of bambi like creatures, water buffalo, and then very close to Galdessa two very large bull elephants, one of whom we passed at about fifteen yards, and exciting that was too.

We hardly passed a vehicle, and whilst our journey was just before the long rains arrived in April, the weather was clear and warm. The rains howver came a few days later, and even overnight this was seen by a considerable rise in the water level in the river due to rain up country.

We duly arrived at Galdess for our first night ever on a Kenya safari, nd were led to our banda, being shown on the way, elephant tracks, lion footprints, and hippo prints as well, all on the path inside the camp. We were told in no uncertain terms that on a camping kenya safari site like Galdessa, we were not under any circumstances, even in daylight to leave our banda unless we were with a member of staff, because of the high chance of an encounter with an animal.

After dark, we had to get into a safari vehicle to go the the dining area, because there was a bull elephant in the camp, and indeed on returning to our banda later by vehicle the bll elephant was browsing outside our back door, an we crept past about 10 feet away to the safety of our tent.

A visiting hippo in the middle of the night, right next to the tent, and the early morning evidence that a lion had been within touching distance of the tent really made our stay at Galdessa.

The food at lunch and dinner was spectacularly good, the views of the river from the central lounge/dining hut was excellent, and the surprisingly hot shower in our ten all adde to make the first night of our first in Kenya safari a memorable one.

Galdessa is a must on any Kenya safari tour, and a definite stop on a luxury african safari.

About The Author
Ian Smith writes exclusively for http://www.in-kenyasafari.com as well as http://www.worldwidevacationspots.com and he has in depth knowledge of the places he writes about.

Laikipia Plateau In Kenya

Laikipia Plateau In Kenya

By: Peter R Stewart

You can't afford to miss visiting the Laikipia Plateau the next time you venture on an in Kenya Safari.

It spans over two million acres on the edge of the Northern Frontier from the slopes of Mt. Kenya to the rim of the Great Rift Valleyrising from over 5000 ft. to in excess of 9000 ft., it has a huge diversity of wildlife, and is one of the best places in Kenya to see the 'Big 5'.

It is becoming a more popular destination for many Kenya Safari Holidays because of this.

The LaikipiaPlateau is probably the last stronghold of what used to be tought of as Romantic East Africa, with vast open ranches, wildlife savannah,and overlooked by Mount Kenya.

Water is an essential element for game viewing, and Laikipia is fed by the Ewaso Nyiro and the Ewaso Narok rivers.

The real key to Laikipia as a Kenya Safari Holiday Destination is that there is something for everyone. If you want to be involved in wildlife conservation, to activity style holidays, to total privacy and isolation, then Laikipia has it all.

What you will be able to view on the Laikipia Plateau on your in Kenya safari includes rhino, elephant, lion, leopard, and buffalo known as the 'Big 5'.

You need to know that Laikipia Plateau hs more enangered mammals than anywhere else in Kenya, with a number of sanctuaries protecting much of Kenya's black rhino population. You will find huge numbers of elephants, and it is the only place you will find the endangered Jackson's hartebeest.

You can add impala, gazelle, reticulated giraffe, Grevy's Zebra, Somali ostrich, Beisa oryx, and gerenuk.

In terms of scenery you have evrything from the beauty of the edge of the Rift Valley, the snows and peaks of Mt. Kenya with dusty plains, grasslads, rocky hills, rivers and waterholes, and it has the second largest wildlife population after the Maasai Mara.

The best thing is that the Laikipia Plateau remains relatively unknown and is the part of Kenya where the wildlife population has grown, so it is the ideal destination for your in Kenya Safari

About The Author
Peter Stewart writes exclusively for http://www.in-kenyasafari.com as well as http://www.worldwidevacationspots.com and he has in depth knowledge of the places he writes about.

Africa Kenya Safari

Why Tsavo East For An Africa Kenya Safari

By: Peter R Stewart

A Kenya safari Holiday would not be complete without visiting Tsavo East National Park, which is part of the Tsavo National Park, which comprises Tsavo East and Tsavo West forming the biggest game sanctuary in Kenya, covering over twenty one thousand square Km's.

Amongst the main attractions of the park on your africa kenya safari are the large number of elephants although you can see many other game as well.

It is easily accessible by road, and you can fly in by light aircraft to one of the nineteen different airstrips, and this is a good way to access the more remote safari camps.

To enter by road you enter through the Voi or Manyani gate, from Mombasathe Bachuma gate, and Malindi the Sala gate. Road improvements mean there are a lot of visitors to the park from the North Coast enjoying their kenya camping safari.

Well known places to visit in Tsavo east include the Yatta plateau, one of the worlds longest lava flows, the Lugards Falls on the Galana River, the Mudanda Rock overlooking a naturally dammed pool where animals go to drink, and the Aruba Dam across the Voi River.

Tsavo East has one lodge the Voi Safari Lodge, several tented camps, the best known of which are Galdessa, Cottars, Satao, and Sobo, all of which make great stopping off points on any Kenya safari holiday.

The numerous animals you may well see in Tsavo East includes:

Antelopes and gazelles (per alphabetic order) : Bushbuck - Dik-dik (Guenther’s) - Dik-dik (Kirk's) - Duiker (Blue) - Duiker (Common) - Eland - Gazelle (Grant’s) - Gerenuk - Hartebeest (Coke's) - Hartebeest (Hunter’s) - Impala - Klipspringer - Kudu (lesser) - Oryx (Fringe-eared) - Steinbok - Suni - Waterbuck (Common) - Other ungulates and mammals : Buffalo (Cape) - Elephant (African Bush) - Giraffe (Maasai) - Hippopotamus - Hyrax (Bruce’s) - Hyrax (Eastern Tree) - Hyrax (Rock) - Hyrax (Southern Tree) - Rhinoceros (Black) - Warthog (Common) - Warthog (Desert) - Zebra (Common) - Zebra (Grevy’s) - Carnivores : Aardwolf - Caracal - Cat (African Wild) - Cheetah - Civet (African palm-) - Civet (African) - Dog (Hunting) - Fox (Bat-eared) - Genet (Large-spotted) - Genet (Small-spotted) - Hyena (Spotted) - Hyena (Striped) - Jackal (Black-backed) - Jackal (Common) - Jackal (Side-striped) - Leopard - Lion - Mongoose (Banded) - Mongoose (Bushy-tailed) - Mongoose (Dwarf) - Mongoose (Grey) - Mongoose (Marsh) - Mongoose (Slender) - Mongoose (White-tailed) - Otter (Clawless) - Ratel - Serval - Zorilla - Primates : Baboon (Savannah) - Bushbaby (Lesser) - Galago (Large-eared greater) - Galago (Small-eared greater) - Monkey (Blue/Sykes/Diademed) - Monkey (Green Vervet) - Others (rabbits, hares, insectivores) : Aardvak - Pangolin (Temminck’s ground) - Hare (Cape) - Hare (Spring) - Porcupine (Crested)


About The Author
Peter Stewart writes exclusively for http://www.in-kenyasafari.com as well as http://www.worldwidevacationspots.com and he has in depth knowledge of the places he writes about.


This

Masai Mara

Why Safari In The Masai

By: Peter R Stewart

A Masai Mara Safari Kenya is the first choice of many for their Kenya Safari Holiday, because it is renowned the world over for its exceptional game population, but mostly because of the immense annual migrationof the wildebeest every September and October.

The Masai Mara named for the Maasai tribespeople, and the river Mara which divide it. Situated in south west Kenya it is a continuation of the Serengeti national park in Tanzania.

The Masai Mara Game reserve is not the largest in Kenya for your in Kenya Safari, but it is certainly the best known. The whole park is within the Great Rift valley, and is the idea destination for a luxury african safari. Most of the wildlife is to be found in the swampy western border of the Masai Mara, and because this area is the furthest away from Nairobi, it is the open grasslands of the east that sees the greatest concentration of in Kenya safari tourists.

The Masai Mara is well known for lions, but all the othe members of the 'big five' are to be found here. The dominant inhabitant however is the wildebeest, and in July they migrate north to the Masai from Serengeti, and then go back outh again in October.

No Maai Mara Kenya Safari is complete without seeing this amazing migration of over a million wildebeest, and hundreds of thousands of Thmson's Gazelle and Zebra. Naturally your safari will also include the predators on the fringe of the great migration, the lions and hyenas.

A Masai Mara safari with luck will include the Masai giraffe, the large Roan antelope, and the sptted hyena, plus over 450 species of bird life. Lodges and camps to stay at, inside the reserve must include, Mara Serena, Governor's Camp, Siana Springs tented camp, Mara Simba, Keekorok, and Sarova Mara. Take a Masai Mara safari, you will not be disappointed.

About The Author
Peter Stewart writes exclusively for http://www.in-kenyasafari.com as well as http://www.worldwidevacationspots.com and he has in depth knowledge of the places he writes about.

Shopping In A Tuscan Market

By: Kit Heathcock

Market day is the high point of the week in a Tuscan town. Each town has its regular market day, a very small town maybe hosting just a few stalls of fruit and vegetables, bigger ones filling several streets with all the goods under the sun. One of the joys of being on holiday in Italy is having the leisure time to explore its tastes and flavours, by wandering the small food shops and observing what the locals buy. Food is taken seriously and the buying of it is a social activity, market day more so than ever, with people flocking from the countryside around to buy and sell.

Whenever there is a market of any size in Tuscany, you will find a stall selling porchetta. This is a favourite market snack and treat - a whole young pig, spit-roasted and stuffed with an aromatic mixture of herbs and salt. The meat is tender and the stuffing tangy with the herby salt. You can buy a packet of slices by weight (100g is called an etto) or purchase a panino, a crusty roll, filled with slices of porchetta to munch on there and then. Ask for some of the stuffing to be added if you like strong flavours.

Wander around browsing the other stalls as you munch on your porchetta panino. You'll find vans selling cheeses, some will just have two varieties of pecorino cheese, the sheep's milk cheese that is a Tuscan speciality, others a huge selection of cheeses from all over Italy. Every area produces cheese with different characteristics, depending on the pasture that the sheep graze on. Pienza in Southern Tuscany is famed for its creamy pecorino, the fresh ones mild and the stagionato (aged) ones smooth and gentle on the tongue. Pecorino from around Rome has a stronger flavour, and is the cheese used there instead of parmesan to grate on pasta and in cooking.

Taste the cheese before you buy. If you ask about a certain cheese you'll be offered a sliver, to help you decide, then you can decide how much you'd like to buy. A whole round of a stagionato cheese to keep or just a quarter for your picnic today.

The fruit and vegetable stalls will be loaded with fresh produce, whatever is in season. In spring and autumn juicy bulbs of fennel, finocchio, make a wonderful salad to accompany your pecorino cheese, sliced thinly and tossed with some salad leaves, or layered with dramatic red blood oranges, arancie sanguinie, in spring when there are still some left over from Sicily's winter harvest. Once you have chosen your fruit, strawberries, apricots and peaches in early summer, luscious grapes, figs and pears in early autumn, you are all set for a picnic lunch in an olive grove. You just need to search out the Forno, the bakery, follow your nose into a side street, it will be baking up a storm for the market, with crusty loaves of bread, trays of focaccia, pizza bread, local speciality cookies.

You could of course continue to wander the market, examining stalls of everything from white embroidered linen, ironmongery selling barbeque grids and tongs, to cheap shoes and clothes, wooden household implements and plastic wares. The bars will be bustling with coffee drinkers. Then with a swish of a broom by 12.30 the market stalls will be packed up and gone, over till next week, leaving the Tuscan town to the serious matter of lunch followed by a siesta.

Copyright 2007 Kit Heathcock

About The Author
Kit Heathcock has worked and travelled in Italy for many years, is passionate about food and is now lucky enough to work from home and still have time to cook and write. She is currently writing and copyediting for a major new travel website http://www.justtheplanet.com

Jamaica

A Tropical paaradise

By: Denny Phillips


From the brilliant white sand beaches to the diverse island culture, Jamaica is one of our favourite Caribbean tourist destinations. The crystal clear ocean waters and the year-round warm climate makes it the ideal travel vacation for sun-lovers. There are many diversions to keep visitors happy: fishing, scuba diving, wind surfing, horseback riding, swimming, snorkelling, golfing just to name a few. In the evening there is fine dining at Jamaica’s elite restaurants and resorts—combined with truly unique Jamaican cuisine, and the night life is certainly hopping!


One of the best things that I have found about Jamaica is the warm, friendly people and the rich, diverse Island culture blended from around the world. In fact, Jamaica’s motto is “Out of Many, One People.” Although African and European influences dominate the culture, the British, Spanish, Irish, Indian, Chinese and German are all represented as well. The official language of Jamaica is English, but sometimes you wouldn’t know it as you will most likely hear “Patois” which sounds like a foreign language but is actually a combination of rhythmic English and slang. “Irie mon” is a common phrase you may hear, which really just means “cool” or “everything is good.” The currency in Jamaica is the Jamaican Dollar, but US dollars are widely accepted.

Jamaica is the largest English-speaking Island in the Caribbean and it is the third largest island overall, spanning 4,400 square miles. The best tourist spots are on the north coast, with Montego Bay and Ocho Rios being the most popular, as well as Negril on the west coast. I have toured the whole Island, from Kingston (Jamaica’s capital) through the Blue Mountains to Port Antonio, around the north coast, on down through Mandeville, Alligator Pond and Treasure Beach and back around to Kingston, so I am well able to tell you a bit about each destination you may wish to travel to.

Ocho Rios is located, as I said, on Jamaica’s north coast and is known as Jamaica’s garden centre. Some of the most popular daytime activities include biking, diving, deep-sea fishing and golf. Ocho Rios also has one of the best polo facilities in the Caribbean.

Of course, the must-see attraction in Ocho Rios is the famous Dunn’s River Falls, where visitors, lead by a sure-footed Jamaican guide, are able to climb up a series of falls that cascade from the mountains to the sea. The falls themselves are a spectacular sight and climbing the falls is an adventure not to be missed. As a bit of trivia, in the film “Cocktail” with Tom Cruise, Duns River Falls is in a memorable scene. Close by, just off of Main Street in Ocho Rios are two craft parks, the Ocho Rios Craft Park and the Olde Market Craft Shoppes, and The Ocean Village Shopping Centre is also nearby. Here there are hundreds of vendors selling local crafts, and everything from gold watches to wood carvings and the famous Blue Mountain coffee. Also, you will be able to sample the traditional jerk pork prepared over an open grill – a spicy culinary experience for the adventurous. There is also duty-free shopping at the Taj Mahal Shopping Centre.

Just west of Ocho Rios in Aracobessa is another favourite tourist attraction, James Bond Beach and Ian Fleming’s former home called Goldeneye.

Montego Bay is where most travelers arrive in Jamaica, which is home to the North Shore airport and the island’s busiest cruise ship pier. Montego Bay is Jamaica’s second largest city and is Jamaica’s original tourist hotspot.

Montego Bay’s attractions include a number of plantation tours, as well as a new attraction featuring the legendary great, Bob Marley. For the adventure traveller, there are also bamboo river rafting tours. As well, there is great fishing by fishing charters for marlin, tuna and kingfish. One may also go cycling, golfing, horseback riding or scuba diving here, and there is another popular local shopping district. A popular tour from Montego Bay is to Wyndham Rose Hall Plantation which was once a legendary 18th century sugar plantation, and a popular spot for golfers would be on the Robert von Hagge Championship Golf Course.

Of course, the beaches in Montego Bay are not to be missed. But beware – a friend, while visiting Jamaica, sat under a coconut tree and got conked on the head by a falling coconut, in fact three coconuts! I asked her why she didn’t move away after the first one hit her (of course, the coconuts fell in a bunch of three – but I thought it was funny!) (P.S. – She wasn’t really hurt!)

Negril is located on Jamaica’s western coast with a seven-mile long fantastic white sand beach. It extends from the nineteenth-century Negril Lighthouse in the parish of Westmoreland in the south to Bloody Bay (so named for the days when whalers cleaned their catch there) in Hanover Parish in the north. Negril is famous for its “hippie” era where the hippies set up a colony there and enjoyed the laid-back lifestyle and “ganja”. From this hippie-era colony, Negril has been labelled the “Capital of Casual”. Although I wasn’t interested, Negril does offer some clothing optional beaches.

Laws control resort development and no building is allowed to be taller than the tallest palm tree. Negril doesn’t offer the extensive shopping of Ocho Rios, but it does have an assortment of unique shops, including the Negril craft market.

Negril is said to offer some of the best scuba diving in Jamaica. You can also enjoy deep-sea fishing excursions, a vast amount of water sports, and golf at a new golf course, Negril Hills. If you choose to go parasailing, the sight of the sparkling azure waters and the dazzling white sand beach is a truly memorable experience. Other activities can include tennis, squash, glass-bottom boat reef trips, sunset catamaran cruises and spectacular nightly entertainment.

Although I stayed at a number of different locations in Jamaica, a memorable one was at a family-oriented all-inclusive resort. They offered everything one could want, from unlimited alcoholic beverages for adults to baby-sitting services, and even a special snack bar geared to children with all-you-can-eat pizza, macaroni ‘n cheese, and hamburgers. I was very impressed with how the staff entertained and watched over our children. In one instance, our kids were kayaking around a little bay area. Being adventurous they ventured out towards open water. The staff member followed them in his kayak and gently herded them back. I was very impressed how he handled it. It was a very pleasant stay there.

On the whole, I love Jamaica, from the warm friendly people to the crystal clear waters and all-year round warm climate. There is not much that Jamaica doesn’t offer for an ideal vacation. The Island is unique in its culture and cuisine (have you tried boiled green banana, saltfish and ackee, jerk chicken or fried breadfruit?) The resorts are experts in what they offer guests – especially the all-inclusive ones. The only thing that I might caution you about is travelling alone/unaccompanied outside of the resorts. It can be dangerous, but if you stay within your resort or take guided tours, you shouldn’t have any problems. “No problem, mon!”

To view more travel articles, visit: http://www.vacationtravelquest.com.

About The Author
Denny Phillips, who majored in English at University, has combined her love of cooking, travelling and art into several articles and travel reviews. Read other articles by Denny on her websites: http://www.goodcookingcentral.com and http://www.vacationtravelquest.com

How To Shop For Food On Holiday In Italy

How To Shop For Food On Holiday In Italy by: Kit Heathcock



So you've booked a self-catering holiday in Italy on a farm in Tuscany or by a beach in Liguria? Enjoy exploring the flavours of Italy with this basic guide to help you enjoy food shopping as part of your holiday experience. Traditionally Italians shop every day for what they want to eat that day, as freshness is a big concern to them. You won't find huge fridges in most Italian kitchens, so decide every day as you shop, what you want to eat that day, according to what looks freshest and most appetising in the shops. The shop keepers are quite used to selling just two slices of perfectly sliced prosciutto, or a small piece of pecorino cheese. You can of course just head to a supermarket and fill your trolley for the week, but shopping the traditional way in all the little shops is an experience not to be missed and you will gain more cultural understanding this way, than any amount of museum visiting will provide. Follow your nose first to the Forno, for crusty white bread, rolls and salty focaccia, a soft olive oil pizza bread cut into squares, that the school children often stop by for as a morning snack. Pane integrale is wholewheat bread and becoming more easily available. If you don't acquire the taste for the traditional, unsalted bread you can ask for pane salata - salted bread, which is sometimes available as a speciality bread. Next drop by the fruttaverdura - the greengrocers. Italy has a wonderful variety of fruits and vegetables and you will find whatever is in season and at its best. Italians are distrustful of imported food, the more locally grown the better, so most of what is on offer won't have been subjected to cold storage and other indignities. May brings strawberries and cherries piled high and bright. Peaches and nectarines follow with melons of all varieties. By the time you reach autumn these have been succeeded by heaps of glistening grapes, luscious figs and juicy pears. Watch the local signoras carefully selecting their fruit and veg and you will get an idea of what is at its best and what should be left another week until it is truly in season, ripe and delicious. The alimentari now- the general grocers store. You will probably be following the same group of signoras from shop to shop as they do their morning round. Everything is here, from tins piled high, to packets of pasta, with a counter of cheeses and salamis to be sliced to your requirements. You can ask for two slices of prosciutto crudo - cured ham, thinly sliced or buy sliced meats and cheeses by the etto - a generally used term for 100g (about 3oz). If you want to have a taste before you decide to purchase, just ask and a sliver of cheese will be passed over the counter for you to pronounce judgement on. There will also be containers of herby olives and sundried tomatoes to buy by weight. Bottles of mineral water and wine will rub shoulders in a corner. For a treat stop by the pasticceria for a tray of delicious creamy pastries, which will be wrapped in paper and ribbon until they are worthy of the Christmas tree. Now head off for a picnic lunch in an olive grove with your spoils, or treat yourself to a long lunch in a restaurant and keep your shopping for a delicious, no-cooking, light supper on the terrace of your apartment. Copyright 2007 Kit Heathcock
About The Author
Kit Heathcock has worked and travelled in Italy for many years, is passionate about food and is now lucky enough to work from home and still have time to cook and write. She is currently writing and copyediting for a major new travel website http://www.justtheplanet.com