Holidays+from+Sudan+-+Kenya


 * LAMU ISLAND, Shella Beach, La Joya House early July, 2008**

We just returned from a __wonderful__ week on Lamu Island with our three-year old. It was a great place to travel with a small child- there was a lot to do to keep him busy, nice comfortable hammocks to laze and nap in, and wonderful fresh food. We took Kenya Airways from Khartoum to Nairobi and then on to Lamu, I have heard that tickets can be as inexpensive as $690 per person, but ours were more due to last minute travel. Our flight from Nairobi to Lamu was cancelled - so we had an unexpected overnight in Nairobi (the airline paid for the hotel) - and the flight on the return leg (Lamu to Nairobi) was __also__ cancelled-- meaning we had to fly back a day early- so keep that in mind in case you decide to go...Kenya Airways was not the most reliable airline, but what the heck.

Another worry we had before departure was mosquitos & malaria. In fact we were there late June/early July which is still the tail-end of rainy season, but we saw very few mozzies--we used __a lot__ of spray, and had mosquito coils and slept in the nets...so it was reassuring that we saw only 3-4 mozzies all week!! Lots of bats, donkeys, cats, colorful songbirds and geckos :o)

As for activities for a three year old on the island included swimming in the Indian Ocean, walking on the beach (as mentioned below, there is a 12 km stretch of unspoiled beach), exploring the super low-tide, tide-pools and shell collecting, boat trips are easily arranged by many friendly boat owners along the beachfront, and cost 2000 Kenyan shillings per 2-3 hour trip (approx $15 USD). We went fishing twice, which our son loved-and yes, he caught a few---and we took one trip to Lamu Village (also cost 2000 KS) which was worth a walk around but quite crowded and not nearly as pleasant as Shella Beach where we were staying! We were in a hurry to get back to the peace & quiet of our little spot!

We stayed at "La Joya" house in the "penthouse" apartment (approx $140 incl breakfast-low season, no charge for child ) which had a big king-sized bed with mosquito nets as well as a smaller bed, and a comfy hammock-swing which was perfect for napping. (The only negative about the penthouse with kids is that the walls are low and there is a two-story drop, so I would not recomend this if you have a child who likes to climb!! Our son was instructed to keep both feet on the ground at all times!!) A truly talented cook named Frederick works at La Joya House and makes meals for cost (you give him the cash up front, he buys the groceries and then shows you the costs in a ledger book- works great) We ate phenomenally well, lots of fresh fruit, seafood was outstanding (crab, whole red snapper was about $10, lobster, shrimp, chicken curry...) breakfast was simple eggs & fresh fruit and bread/toast, coffee and tea. There was also a fridge where you can either stock your own juice etc, or just purchase Tusker beer, Sprite, coke or water on an honor system, by singing your name. Very laid back and cool.

To make any arrangements you can contact Monika (she is Dutch, married to a local Kenyan man) who runs another B&B called Banana House. She helped us with all arrangements, and also teaches yoga classes daily (7 am and 5 pm), which we never managed to fit into the busy beach schedule! Her website is www.bananahouse-lamu.com

One last note to any would-be traveler to this lovely island. There is quite a significant amount of building & construction going on in the village of Shella beach, including a 14 room hotel/guest house which overlooks the now-quiet and peaceful La Joya House. So, in my humble opinion, it would be best to take a trip to this island __sooner__ rather than later, as I fear that the quiet, laid-back atmosphere will soon be changed with the arrival of all-night generators and high-rises. At present, electricity is on until about 6 pm, and then it is quiet with candles and lanterns.

Hakuna Matata, and enjoy.

Kenya** with little kids ** Island without cars. World Heritage site. People move about either by boat or donkey, foot and swimming. Wonderfully peaceful place. It´s like a little Zanzibar, but a lot more quiet and peaceful. The difference is in that the local people just leave you in peace. Not that I want to shun them, but nobody will persecute you trying to get you into buying that fake piece of ebony carving. No bars or discos. Alcohol only available in selected hotels. No muzzak. Ideal place for relaxing, sleeping a lot, and eating loads of seafood.
 * Lamu: **

There are three flights daily with different companies ( Kenya Airways, Air Kenya,and another one) from Nairobi to Lamu. The airstrip is on Manda island, from there you ferry by boat to your hotel. Most hotels have you picked up with their own boats.

We stayed in Shela village, which is on the southern tip of the island, very closely located to the great beaches to the South and on Manda island. __ Hotel Kijani House __ : Swahili style, Swiss-Kenyan managed, 10 rooms only, lots of privacy, very quiet, 2 small pools, nice tropical gardens, terrace overlooking the sea. Great chef. Very informal place, no fancy outfit needed. You can dress up a bit for dinner. Very well maintained. Staff´s great. Great place for kids. Staff goes out of their way to make children (and consequently their parents) happy. Best to go half-board, as there are not many places for dining out. I repeat: the chef is great. Breakfast is not a great deal, pretty normal, but dinner is a 4 course meal of the most delicious food. Babysitter can be arranged. Rooms are lovely. Some rooms seem to be rather smallish, but we had a very spacious room with Susana sleeping in a Swahili cot. Mosquito nets are provided. Mosquito coils placed everywhere, room spraying done in the evening. Take plenty of repellent. I think we largely managed to avoid Susana being bitten by mosquitoes. Website: http://www.kijani-lamu.com/

__ What to do?: __
 * // Dhow sailing // : they offer nice sunset cruises in the Manda channel. It is really nice and not expensive. There is one huge dhow which offers sunset cruises with sumptuous dinner on board. But I found that a cheat: the dhow leaves when the sun has already set, they don´t sail, but use the motor. About the food I don’t know. A real tourist trap, though the boat is nice.
 * // Beach // (water is warm, shallow, the beach endless). In Shela the beach starts after Peponi (the posh hotel), but we had our stroller (4x4) with us and pushed Susana to great beach further south (15 minutes). The tide leaves pools in the sand, and the water is very shallow. It’s perfect for little kids. You will need sunblock, hat, and a long-sleeved/legged swim suit. We usually left for the beach at 8:30 and went back to the hotel around 11 am. Manda island has wonderful beaches as well with nice views of Shela and Lamu. Dhows take you there. But take repellent as some places are sandfly infested.
 * Donkey riding.
 * Visiting Lamu town. Take a guide as houses face inwards and are very secluded, but offer many surprises. You need to know where and what to look for and only a good guide can show and explain you everything. Otherwise you will be just strolling the main shopping street up and down. There are a few museums, but we didn’t enter into any of them. Stroller useful. Website: http://www.lamuheritage.com/
 * There is diving available, visit to ruins on other islands, excursions.
 * Nairobi **** : **

Old family run hotel, quite big, but very quiet. Has a huge garden area with swing and goals for football, swimming pool with kids area. Located in Upper Hills, Langata, the southern part of Nairobi. It is a very convenient location as many attractions are south of the city. They pick you up at the airport. They have family rooms available which are located on the ground floor with direct access to the garden area, they are spacious and have a small additional room with bunk beds for the kids. Baby cots available. Mosquito nets are installed but there was no need. They seem to do a daily spraying of the gardens. Babysitting available. Breakfast buffet is gorgeous, has 4 restaurants, dinner is very good. But you can miss out on the announced 4 star à la carte dining experience in what is supposed to be Nairobi´s poshest Brasserie. The dishes had those fancy blown up names, tiny portions you have to look for on your plate which tasted as blown up as their names. Consequently the bill is equally blown up. The normal dinner in the normal restaurant is excellent value. The staff is very friendly and helpful. But for those who need to observe security restrictions: the hotel is located opposite the Israeli Embassy and for some embassy, UN, EC staff the Fairview might be off limits for security reasons. The hotel has a fleet of trustworthy taxi drivers with fixed rates. They can take you to the attractions and also wait for you. Rates are reasonable. Website: http://www.fairviewkenya.com/ Also check out this link with some info on Kenya with kids: http://www.tripadvisor.com/GoListDetail-i6855-Kenya_with_kids.html NAIROBI March 2009 We just went to Nairobi for a week's R&R- spent most of the week at the Fairview Hotel on Bishop Road, which we found to be a great place for us and our almost-four-year old (our family room was about 13,000 KSH per night breakfast incl).
 * Fairview Hotel: **
 * __ What to do?: __**
 * // Langata Giraffe Centre // : handfeeding of giraffes. Great fun for kids and adults. Got some turtles as well. http://www.giraffecenter.org/
 * // David Sheldrick Elephant orphanage // : orphaned elephant babies are raised. Visits strictly every day between 11 and 12 am. Babies are fed then. Explanations are given, and babies can be touched. Great fun for everybody. http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/
 * // Animal orphanage // : located inside the Nairobi National Park. It is rather like a little zoo which displays orphaned animals. Nice for kids which are still too small for safaris. http://www.kws.org/nairobi.html
 * // Snake Farm: // located next to the National Museum (which is closed until June this year for remodelation). You can see snakes, turtles (though the huge 300+ years old turtle died last year), and crocodiles. Susana loved it.
 * // Village market: // that´s a posh shopping centre in Gigiri if you feel homesick for a nice shopping experience. There are plenty of curio shops with high qualitiy curios. Every Friday there´s the Masaai market with peddlers coming to sell there goods. It is a good opportunity to buy some women-made handicrafts that are pretty original (clothes, table clothes).

The staff were wonderfully friendly and accomodating, the room comfortable and reasonably priced (it seemed like most hotels I looked at on-line were a lot more expensive but were not nearly as nice!) The gardens cover some 5 acres, and we had a great time just walking around looking at the many bird feeders, spotting the iridescent honey catcher birds, re-filling the birdfeeders ourselves with leftover bread from breakfast...catching tadpoles and frogs from the pond and enjoying the large pool. It was enough to keep our little one occupied and since he still naps in the afternoons it was very relaxing for all.

Our one truly outstanding adventure was an all-morning game drive in the Nairobi National Park. Entry to the park is about $100 and we hired a Jeep with driver thru the hotel. Make sure you get a Jeep with a"pop-top" so you can stand up and see the animals! Some people might consider this "safari lite" but it was perfect for us, as we were out in the park before the sun rose, there was __no one__ about as it was a Monday morning, and we saw LOADS of animals including an impressive pride of lions chasing a herd of zebra (the zebra lived to tell the tale, the lions walked away hungry...) a endangered black rhino family of a mom, dad and baby, and of course zillions of zebras, gazelles, elands, wildebeest, warthogs. Our son loved the walk down to the hippo viewing area at the river, accompanied by a rifle-toting National Park Guard (to protect us from lions, hippos etc). All in all a wonderful mini-trip and just the right amount of time for us, as he was sound asleep all the way back to the hotel!

We also enjoyed the Elephant Orphanage although it was quite crowded the morning that we went--which was surprising, considering the downturn in tourism in general in Kenya...the baby elephants were very cute, and the lecture given by the staff informative.

As for food & drink & accomodation, breakfast was included, and I agree with the webpost above, the breakfast buffet was plentiful and fresh. We ate a few lunch & dinners at the Fairview (very tasty --no complaints at all) --and also went into Westlands for dinner at HAANDI (noted on many google searches as the "best Indian food in Nairobi" ) it was great- and also enjoyed a couple outings at Mediteraneo (located adjacent to Westlands Mall) where they make brick oven pizza, and even let our son into the kitchen to make his own. He loved that too!

As for "Out of Sudan" shopping, we, of course, stocked up on some necessary items at UCHUMI Supermarket. Don't know if I should admit this, but we brought back "streaky bacon" and pork sausages in our carry-on, as well as a stash of lovely Kenyan tea, Weetabix cereal and Pampers, all of which were significantly cheaper than what we can find in KRT.