Tuesday, 25 February 2014

EDELWEISS TO LEAVE MOMBASA DUE TO LOW DEMAND

News swept the Mombasa tourism fraternity that the current Edelweiss charter operation, which serves both Kilimanjaro and Mombasa, will next winter season not return to Mombasa due to a lack of sufficient demand for seats. 

This will add more concerns among the coast based hotel and resort operators, already suffering from several flights having been withdrawn from the route causing significantly lower occupancies this year compared to previous years.

Coast hoteliers have been battling a negative trend since late last year, when in the run up to the March general elections in Kenya key tour operators proved to be overly cautious in their contracting and shifted long haul traffic from Kenya’s traditional markets to other destinations.

While the elections, as predicted by the way, went on peacefully and resulted in a new government, that government has since come under sustained criticism for increasing the tax burden on tourism products at a time when there was a downward trend in arrivals and for spending far less money on tourism marketing than the main gurus projected was needed to roll out a global recovery marketing campaign.

While KTB is trying to promote Kenya and the beach resorts, within their means that is considering their budget constraints, the coast resort operators in particular claim not enough is being done, while at the same time demanding open air access by foreign airlines to Mombasa, where presently only Ethiopian, Turkish Airlines, RwandAir and Air Uganda are flying scheduled services into Moi International Airport.

The announcement that Edelweiss will not come to Mombasa next winter is seen as another challenge the hotelier have to meet and there will no doubt be substantial lobbying when Kenya attends the forthcoming ITB Tourism Trade Fair in Berlin in March.

A CLOSE UP LOOK AT KIDEPO NATIONAL PARK IN UGANDA

When CNN last year nominated Kidepo Valley National Park as among their top ten choices of national parks across Africa, many people literally scratched their heads and asked where exactly this park was located as few had heard of it and fewer visited.

Those however who did, and stayed either at the edge of the park at the more recently established N’ga Moru Wilderness Camp or in the centre of the park at the Apoka Safari Lodge, will have their own tales to tell.

Kidepo, a prime piece of African wilderness, literally untouched by the outside world and nestled in the border triangle of Uganda, Kenya and South Sudan, offers spectacular views, much game and the solitude visitors can enjoy, meeting but a few other tourists while they are there. Most visitors reach the park by air from either Entebbe or Kajjansi, unless they are hardy enough to undertake the tiring drive via Tororo, Mbale, Moroto, Kotido and Kaabong, or drive via Soroti and Lira or take the alternate route via Gulu and Kitgum.

This year Kidepo will celebrate its Golden Jubilee anniversary, since its formation 50 years ago in 1964. The park stretches over 1.442 square kilometres, but being more than 700 kilometres distant from Kampala, is perhaps the main reason why it receives so few visitors inspite of the attractions it holds. Two rivers, among them the Narus which in the dry season is the centre of activity for the game, elevation differences from just over 900 metres to nearly 2.750 metres, a rich birdlife of 475 recorded species which includes 14 endemic species and some 86 mammal species, including the rare cheetah which is not found anywhere else in Uganda.

Those arriving by air will touch down at the CAA owned and operated airfield in the centre of the park and already en route will visitors enjoy the spectacle of coming close up to Zebra, Hartebeest, Oribi, Buffalo, Waterbuck, Side-striped Jackal and Warthog while Elephant, Giraffe and Lion are almost all the time seen in the valley below the lodge or at times even stroll through the lodge grounds, asserting their ‘ownership’ over the park.

The game drives into the park are extremely rewarding.  Most of the driver guide get you close to a large herd of elephant, numbering over 200, and the matriarchs and dominant bulls of the herd.
You can come close to the park’s giraffes, which have substantially increased in numbers since the successful relocation of several Rothschild giraffes from Kenya nearly 15 years ago. A very large herd of buffalo can be encountered and the estimate exceeded 1.200, probably even more as additional groups emerge from the thickets.

But the highlight of the visit is undoubtedly an encounter with  lionesses which are found high up in a ‘sausage tree’, putting to rest the claims of Ishasha and Lake Manyara, that those were the only parks where lions were found to climb into trees. These particular lions had their small cubs hidden in the high grass under the tree and when climbing down after being observed for about an hour or so, the cubs swiftly joined their mothers.

In conclusion, a visit to Kidepo, which I consider as the most scenic and rugged parks in Uganda and a top contender in East Africa, is worth it any time, satisfaction guaranteed. A definite MUST for the discerning traveler and those seeking the solitude of the ‘real’ African wilderness experience. 50 years down the line since the park was first launched, today as back then is Kidepo an example of the African wilderness, where the cattle herding tribes from Uganda, Kenya and the Sudan (now South Sudan) coexisted with wildlife, staged their raids on each other and lived in their age long fashion. After independence, crossing the new borders were for long no hindrance for the tribes and up to today are periodic raids for cattle staged, cross border no less, posing issues the tribes never had in the old days. Today it is also no longer permitted to drive their cattle into the park, even during times of draught when finding water becomes a matter of live and death for their cattle and goats, a question wildlife managers have yet to satisfactorily answer when weighing conservation and the protection of game and the integrity of the parks under their control with the needs of the people living in the vicinity of the park, among them elders who still remember that the entire area once was theirs to roam and use. Fodder  for thought no doubt.

Monday, 24 February 2014

NAIROBI SET TO HOST SWAHILI FASHION WEEK KENYA FROM 05TH APRIL

East Africa’s most successful fashion festival, the Swahili Fashion Week, is preparing to make a full appearance in Kenya as a mainstream event, starting from the 05th of April this year. 

Mustafa Hassanali’s erstwhile vision, which resulted in the first Swahili Fashion Week to be launched in 2008 in Dar es Salaam, has now established itself as the region’s foremost fashion and accessories event giving local designers a platform to showcase their creations and make a name for themselves in the international arena.


While the venue and programme are still to be announced, the SFW organizers have set a deadline for applications by Kenyan designers to send in their particulars by the 28th of February.
Expect to hear more about this event in coming weeks as the programme takes shape and the lineup of designers and models is made public.

THE WORLD’S SEVEN MOST EXTRAVAGANT HOLIDAYS

So if you happen to have a spare few million burning a hole in your pocket, why not check in to the ultimate ski chalet or rent your own private Caribbean island?

Of course you can rest assured that every whim you can think of, and many you can’t, will be well and truly catered for.

The gin palace  – £441,000

There are gin palaces and then there’s a 242ft yacht called RV Pegaso, which comes with a submarine that can accommodate five people.

You can explore the bottom of the ocean around the Caribbean while someone tops up your glass of Dom Perignon.

 
Closer to the surface, a flunkie will film you swimming with manta rays and introducing yourself to friendly sharks.
Back on board there’s a recompression chamber and toys galore (a 32ft waterslide, trampoline, outdoor gym, Jacuzzi) and, of course, a heliport at the stern.
You might want to ask for a Flyboard — a 30ft power hose, pictured right, that lets you fly through the air.With practice, you can do aerobatic spins and twists.

The yacht sleeps 12 and there’s a lift up to the oak and walnut-panelled penthouse suite.RV stands for ‘research vessel’ but you don’t need to be a marine scientist to appreciate this sort of life on the ocean wave — just very rich.

Charter Pegaso from Approx. £441,000

The ultimate safari – £52,000

Africa’s impressive wildlife is all very well but those early morning starts on safari need to be offset by a little spoiling.
At Singita Serengeti House — which opened in January on Sasakwa Hill in north Tanzania — you may feel so special you expect the animals to seek you out rather than you having to look for them.
Rented on an exclusive-use-only basis, it sleeps eight in four suites and is right on the migratory route of the wildebeest. Singita means ‘place of miracles’ and when you’ve got 350,000 acres to yourself but can still watch a family of elephants bathing from your bedroom window, you might agree.
And as you swim in the infinity pool and a rhino comes to call, you may imagine miracles are two-a-penny.
Seven nights cost approximately £52,000 all-inclusive, spa treatments extra.

Private paradise island – £300,000

The Cohens, a French family of estimable means, bought 50-acre Calivigny Island, off the south coast of Grenada in 2000 and spent more than £100 million developing it. Only in the past couple of years has the private island been available for rent.

It can accommodate 50 people, but if you want just the main house, it sleeps 20 and costs around £300,000 a week, so double that for the whole confection.
You’ll find marble bathrooms, Persian rugs, Egyptian cotton, and furniture by the classy Dominican designer Oscar de la Renta.
There are Italian, French and Granadian menus each night, six sandy beaches — one for each day of your stay — and a plethora of water sports. For New Year, a band will come over from the mainland and the fireworks should be good, too.
A week’s stay on Calivigny will set you back to approx around £300,000,

The bullet-proof chalet – £230,000

Chalet N is the world’s most expensive rental chalet at £231,088 per week. It overlooks the slopes of Oberlech just down the valley from Lech in the Austrian Alps.
This is its second season (singers Tina Turner and Rihanna were debut visitors last year) and although not even the white-hot price can guarantee snow, everything else is taken care of.

The cutlery is titanium and pillows are embroidered with your initials. A spa bigger than a tennis court takes up the basement; the pool has underwater music and the water changes colour according to your mood; there’s a private wine cellar where tastings take place as and when you wish and your skis are made by Porsche. The windows are, of course, bullet-proof.
It sleeps up to 24 in 11 bedrooms — that’s two fewer guests than staff.

The world’s poshest B&B – £2.2million

Called the King of the Castle holiday, this tour of Maharaja palaces in India’s Rajasthan includes three nights in three different hotels.
You can either have them all to yourself or invite 120 or so friends. Whatever you choose, the price is the same: £2,160,000.

Breakfast is included but everything else, including private jet travel between locations, is extra.
You start at the Lake Palace in Udaipur (built in 1743 by a philandering prince in defiance of his father and where the James Bond film Octopussy was shot) then move to Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, where Liz Hurley married the Indian textile heir Arun Nayar in 2007.
Last stop is Rambagh Palace, once home to the Maharaja of Jaipur and set in nearly 50 acres of gardens.
The model Kate Moss and her chums checked in two years ago for the birthday bash of Naomi Campbell’s then boyfriend Vladimir Doronin — but don’t let that put you off.

The jet just for you – £590,000

Why queue at the airport when you can fly to Australia by private jet and invite 30 friends along?

This 20-day trip begins at the nearest airstrip to your house and ends in Sydney, with stops wherever you like.


How about the temples of Abu Simbel in Egypt, the Taj Mahal, India, and Luang Prebang (the World Heritage Site best known for Buddhist temples and monasteries) in Laos?
The 20-day Ancient Worlds Explorer costs Approx. £589,878 (excluding your return flights from Australia), 

The eco-millionaire’s retreat – £1.1million

Laucala Island in Fiji will do nicely if you want privacy — although there’s room for 60 of your nearest and dearest if you use all 25 villas.
This six-square-mile South Pacific island is owned by Red Bull drinks magnate Dietrich Mateschitz (it formerly belonged to big bucks American Malcolm Forbes) and is hot on self-sustainability.

Accessed only by private plane (no, not exactly the greenest of options!), Laucala rears its own livestock, grows tons of fruit and veg, makes its own honey and even bottles its own mineral water. It makes Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island look unsophisticated.
Villas have thatched roofs made from sago palms and coconut husk (all come with their own pools of course).
If you find your guests tiresome, there are five restaurants and enough space to get in touch with your inner ‘I want to be alone’ Greta Garbo. Take the whole island for a week and you’re looking at spending more than £1 million — but it is all-inclusive.




AFRICA’S FIRST UNDERWATER HOTEL ROOM OPENS IN ZANZIBAR




This latest effort can be found off an African island and straightaway is placed high on that list of ‘amazing hotels I wish i could get to’ many travelers have.


Just off the coast of Tanzania, The Manta Resort on Pemba Island has added a beautiful, other-worldly underwater bedroom to their original 16-room offering.


The new ‘digs’ opened for business this month, designed by Swedish company Genberg Underwater Hotels.


They are the brains behind the The Utter Inn, an underwater room in the middle of a Swedish lake which was also one of our 15 unusual places to spend the night.

 
The Manta Resort’s new room on Pemba Island in Zanzibar is a tropical island hotel room like any other – except that it floats anchored above a shallow coastal coral reef.


The bedroom, which was opened just last month , is located in a room below deck that has large viewing glasses offering guests a view of the colorful aquatic world outside. Above deck, a three-story structure gives guests all the amenities of a regular hotel room, albeit with an incredible view.

By day, tropical fish and other sea organisms float and swim by the window. At night, lights illuminate the water outside the windows, attracting squids and other otherwise shy sea creatures. The whole thing is anchored about 250m from the coast.
At night, spotlights under the windows attract and illuminate squid and octopus — a more reclusive crowd than the daytime sea life.


Can you imagine being rocked to sleep by gentle waves, waking up in the morning and diving in to swim with tropical fish? If so, you also better imagine shelling out $1,500 USD a night for two or $900 USD for a single occupant.