A few years ago I had the wonderful experience of going on a Safari in Kenya; staying at excellent lodges throughout the trip. One of them being an the shores of Lake Naivasha, but wow, if I’d come across the privately owned Hippo Point Wildlife Sanctuary this would have been the icing on the cake!
Hippo Point Tower
Hippo Point House is an Elizabethan style house belonged to a magistrate and was built in the 1933. The house has recently been restored to the higest standards with just seven double bedrooms, a swimming pool, open gazebo and lush gardens where you can indulge in yoga courses and body treatments. However the nearby Hippo Point Tower is really where its at! This nine storey Tower is rated as one of the top retreats in the world, and one of Kenya’s less known, but most luxurious hideaways. It is for exclusive use only and had a lounge and deck on the first floor and three double bedrooms - one on each floor above.
With magnificent views over Oloidien Bay it’s designed for romantics (by Dodo Cunningham-Reid) and guests are able to watch the hippo’s grazing at the foot of the Tower.
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Posted by Jackie Hewett on Sun 11th January 2009 at 03:21 AM, Filed in Africa
I stayed at Scorpio Villas quite a few years ago, and am glad to see from recent reviews that most people seem to still be enjoying the place.
I found Malindi a much nicer place to stay than Mombassa. It is quieter, has a far more low-key feel - you get less hassle on the beaches (although you will get some) and its feels like a safer place.
Scorpio Villas
Malindi is about 2.5 hours by coach or a good 3 hours by public bus from Mombassa (both of which include a short ferry crossing at Likoni). Scorpio Villa’s itself is about a 20 minute amble from the centre of Malindi and is a very quiet low-key place. It is not a high-end luxury – come on it only has 3 stars and it’s in Africa, but for somewhere on a bit of a budget it’s a real gem and offers unbeatable value for money.
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“Ancient Egypt” is such an appropriate description for this intriguing location.
Oozing history from every pore, it is correct to say that most people who think of Egypt, think of antiquities, but Egypt has much more to offer.
Here’s a run down of why a bargain holiday to Egypt can encompass all aspects of a luxury foreign get away.
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Ever since I heard about Giraffe Manor (8 miles from Nairobi) I have wanted to visit. I am just waiting for my youngest child to be old enough to take malaria tablets!
I have been on safari before and it was then that giraffes became my favourite animal. I find them so photogenic and unlike any other animal on earth. I love the way they run with their necks stretching out, how they have to splay their legs to drink and even the way they fight (taking turns to ‘whack’ each other’s necks like an animal version of conkers!). On most African safaris any giraffe lover will be easily pleased. They are not one of the ‘big 5’ that people like to check off their must-see list but they are pretty common. I saw many giraffes but only glimpsed on cheetah and wasn’t lucky enough to see a single leopard.
On my safari I did manage to get a couple of beautiful photographs of giraffes but nothing that compares to the up close experience you can get at Giraffe Manor. It is a very small exclusive hotel set in 140 acres of forest. The building itself was commissioned by a British Lord in the 1930’s and modelled on a Scottish hunting lodge within sight of Mt Kilimanjaro. In 1974 Jock Leslie Melville and his American wife Betty bought the manor as their home when the Rothschild giraffe was facing extinction with much of its habitat disappearing. Two of the Rothschild giraffes were moved to the estate and Jock and Betty funded the African fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW). The giraffe’s at the manor have since bred and thrived
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Posted by Jill Bowen on Fri 27th April 2007 at 01:07 PM, Filed in Africa
The word Treetops to anyone fortunate enough preparing to visit Kenya will evoke magical pictures in the mind. It conjures up the image of a strange wooden structure, where, if you’re privileged, you will be woken up in the middle of the night to see animals at the water hole. But, however good your imagination, nothing can prepare you for the reality of the experience.
My stay at Treetops came after a two-day safari at Samburu and before a three-day stay in the Masai Mara.
The itinerary stipulated our main suitcases should be left at the Outspan Hotel, and a small rucksack for the stay at Treetops was the entire luggage allowed for the overnight visit.
The Outspan Hotel is worth mentioning; the word colonial comes to mind, beautifully manicured grounds reminiscent of garden in England. The buffet lunch provided by the hotel is English in the extreme, with bread and butter pudding, trifle and rice pudding on the menu. One reason for it’s colonial ambiance is that Baden Powell lived here for part of his life. There is even a small museum dedicated to the scouting movement which is worth a look.
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