Nanyuki is
a market town in Laikipia
County of Kenya lying northwest of Mount Kenya
and is situated just north of the Equator (0° 01' North). The town was started by British settlers
during the early days of colonial Kenya in 1907. Some of their descendants
still live in or around the town. Nanyuki
is currently the main airbase of the Kenya
Air Force and the British
Army also keeps a base
at The Nanyuki Show Ground (NSG) from where it conducts yearly desert and
jungle training exercises on the mountain and in the arid areas to the north. The town is today multi-cultural and is the
market centre for farms, ranches, game parks and wildlife conservancies in the
region. It's also the base for people seeking to climb Mount Kenya, the most
famous landmark in the country. The Equator line passes 6.5 km (4 mi)
south of this town.
We had decided to hire a driver using Sarah’s car for the
few days. By the time we split the cost
of Gilbert, it was definitely worth the money to have someone driving that knew
the roads, knew where to go and we had some local know how in the car with us. I was picked up at 7.30am from my house as we
were going to head out to Thika and visit some falls on the way to Nanyuki. Chania Falls aka Fourteen Falls was on the
Miracle Babies list of things to visit, so it was good to be able to check them
out and see if it was worth the day trip for them for a later date. I hadn’t been to Thika, and we didn’t stop
today, but it is home to the Chania Falls, which consists of 14 falls on the
River Athi and Thika Falls, while Ol Donyo Sabuk National Park, which
you have to pay an entry to see the falls, lies
to its southeast. The Fourteen Falls
area is protected and has historical and religious importance both to the
residents and Asian immigrants. The Asians use the site for recreation and
spiritual rites, disposing of cremated ash in the river in the belief that it
will go all the way to India through the Indian Ocean, hence acting as a
shrine. Others come for recreation, retaining the Happy Valley theme that was
first introduced by Lord Macmillan. Like Lord Macmillan, the adjacent
community, some of whom are descendants of the people the adventurer brought
here, still farm the land.
Two and half hours later, some traffic, driving through
the outskirts of Thika, a bumpy dirt road, that Suzy Blue would have made it
over (just) we arrived at the falls. We
drove past what looked like a small booth that had the prices of what we had to
pay to be able to enter, but there was no-one there, so we drove through and
parked right in front of the river. It
is amazing, like anywhere in Africa, people always seem to appear out of
nowhere, and the same happened here. We
had and official looking guy in a yellow jacket who seemed to give us a better
than resident price of 150KSH (1.80AUD) each plus 100KSH to park the car in a massive
open air ‘carpark’. Since we got such a
good deal on the entrance we didn’t question the ‘parking’ fee. The second we got out of the car we were
surrounded by 4 ‘tour guides’. I have
seen this far too many time, if you even listen to what these self-confessed
tour guides say, they will hit you up for money when you go to leave. I make it clear from the start that we didn’t
need any help or information (basic) that they had, so they knew that they
would not be receiving a tip for their ‘work’.
Unfortunately this doesn’t dissuade them from trying and we only had to
walk about 50m to get the first view point of the falls and we were then told
to move a little further down to get the best view, and they were right. The falls were beautiful, they were proper
falls. So many times you get the allure
of falls and when you arrive they are not much to write home about. But not Fourteen Falls, even with the
overcast morning that we had, they were stunning. It was shame that we were being hassled from
the ‘guides’ encroaching on your personal space, trying to offer a ‘cruise’ on
the Athi River and the area itself was not the cleanest with a lot of rubbish
lying around. When Sarah made mention of
the rubbish we got a hilarious response that there was a group of children here
the day before when quite clearly the rubbish had been there longer than a
day. The other piece of ‘guide’
information that was given was one of the men asked me if I knew why the falls
were called Fourteen Falls, and I replied back ‘because there are 14 falls’ and
he replied ‘that’s right’! Gee, lucky we
had these guys here!!!! Their presence shortened
our stay a little, along with the weather, so after a few snaps with phones and
cameras, we made our way back to the car and left a small tip for the guys to
share and buy some tea and lunch. After
all, they do have to eat, and they were nice, if not a little pushy.
We re-traced our way back to Thika and then started the
final push to Nanyuki and our accommodation for the next 2 nights, The Fairmont
Mount Kenya Safari Club. The second that
you leave the city limits, the weather warmed up and improved and even the air
seemed to be cleaner, and it probably was with less pollution out in the
country. We passed Del Monte, a large
fruit juice distributor/maker in Kenya and we were told that if people are
caught/seen in their fields trying to steal pineapples, they are shot on the
spot. They have security towers all over
the acres of fields that we could see from the main road of guards and their guns. It is pretty serious stuff out here
protecting fruit! There were a few road
blocks that we were waved though but there was one about an hour into the drive
where the police pulled us over for an ‘inspection’. This is the first time I have been stopped by
police, and after the experience, this is why I waited so long to get my
license here and my concerns getting pulled over. They asked to see Gilberts license, which unfortunately
he had left in his own vehicle, but luckily both Luca and Gil knew the rules,
and Gilbert has 24 hours to produce his license at the police station. It didn’t stop them from going through our
bags in the back, with Gilbert overseeing, opening the back doors to look
inside where we were sitting, until Luca lost it and threatened to call a ‘high
up’ police official, who he actually does know, for them to wave us on and let
us go. We asked Gilbert once we were on
the road if they had asked for money, and they had asked for 2000KSH, but Gil
said he would be happy to give them 100KSH (1.50AUD) for them to buy some
tea. After they eventually let us on our
way and the kerfuffle, they didn’t even get the 100 bob. It was a little un-nerving and they did only
pull us up to get some ‘money’ from us.
It is intimidating and my first dose of it here in Kenya.
We arrived into the outskirts of Nanyuki just after
midday and we HAD to do a photo stop, little knowing we would be seeing these
signs all over the place in the next few days.
I do admit that I LOVE having my picture taken at all the cheesy tourist
signs, hilarious signs, imaginary points of the Earth including the Tropic of
Capricorn in Africa and South America, the Arctic Circle in Norway, and in
Africa, and especially Kenya, the Equator.
I have passed this geographical line in many countries including Namibia,
Ecuador and in a ship around the Galapagos Islands. Today, it was another Kenyan sign and a MUST
stop for me. The Equator is an imaginary
geographic line that goes around the Earth halfway between the North Pole and
the South Pole. It divides the planet halfway between the North Pole and the South Pole, at 0 degrees latitude, thus dividing the
planet into a Northern
Hemisphere and a Southern Hemisphere. The Earth is widest at its Equator. The
distance around the Earth at the Equator, its circumference,
is 40,075 kilometres.
Some interesting facts about the equator:
- · The time it takes for the sun to set and rise at the Equator is the fastest on Earth. The transition from day to night takes only a few minutes.
- · The Earth's diameter is also wider at the Equator, creating a phenomenon called an equatorial bulge.
- · The slightly weaker gravitational pull and momentum of the spinning Earth makes equatorial regions ideal places for space launches. It takes an enormous amount of energy to launch a satellite or other spacecraft out of the Earth’s atmosphere. It takes less energy (rocket fuel) to launch in lower gravity. It also takes less energy to launch when the spinning Earth is already giving the satellite a push of 1,670 kilometres per hour (1,038 miles per hour).
- · In Africa, the equator runs along for almost 2500 miles, passing through seven countries: Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe (off the coast of mainland Africa), Gabon, Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya and Somalia.
So we drove
the 30 minutes back to the main road and from there the Fairmont is a further
15 minutes. As we entered the first
gates of the hotels property we saw an Eland and a family of wart hogs and it
just made you think that ‘flip, we are in AFRICA’!!!!!! It will never cease to amaze me; I love the African
wildlife and will never get sick of seeing the animals in their natural
environments, seriously for as long as I live.
We finally arrived at the hotel just before 2pm and the exceptional
service started the second we got out of the car. As our bags were unloaded we were ushered
straight past reception and told we could still make lunch and they would check
us in while we ate! One of the reasons
we chose the Fairmont Kenya Safari Club was that they offered an amazing
resident rate of 12,800KSH (145USD) per person per night, but this included
full board (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and a 1000KSH credit for spa or
drinks. It really was a great deal that
we found out it applicable all year round and I am guessing we will be making
the use of again in the future. At
lunch we had a great view of Mount Kenya, the hotel’s maze which we will do,
the pool area and the local birds that swooped by us including the marabou stork,
ibis’s, some grey looking bird and peacocks throughout the gardens. It was just stunning out here.
The hotel
itself has a traditional hunting lodge feel from the 1950’s. It has character, it is modest, yet feels sophisticated
and exclusive and I loved the atmosphere here.
There were animal heads mounted on walls, lots of black and white photos
adoring the walls giving you an insight into the hotels history and manicured
gardens and EXCEPTIONAL service standards.
It is situated on the slopes of Mt Kenya. Many of the world's most famous names, be
they royalty, film stars or merely the rich, seek it out as a secluded haven
where, although you don your safari gear during the day, you always dress for
dinner. Sir Winston Churchill was reputed to have been a founder Member. The
list of those who joined after the Club opened in 1959 reads like an
international ''Who's Who'', and includes Prince Berhard of the Netherlands,
Lord Louis Mountbatten, author Robert Ruark, former US President Lyndon
Johnson, Conrad Hilton, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and a bevy of celebrities.
Like many of East Africa's pre-war dreams the then
'Mawingo' and now known to us Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club was born of a
love affair, and one that had all the ingredients of an epic Romance, a
handsome older woman, a dashing aviator and, for their playground, all of
Africa. However, what gave the creation of 'Mawingo' its sparkle was the
unlikeness that almost typical of the spontaneous, champagne years that gave
the Kenya of the 1930s its notoriety. Rhoda
Lewinsohn was married to a millionaire financier from New York. She had
everything: a philanthropic husband of good social standing and two grown-up
daughters, but also a rare ability to enjoy life to the fullest. Evidence of
this 'joie de vivre' is threaded throughout her story from the moment she left
her family in the United States to holiday in Kenya. Although in her fifties,
Rhoda was a stunningly attractive woman, as sleek as a thoroughbred racehorse,
and with the same dynamic energy. Perhaps it was these qualities that attracted
Gabriel Prudhomme to her. He was much younger than she, an adventurous French
bachelor who had his own airplane, and was a keen hunter of big game. When he
took Rhoda and her friends on safari, not only did Rhoda shoot her first
elephant, she also fell madly in love. Gabriel pressed his suit and very soon
Rhoda, the Manhattan Matron, had discarded her husband and her US citizenship.
The couple was married in Paris before returning to Kenya to live at Njoro
among the Happy Valley set.
Rhoda and Gabriel were anxious to build their own home
and had chosen as a setting an enchanting expanse of forest and field at the
foot of Mt Kenya near Nanyuki. The property, however, was not for sale. It
belonged to a Mrs. Wheeler from San Francisco who had also fallen in love with
the same environment and wanted to build a house of her own, but a strange
quirk of fate was to change everything. Mrs. Wheeler's fiancé died suddenly
while abroad. Grief stricken, she told Gabriel she would sell the land if he
would fly to France, have the body cremated, and bring the ashes back to Kenya.
Gabriel agreed willingly, and later flew Mrs. Wheeler high over Mt Kenya and
scattered her lover's remains over the mountain. The Prudhomme started to build immediately
and completed the house in a year. Photographs show Indian labourers busy
working on bamboo scaffolding. Unlike other Kenyan houses of that time, where
guest cottages were added on haphazardly to accommodate a growing number of
friends, relations and children, Rhoda insisted on one large building. She said
that she wanted everyone under one roof because it got so muddy during the
rains. It was Rhoda who gave the house the name 'Mawingo', the Kiswahili name
for 'the clouds' that so often skirt the slopes of Mt Kenya. There have, of
course, been changes since then, but Club connoisseurs can still recognize the
original building, which extended to where the Trophy Lounge is today.
The Prudhomme Mt Kenya idyll lasted just a year before
the onset of World War II shattered it in 1939, when Rhoda returned to New
York. Tragedy ensued. Having fought for the Free French in Algeria, Gabriel
flew to the United States to re-join Rhoda but, without the sparkling air of
the Kenyan highlands to nourish it, their relationship soured. Rhoda divorced Gabriel and thus lost both
husband and home, for she had given 'Mawingo' to him as a present. When he
died, shortly after the war, his intention had been to return it to her, since
in his own words, ''...she was the only woman I ever loved''. He had, however,
forgotten to sign his will so the house went to his family, who were, alas,
never able to enjoy Mawingo. During the war, the family home in France was occupied
and Gabriel's family was forced to live in their unheated attic. They both died
of pneumonia.
Mawingo was bought in 1948 by Abraham Block, who extended
the house and turned it into an Inn. In 1959 the film star William Holden
stayed there with his friends Ray Ryan and Carl Hirschmann, the latter a Swiss
Banker. They were in the middle of a shooting safari, and Ray Ryan needed to
recuperate, having sustained a cut eye from a gun recoil. All three men
succumbed to Mawingo's charm. They bought the property and turned it into one
of the most unusual and exclusive Clubs in the world, 'The Mt Kenya Safari Club'.
It has blossomed over the years with each new addition - luxurious cottages
with sunken baths, a golf course, tennis courts, swimming pool, sauna - and
side by side to William Holden's favourite project, a 1000 acre game reserve
stocked with more than 800 wild animals. Following his death, it has now become
the William Holden Foundation. There is
no doubt that the historical background of Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club in
Nanyuki reads like a fairy tale. The only difference is that in this case,
the fairy tale happens to be a true story, which drawn upon the feelings of
almost everyone who hears about it and realizes that such a place does exist. It
really does have a romantic feel to the place, and I would love to come back
one day with that ‘someone special’.
After lunch we were
taken by golf buggy to our ‘suite’, which just happened to be the same price as
a standard room and it was amazing. We
were in a self-standing cottage, about a 5 minute walk from the main building,
UPHILL, and little did we appreciate at the time that this would be a good
thing after all the food we were going to consume over the next 3 days! Our cottage faced onto a large pond that had
ducks swimming around, surrounded by massive trees, birds chirping and we
really were in an African paradise! We
put the little guy, Matayo, down for a sleep, popped a bottle of red and then
we just appreciated the beauty of the environment and each other’s company, on
the deck, in nature, in AFRICA. I am so
lucky that I have found the friends I have, and I am forever thankful I met Sarah,
her husband Luca and their new addition to their family Baby Matayo. It will be a sad day when this little family
leave Kenya in the coming year. After a
quick freshen up and a phone call to the ‘golf buggy’ we were swiftly picked up
at 6.10pm for a lift back to the main house for a pre-dinner drink. They had chairs and tables on the lawn and a
massive jiko (open fire) burning as we watched the sun set and the warmth leave
the day and the cold snap settle in.
Dinner wasn’t until 7pm, so after seeing another equator sign at the
hotel, where we had to take another photo (number 3 for the day) we went inside
to the aptly named ‘Zebar’ (a play on Zebra) for one more pre-dinner drink and
heading into the restaurant at 7.30pm.
These are the good encounters
we take when we can get them. When the
country is still in a form of turmoil, these are the things that make it worth
staying for.
I love Kenya.
I love Africa.
…….and again I love the
people I have been lucky enough to call friends here to share in many of these
experiences.
Tomorrow we SAFARI!!!!!!
Tomorrow we SAFARI!!!!!!
just awesome! thanks for posting that.
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