Please see teh latest onfo on Kenya visas....

"The Kenya Visa reduction is now in full force meaning travellers to Kenya will obtain a 50% reduction and under 16’s will go free when obtaining a visa before travel through the High Commission or when landing in Kenya. This 50% reduction and under 16 cut came into operation on 6th April 2009, only a few days later than expected, and will be valid until the end of 2010.



The move is to benefit visitors to Kenya in the long term and make the country even more appealing for the growing family market. The visa cost has been reduced from $50 to $25 and no cost for children under 16, so a family of four (with two children under 16) will now only have to pay $50 for the two adults, offering a massive saving of $150. If buying before travel with the High Commission the reduction means each Visa with be £20 rather than £30."

a good saving an even more reason to travel to Kenya!!!!!!!!!

give us a call on 020 7471 8780 or email info@kenyaodyssey.com for more info....

hello all!

please see the next game report from Kicheche....

"Despite concrete and photographic proof several weeks ago, the presence and location of the Mara's favourite rosetted daughter Zawadi was mystifying guests last week. That is until Joseph emphatically dismissed the bush rumours and hearsay.

A bumpy mid-morning drive towards Mara Rianta revealed this fabled feline lounging in some shade. Before too long she rose, grabbed her lunch, a fully grown Impala female and dragged it across the granite outcrops to a more secretive larder. This particular antelope meat must have anti-ageing properties well beyond any questionable ayurvedic potion or essential oil treatment, as despite being fourteen years old, she looked about three. More importantly later on that day one of her two five month old cubs emerged, slinking across to mum for some gratuitous grooming before disappearing, her belly full from her mother's generous table.

No cat in East Africa quickens the pulse like this enigmatic temptress. She tends to shun the celebrity limelight now, preferring to 'spend more time with her family' so a day in her company is a day cherished."

please give us a call if yoiu would like to go here or anywhere else in Kenya!!!!

please see the latest from the Mara....March....no game? Rubbish!!

"Of course March is low season in the Mara, there is no game, the rains turn the soil into glue and even the birdlife is scarce. The group in Mara Camp this last week may beg to differ. Many were seasoned Kicheche campaigners, delighting in the complete absence of other vehicles and the settled steady weather.

It is difficult to pick one particular event of their safari so this week's Spot will concentrate on two: a day of 42 lions and a morning leopard and cheetah sideshow which climaxed mid-afternoon as the Bila Shaka lions delivered a memorable matinee. Awaking from their slumbers in the deep shade of the Musiara oxbows they clambered onto a fallen olive trunk to survey the menu. This is no ordinary pride and they immediately fanned out menacingly - the classic horns of the buffalo approach. A small herd of zebras stood oblivious to the approaching disciplined infantry. The alpha female, the fabled 'one-eye' cut a distant path as an early foray took her a full kilometre around the back of her striped quarry. Watching this over two hours was extraordinary, even the guides had never seen such an intricate strategic assault. Finally at the critical moment a lone warthog spooked both the lions and zebras and one-eye made her charge across the bank of cameras trained on her. The tawny foot soldiers valiantly enacted their pincer moment but the warthog had spoiled their party. These are remarkable predators and unlikely to go hungry. This happened an hour from camp, closer to home, Nariku (first born) had killed a young wildebeest calf as it came to drink. She hoisted it high into a nearby olive tree then snarled as a mature lioness tried to ascend the tree and pilfer her hard won spoils. This feline theatre lasted for several hours with the sun breaking through illuminating this beautiful leopard as she transferred the carcass to a higher point in the canopy. Although great in itself it probably does not match the Bila Shaka manoeuvres, the fact that it was in full view of five tents - a mere two hundred metres from camp made it rather special. Low season, ignore the tripe written about these times of year and try for yourself."

if you would like prices for Kicheche Mara Camp then please give us a call on 0044 (0)20 7471 8780.........or email on info@kenyaodyssey.com

please read the latest from Kicheche camp....who said that Kenya has no game out of season...?!

"Even in the Mara it is rare to be perming from such riches, as this week's SOW vies with even the most potent editions from the migration months. Appropriately they both involve guests that have racked up at least a dozen visits in the last five years. It is touching the ownership people feel towards certain species, normally cats. Few have elicited such affection as Zawadi, the fabled leopard of countless TV serials and one burnished onto a thousand memory cards. She had not been seen for almost a year and many were fearing for this old girl. Not Jonathan. In her youth she was often seen at Leopard Gorge, the granite gorge empirically designed for spotting cats. In the last few years this rocky dwelling has been usurped first by lions and more recently by hyenas, however conceding bragging rights to its original title last week an early foray not only conjured up Zawadi, the parallel line of spots under her right eye make her unmistakeable, but also a four month old cub, apparently one of two. Two months ago the legendary Amani returned to her adolescent territory now the return of this prodigal daughter. This would normally be worthy of any SOW but yet again the young turks in Laikipia have trumped a cat as famous as this one.

Mid morning Mike was enjoying a sumptuous morning with a female white rhino and her six month old calf when all hell broke loose. Three hungry lionesses' broke up the ruminants party and tried to split the youngster from its mother. For 90 minutes the mother blundered after them with all the finesse of a government bail out package and the moment one lion retreated from this onslaught, the others would close in on the smaller quarry, forcing the mother to abandon her charge and return to police her calf. Eventually the lions backed off, perhaps settling for an easier hors d'oevre elsewhere than a gluttonous a la carte. Mike and his two guests, Dorothy and Bob returned to camp in complete silence, stunned by the morning's proceedings. You decide which is more worthy of this week's award, but we think Laikipia .... by a cat's whisker."

please drop us a line on 020 7471 8780 or go to the web site at www.kenyaodyssey.com for more information......go to Kenya!!!

Hello to one and all!

The reviews are coming thick and fast from kenya at the moment....this is from Sabuk, up in the Laikipia Plateau....they have wild dog!!!

"So 2009 has arrived, and it is great to hear that there are lots of people are getting enquiries for holidays - so we are ready to welcome them here in KENYA, especially SABUK!! And, we are offering some good "specials" this year!!


We have been lucky at Sabuk, in that we had some reasonable rains in November, and therefore we still have some good grass, still slightly green in colour, and the wild animals are happy to find this. Our dam/s and river have water in them, so we are frequently seeing greater kudu (including a couple of bulls with HUGE horns), eland, Grevy and plains' zebra, reticulated giraffe, impala, waterbuck, warthog and of course dikdik and klipspringer. We had masses of elephants here for a while, but now the big herds have moved on (for which our trees are very grateful!), but we do still have a few elephants around to keep the guests happy!


The wild dogs have been visiting us quite a lot, which has been exciting, and also there is a big tom leopard whom we see every now and then near the lodge. Other leopard have been spotted (excuse the pun) from time to time too. One of our camels was attacked by six lion - but he made it, and is alive and doing well.


And, of course, we still have the beautiful, scenic, wild countryside great for walking, as well as doing activities with camels, including our "Fly Camps". Talking of camels, we have now moved our herd of female camels and their calves to Sabuk - so guests can have the pleasure of visiting them when they come back to their boma in the evening, or see them before they go out. The calves with their dangly legs are very endearing!


Sabuk is a great place to meet with the local tribes, being Samburu, Laikipiak Masai and Turhkana - and 98% of our staff come from the neighbouring lands. Since we have taken over Sabuk three years' ago, we have started a bank account for the local school, which we support; and now the number of pupils has more or less doubled!! As you know, we are very involved with the local community, and for each person staying at Sabuk, we give them a bednight fee. Recently, we brought a lady here to teach some of the women to make paper, using waste paper and elephant dung (we live on an elephant corridor, and it is very important that the local community get some good out of the elephant, who do at times bother them), as well as encourage the women to create good beadwork items. Of course, guests are always welcome to visit the school, the elephant dung making paper women, and the local village where they are able to purchase the beadwork. Very often, guests from Sabuk are invited to special cultural ceremonies, like tribal weddings, etc.

As you know, Sabuk welcomes and can accommodate all types of guests, whether they are couples; honeymooners; single people who want to become 'part of the family'; elderly who want to relax overlooking breath-taking views; young, active, adventuresome people who want to take good walks, runs, swim in the river, etc. , and families with children. It would be a spectacular place for "photo shoots", weddings (we even have a church at the top of the hill!), conferences, incentive groups, and all -"

if you would like to have a shat with an expert about Sabuk or any ther lodges in Kenya then please either call (0044)020 7471 8780, or email info@kenyaodyssey.com

Hello to all.....Happy New Year!!

please see the latest game reopt from the Governors' Camps in the west of the Mara...

December Game Report, Masai Mara

December brought cooler mornings (averaging 15ºC) and hot days (averaging 36 ºC) out on the plains. A little rain fell keeping the savannah grass green and the wildflowers in bloom including Gloriosa Superba, Scadoxus Multiflorus, Crossandra Nilotica and Clerodendrun Myricoides, and the sweet scented Gardenia Ternifolia. In the woodlands many of the Warburgia Ugandensis (African green heart) trees and Tectlea Simplicifolia are in fruit. Much to the delight of feasting monkeys, baboons and families of elephant.

Elephant families with tiny calves have been feeding on the Warburgia fruits in the forest and on the soft grasses of the marsh. There are also many bulls in musth and a few have been seen mating.

The young plains game born a couple of months ago are growing, thriving and frolicking in the grasslands. Topi dominate the high plains with crèches of up to 12 young calves with their mothers grazing nearby. Around the riverine woodlands close to camp giraffe families with young calves have been feeding. Large herds of impala females with young fawns were very close to the camps with bachelor herds nearby and warthogs with two month old piglets have been grazing on the fringes of the marsh. Warthog sows were seen with 3-5 piglets and often with another young adult female (born last year) who helps with the raising of the young.

We were delighted to see a small herd of breeding eland in the marsh together with a few good sized bulls. bush buck males and females have been grazing on the edges of the woodlands in the early morning and evening and on the east side of the marsh the short grass has exposed small units of female Bohors Reedbuck. In the last 8-10 days there have been many zebra and wildebeest moving down from the Koiyaki conservation areas towards the Musiara Marsh driven by a lack of good grazing and competition with Masai cattle in these areas bordering the reserve.

Two large troops of resident Olive Baboons have been foraging around the fringes of the forest and the marsh. Baboons are terrestrial primates and have a more omnivorous diet that their arboreal cousins with insects and some meat included in their diet. The males do not maintain life-long social ties with their kin and so female kinship forms the core of the Olive (Anubis) Baboon society. The females do not emigrate from their natal groups and so female kin tend to have life-long associations. Within a troop, there is a dominance hierarchy of matrilines. In general, an individual female occupies a place in the hierarchy immediately below her mother. Dominance relationships appear to develop from infancy, when maternal kin intervene in encounters with other baboons. On the morning of the 29th there was a show down of baboon activity with a tremendous noise and many males running around. The commotion caused many females to jump into the Mara River and swim across. In the confusion one infant fell into the rapids of the river and was swept fifty meters downstream before it was retrieved by its panic stricken mother.

On the 23rd one female Black Rhino was seen on the west side of Rhino Ridge and also earlier on in the month a female probably the same one was seen near the Musiara airstrip.

The Bila Shaka/Marsh pride of three males, four breeding females and their nine cubs of varying ages have been near our airstrip and on the edges of the marsh. They have been feeding off the resident buffalo, zebra, topi and eland. One of the males was mating with one of the females and another male is in poor shape. He appears to have broken his lower jaw and has trouble eating, his left lower canine is broken and he is scarred on his face.

The paradise/Ridge pride of 4 males and females are continuing to thrive and were seen towards the end of the month crossing the Mara River into the reserve.

The female cheetah Shakira has been regularly hunting Thomson Gazelle fawns and hares up on the ridges and down on the plains and her three cubs (now five months old) are healthy and growing stronger. The three nomadic cheetah males have been out on the plains hunting Thompson Gazelles. A coalition of males like these three will travel great distances in search of prey and the possibility of females in estrus.

The female cheetah Malaika now only has one cub (nearly two months old), on the 19th we noticed that one cub was missing we suspect that the cub may have been taken by a resident leopard as leopard are partial to killing and eating other felines.

The female cheetah Alama made a great recovery and now has the strength to hold and suffocate larger prey species and is feeding off Thomson Gazelles and their fawns. Tragically two days ago she also lost two of her cubs, we think once again to a leopard.

Speaking of leopard, we have had lots of fabulous sightings of leopard again this month. Kijana the young male has been seen regularly on the edge of the marsh. A female and cub has been seen on the banks of the Talek River and a large male has been in the forest near Il Moran, venturing close to camp in the evenings.

.....the Mara, as always, is teeming with game!!!


please give us a call on the below to ask about the Mara or anywhere else in Kenya....

(0044)20 7471 8780 or email on info@kenyaodyssey.com

we look forwrad to helping you plan a trip!!

Hi all!

please see the new update from Governors'....game is good there as always!....

"The month of November brought warmer days (averaging 18ºC in the morning and 28 ºC at mid day). Rainstorms arrived in the second half of the month and on the evening of the 30th a large storm swept in with strong winds, heavy rain and hail. Sadly the storm brought a number of African Green heart trees crashing down. The savannah grasses and in particular the red oat grass are thriving after the rains and have a flush of new green growth and some spectacular wild flowers, like the orange Lion's Ear (Leonotis nepetifolia), the delicate Crossandra Subacaulis, the beautiful Stathmostelma Rhacodes and the magnificent Fireball Lily (Scadoxus). November also saw the arrival of many migrant bird species from Europe, and we had wonderful sightings, of common red shank, common green shanks and black winged stilts.

The resident herds of Topi and Coke's Hartebeest continued to calve throughout November. Many mothers with very young calves (some only a few hours old) were seen out in the grasslands and there are still many females yet to calve down. Lots of other plains game have young at the moment. There are warthogs with little piglets that are a month old (sows
lose piglets quite easily due to temperature changes and predation and there is a mortality rate of up to 45% before they are six month old). The resident breeding herd of Cape buffalo has many young calves and is spending a lot of time in the Bila Shaka grassland areas where the red oat and hyparrhenia grasses (heavy stem) grow and make up their ideal grazing fodder. Defassa waterbuck in breeding herds with 3-6 month old calves have been frequenting the marsh grasslands. On the ridges female Spotted Hyena have very young cubs in their dens some of which are weeks old and are still black in colour and towards Paradise plain a family of silver-backed jackals with seven pups has been exploring the plains.

The elephant families have been out in the grasslands feeding, and many bulls have been congregating with some of the larger males coming into Musth (readiness for mating with high levels of testosterone). The African Green heart trees (Diospyros) are continuing to fruit, drawing Olive Baboons in large troops to the forest fringes. Large handsome Blue monkeys, which are more arboreal than the Baboon, were seen and heard in the woodlands around camp. Within the woodlands and on the adjacent grasslands there are many Masai Giraffe in large herds with the younger males sparring by 'necking' for mating rights. A few common Zebra and wildebeest (with 6-7 month old calves) remain on Paradise and Topi Plains, the large herds having travelled to the Serengeti. Those that remain have been filing back to the east towards the open plains near the Loita Hills.

On the edges of the marsh, Serval cats and in particular a rather tenacious male have been hunting.

The Bila Shaka/Marsh lion pride of three males, seven breeding females and their nine cubs of varying ages have been staying close to our airstrip (much to the delight of arriving and departing guests) and the Musiara Marsh area where they have been hunting regularly."

please give us a call if you need any help choosing the best lodges etc.....020 7471 8780.....