Turkana Land is where you can relax kabissa! ‘Kabissa’ means ‘completely’ in Swahili language. It boasts miles upon miles of palm fringed, unspoiled sandy beaches on the shores of Lake Turkana, the world‘s biggest permanent desert lake. Swimming in its slightly alkaline waters cures many skin ailments, making it a giant natural spa.
For those who are fascinated by the fundamental questions of who we are and where we come from, there is no better place to follow the traces of our ancestors. Some of the most significant archeological findings of pre- and early manhood have been made here, and Turkana Land righteously claims the title Cradle of Mankind. This is the place where all humans stem from – so: Welcome back home!
In many ways you can regard Turkana Land as largely unexplored which offers you an opportunity to make your own discoveries and experience true adventures like nowhere else. Enjoy the open spaces and breathe freely, something which is getting hard to find in other regions of Kenya and the world.
Highlighted below are some of the amazing attractions that Turkana has to offer which can easily be explored in three circuits.
A unique cultural wealth
There are view places remaining in Africa of today where you can witness a traditional culture of such beauty and integrity. The Turkana culture is vivified by a unique wealth of dresses, hairstyles, jewellery, sayings, tales, songs, craftsmanship and knowledge. A visit to Turkana Land offers you the chance to experience the fascinating pastoralist way of life.
Rewarding hiking and rock climbing
There are many mountains, such as Silali Volcano, Loima Hills, Mogila Range or the Lokichar Hills that invite you for rewarding rock climbing and hiking tours. As camels are abundant in Turkana Land, you might also decide to use them as a support for carrying your equipment. Just be prepared to act as your own trail blazer and you will have the trip of your life time. These are truly virgin grounds which are waiting to be conquered by YOU!
Water games
Lake Turkana, the infamous Jade Sea offers a huge potential for water sporting, whether you love swimming, boat riding or fishing trips. You could also do a sailing cruise with fishing dhows or try balancing on a traditional raft. Winds are favourable for both, wind surfing and kite surfing, though for the time being you will have to bring your own equipment along.
Come, play in the wild!
The vast lands of Turkana are a no-limits playground for cross bike riders, 4WD fanatics and GPS freaks, plus anybody else who loves to be out in the bunduz. Make the campfire your kitchen, starry skies your ceiling and the freedom to move in any direction at any time a normality.
Experience real wilderness
Turkana Land is a wide and a wild country, where to the south, especially within the South Turkana National Reserve, elephant, leopard, oryx antelope, gazelle, warthog as well as an exceptionally high number of Kori bustard roam. Along the border with South Sudan in the extreme northwest, the massive savannah grassland of the Lotikipi Plains forms another haven for wildlife which is currently undergoing gazetting as National Reserve and definitely is worth visiting.
An island out of this world
A wilderness with an out-of-this-world flair is Central Island National Park, the home of thousands of birds and crocodiles in the middle of Lake Turkana. Three crater lakes talk of the volcanic origin of Central Island, one offering a home to flamingos, another to tilapia fish and the third to crocodiles. Ferguson Gulf near Kalokol with an abundance in pelicans, flamingos and other waterfowl is a bird watcher’s paradise and so are many other spots of Turkana, making it a prime destination for ‘birdies’.
Shopping of traditional handicrafts
If you want to treat yourself and shop something beautiful to take home with you, you will find plenty of artful traditional jewelry, like the colorful necklaces of Turkana women or the carved wooden elders’ stools on sale almost everywhere. Equally typical is the skilful basketry woven by Turkana women from dried doom palm leaves. The basketry market in the centre of Lodwar probably offers the best choice.
We have such an exciting city, thriving as a frenetic concrete jungle with lots of art and culture, fantastic social initiatives and a fascinating nightlife scene. Urban explorers would be more than ecstatic about this energetic cosmopolitan we call Nairobi. Something is always going on! It’s a vibrant city with so many varied activities woven into its web.
Amidst all this buzz however, there are certain quaint places that tell a story of this city’s past. Places that might just slip by you if you aren’t keen enough. The tale of this modern, upbeat, Kenya’s capital, sits pretty in various unassuming sites, which promise to serve a pleasant surprise when explored.
To get a proper feel of Nairobi at its essence, you have to immerse yourself into its glorious preceding times and pay homage to a place that began as a rail depot on the Uganda – Kenya Railway.
Let’s dive into and appreciate five (5) heritage attractions that allow historical enthusiasts to explore our capital’s chronicles and also serve as remembrance of their great architectural, aesthetic and historical importance.
1. Nairobi Railway Museum
This museum is dedicated to the history of the country’s rail network. As mentioned earlier, Nairobi saw its inception as a rail depot. Nairobi Railway Museum, housed in the former East African Railway offices, showcases an intriguing collection of artifacts, models of railway engines and a variety of exhibits illustrating the construction of the railway.
Within the museum yard, you will also get to experience a number of steam and some early diesel locomotives which operated as part of what was then the Kenya-Uganda Railway. Look out for the “man-eaters of Tsavo” tale in one of these locomotives. The very carriage from which a British superintendent was dragged by these beasts is on display here.
Entry Requirements
Category
Rate
Non-resident adult
Kes 600 (6 USD)
Non-resident student
Kes 300 (3 USD)
Resident adult
Kes 500
Resident student
Kes 200
Non-resident / Resident child
Kes 100
Citizen adult
Kes 200
Citizen student/child
Kes 100
Reserch Fee
Kes 1000
Payment only by Mpesa or Visa Card
Timings: Open Daily: 8am – 5pm (Including weekends and public holidays)
Photography is strictly forbidden unless confirmed by the establishment.
2. Kenya National Archives
Just a few blocks from the Nairobi Railway Museum, the Kenya National Archives sits quite conspicuously in downtown Nairobi. Amidst the modern skyscrapers in the city, this colonial building is not to be missed. Inside the doors of what we commonly refer to as just Archives, formerly the Bank of India, lies a treasure trove of approx. 40,000 public historical records and archives that go as far back as the pre-colonial era.
The ground floor of the Kenya National Archives building also houses the Murumbi Gallery (named after Joseph Murumbi, Kenya’s second vice president) which contains traditional weapons, ceremonial artifacts, furniture, textiles, musical instruments, fine arts, contemporary paintings, among other goodies collected in the 19th century. The gallery is currently the largest Pan-African art gallery in Africa. The collected artifacts were acquired by the government of Kenya after a concessionary arrangement was agreed upon with Joseph Murumbi, who had initially turned down several huge offers to buy his collections by overseas bidders.
If you are a history buff and stamp collection is kind of your thing, you will especially love this place.
Entry Requirements
The exhibitions are open to the public at a small fee of Kes 50 for citizens and residents, and Kes 200 for non-residents. If you would like to use their library services, they also charge a membership fee of Kes 200.
Timings: Open Daily 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Advance booking is required for schools and other institutions
3. Nairobi National Museum
Looking to dive in more into the Kenyan heritage? The Nairobi National Museum is your go to. Built in 1929, this is the flagship museum for the National Museums of Kenya, housing celebrated collections of Kenya’s History, Nature, Culture and Contemporary Art present for both educational and leisure purposes. Perhaps what’s even more impressive here are the in the early man section, where actual fossils, discovered in the country, are displayed. This includes the fossil of a proconsul that dates back 18 million years, which encouraged archaeologists to consider Kenya as the birthplace of humankind.
In addition to the museum, visitors are treated to a variety of shopping and dining facilities, as well as botanical gardens that offer a serene environment. The artworks and materials used in the fabrication of outdoor sculptures, the landscaping and the botanic gardens, link to the four pillars of Kenya’s national heritage i.e. nature, culture, history and contemporary art.
While here, you can also visit the Nairobi snake park founded in 1961 within the botanical garden. Hosted here are 20 different snake species, an aquarium and crocodiles, among other reptiles and amphibians.
Entry Requirements
Admission Hours Timings: Monday to Sunday: 8:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. All year round including public holidays and weekends.
The entry fee for Kenyan Citizens is Ksh150 per child and Ksh300 per adult, this is a combined National Museum and Snake Park entry fee.
Night Tours Exclusive for organized groups for a minimum of 10 people, a request can now be made through advance bookings for night tours through publicrelations@museums.or.ke.
Timings: The Museum will be open between 6:00pm – 10:00pm except when there is a privately held function.
NIGHT TOUR RATES
Category
Citizen – Kenya (Kes)
Residents – East Africa (Kes)
Non‐ Residents (Kes)
TOUR PACKAGE
Adults
500
1000
2000
Below 16 years
250
500
1000
GUIDED TOUR
Minimum 10pax
Adults
1000
2000
2000
Below 16 years
500
1000
1000
Combination Tickets
Discounted joint tickets are available to purchase at Nairobi National Museum that include admission to the Snake Park.
Citizen Adults Kes. 300 (save Kes. 100)
Child below 16 years Kes. 150 (save Kes. 50)
Resident Adults Kes. 600 (save Kes. 400)
Child below 16 years Kes. 300 (save Kes. 300)
Non-Resident Adults Kes. 1,500 (save Kes. 900)
Child below 16 years Kes. 1,000 (save Kes. 200)
4. Nairobi Gallery
Built in 1913, what is presently Nairobi Gallery was the Old PC’s office building fondly referred to as ‘Hatches, Matches and Dispatches’ because of the births, marriages and deaths that were recorded here. Today, the building is a National Monument and serves as a museum holding temporary art exhibitions
Divided into 6 main rooms, each containing a different collection, the Nairobi Gallery houses the Murumbi African Heritage Collection and temporary art exhibitions. It is also the location of Point Zero, from which all distances were measured in Kenya.
Inside the Joseph and Sheila Murumbi Room, items collected and used by the Murumbis are on display. Joseph Murumbi and his wife collected African artefacts and the works of African artists. In 1976, they sold the collection to the Kenyan Government. It became available to the public in 2013.
Entry Requirements
Category
Citizen – Kenya (Kes)
Residents – East Africa (Kes)
Non‐ Residents (Kes)
Adults
150
600
1,000
Below 16 years
100
400
500
Timings: Open Daily at 8:30am – 5:30pm.
5. Uhuru Gardens Memorial Park
Kenya’s largest Memorial Park, Uhuru (Swahili word for freedom) Gardens was declared a National Monument in 1966. Of importance to note is that it is Kenya’s birthplace. This is where the first Kenyan flag was raised marking the very first year of independence on the 12th December 1963.
Within the garden are two monuments commemorating Kenya’s independence, and a Mugumo (fig) tree. The first and most important of the two is a 24-metre high monument supporting a pair of clasped hands and a dove of peace and a statue of soldiers raising the Kenyan flag on one side depicting Kenya’s struggle and declaration of independence. The second monument is a fountain erected in 1983 marking the 20th anniversary of Kenya’s independence.
The Mugumo tree is symbolic as it was planted on the spot where the Union Jack (British flag) was brought down and Kenya’s national flag was first hoisted.
In addition to the historical significance, Uhuru Gardens continues to attract various events as a recreational park. It is popular as a rest area for families and friends, a must visit for schools and in recent times has gained popularity as an events venue for corporate launches, concerts, weddings, film location just to name a few.
Entry Requirements
Entry to the Garden is free but car parking fee is Kes 200
Every time you leave home,
Another road takes you
Into a world you were never in.
New strangers on other paths await.
New places that have never seen you
Will startle a little at your entry.
Old places that know you well
Will pretend nothing
Changed since your last visit.
When you travel, you find yourself
Alone in a different way,
More attentive now
To the self you bring along,
Your more subtle eye watching
You abroad; and how what meets you
Touches that part of the heart
That lies low at home:
How you unexpectedly attune
To the timbre in some voice,
Opening in conversation
You want to take in
To where your longing
Has pressed hard enough
Inward, on some unsaid dark,
To create a crystal of insight
You could not have known
You needed
To illuminate
Your way.
When you travel,
A new silence
Goes with you,
And if you listen,
You will hear
What your heart would
Love to say.
A journey can become a sacred thing:
Make sure, before you go,
To take the time
To bless your going forth,
To free your heart of ballast
So that the compass of your soul
Might direct you toward
The territories of spirit
Where you will discover
More of your hidden life,
And the urgencies
That deserve to claim you.
May you travel in an awakened way,
Gathered wisely into your inner ground;
That you may not waste the invitations
Which wait along the way to transform you.
May you travel safely, arrive refreshed,
And live your time away to its fullest;
Return home more enriched, and free
To balance the gift of days which call you.
“For mine is a generation that circles the globe and searches for something we haven’t tried before. So never refuse an invitation, never resist the unfamiliar, never fail to be polite and never outstay the welcome. Just keep your mind open and suck in the experience. And if it hurts, you know what? It’s probably worth it.” — Alex Garland, “The Beach”
Nothing affirms our belonging as kenyans this Madaraka day as the song Daima Mkenya – by Eric Wainaina . Though created years ago, the message resonates with us on a daily basis and so much so on this special day as we celebrate the freedom that our fore-fathers so vehemently fought for; releasing us from the clutch of colonialism.
Verse 1 Umoja ni fahari yetu Undugu ndio nguvu Chuki na ukabila Hatutaki hata kamwe Lazima tuungane, tuijenge nchi yetu Pasiwe hata mmoja Anaetenganisha
Chorus
Naishi, Natumaini,
Najitolea daima Kenya,
Hakika ya bendera
Ni uthabiti wangu
Nyeusi ya wananchi na nyekundu ni ya damu
Kijani ni ya ardhi, nyeupe ya amani
Daima mimi mkenya
Mwananchi mzalendo
Verse 2
Kwa uchungu na mateso
Kwa vilio na uzuni
Tulinyakuliwa Uhuru
na mashujaa wa zamani
Hawakushtushwa na risasi
au kufungwa gerezani
Nia yao ukombozi kuvunja pingu za ukoloni
Chorus
Naishi, Natumaini,
Najitolea daima Kenya,
Hakika ya bendera
Ni uthabiti wangu
Nyeusi ya wananchi na nyekundu ni ya damu
Kijani ni ya ardhi, nyeupe ya amani
Daima mimi mkenya
Mwananchi mzalendo
Verse 3 Wajibu wetu Ni Kuishi kwa upendo Kutoka ziwa Mpaka pwani Kaskazini na kusini
Chorus
Naishi, Natumaini,
Najitolea daima Kenya,
Hakika ya bendera
Ni uthabiti wangu
Nyeusi ya wananchi na nyekundu ni ya damu
Kijani ni ya ardhi, nyeupe ya amani
Daima mimi mkenya
Mwananchi mzalendo
What is Madaraka day?
Madaraka Day, 1 June, commemorates the day that Kenya attained internal self-rule in 1963, preceding full independence from the United Kingdom on 12 December 1963.
June 1, 1963, Jomo Kenyatta became prime minister of the newly-formed autonomous Kenyan government, seeking final reconciliation with the former British settlers. The country officially gained it’s independence on December 12, 1963.
The day had begun well. My friend and I were in Tsavo National Park, among the tangled vegetation and wild herds, searching for Eleanor. I was eager to find my most treasured orphaned elephant. Over my many years of involvement with elephants, there was no doubt about it: Eleanor had taught me the most about her kind. We had been through many ups and downs together. She was my old friend.
Finding her was not an easy task. Tsavo spreads over 8,000 square miles. We were looking now in the place where I had heard she had been just the day before. There had been many occasions in the past when, suspecting that Eleanor might be among a wild herd, I had simply called her name and she had turned quietly from her group and come to me. We had shared many tender moments, her massive trunk prickly as she wrapped it gently around my neck, one huge foot raised in greeting for me to hug with both my arms.
I had known Eleanor since she had become an orphan at two – now she was in her forties, almost the same age as Jill, my elder daughter – and there existed between us an amazing bond of friendship and trust that had persisted beyond her return to the wild. At last – in the right area – we spotted a wild herd. From a distance it was never easy to identify Eleanor among a milling crowd of her fellow adults, and I had never felt the need to do so, certain that she would always know me. Unlike the other wild elephants of Tsavo, who had no reason to either like or trust humans, Eleanor would always want to come when called, to greet me, simply for old times’ sake. I have come to know a lot about elephant memory and how very similar to ourselves elephants are in terms of emotion – afterall, greeting an old friend makes you feel good, remembered, wanted.
There stood a large cow elephant drinking at a muddy pool, her family already moving on among the bushes. From this distance, it didn’t look much like Eleanor, for although as large, this elephant was stockier. I told my friend as much.
“How disappointing,” he said. “I was so hoping to meet her.”
“I’ll call her,” I replied, “and if this is Eleanor, she will respond.”
She did. The elephant looked up at me, her ears slightly raised, curious. She left the pool and walked straight up to us.
“Hello, Eleanor,” I said. “You’ve put on weight.”
I looked into her eyes, which curiously were pale amber. I had a fleeting thought that Eleanor’s eyes were darker, but I dismissed this instantly. This must be Eleanor. Wild elephants in Tsavo simply did not behave in this way, approaching humans so trustingly. The Tsavo herds were now innately suspicious of our kind, having been relentlessly persecuted in the poaching holocaust of the 70s, 80s and early 90s.
“Yes,” I said to my friend. “This is Eleanor.”
Reaching up, I touched her cheeks and felt the cool ivory of her tusks, caressing her below the chin in greeting. Her eyes were gentle and friendly, fringed with long dark lashes; her manner was welcoming.
“She’s beautiful,” murmured my friend. “Stand next to her so that I can take a photo.”
I positioned myself beside one massive foreleg, reaching up my hand to stroke her behind the ear, something that I loved doing with Eleanor. The hind side of an elephant’s ear is as soft and smooth to the touch as silk and always deliciously cool.
I was totally unprepared for what happened next.
The elephant took a pace backwards, swung her giant head and, using her trunk to lift my body, threw me like a piece of weightless flotsam high through the air with such force that I smashed down onto a giant clump of boulders some twenty paces away. I knew at once that the impact had shattered my right leg, for I could hear and feel the bones crunch as I struggled to sit up. I could see too that I was already bleeding copiously from an open wound in my thigh. Astonishingly, there was no pain – not yet, anyway.
My friend screamed. The elephant – I knew for certain now that this was not Eleanor – rushed at me, towering above my broken body as I braced myself for the end. I closed my eyes and began to pray. I had a lot to be thankful for, but I did not want to leave this world quite yet. Inside I began to panic, jumbled thoughts crowding my mind. But suddenly there was a moment of pure stillness – as if the world had simply stopped turning – and as I opened my eyes I could feel the elephant gently insert her tusks between my body and the rocks. Rather than a desire to kill, I realized that the elephant was actually trying to help me by lifting me to my feet, encouraging me to stand. I thought: this is how they respond to their young.
But lifting me now could be catastrophic for my broken body.
“No!” I shouted, as I smacked the tip of the wet trunk that reached down to touch my face.
She gazed down at me, her ears splayed open in the shape of Africa, her eyes kind and concerned. Then, lifting one huge foot, she began to feel me gently all over, barely touching me. Her great ears stood out at right angles to her huge head as she contemplated me lying helpless, merely inches from the tip of two long, sharp tusks. I knew then that she did not intend to kill me – elephants are careful where they tread and do not stamp on their victims. If they do intend to kill, they kneel down and use the top of the trunk and forehead. And it was at this moment – with an astonishing clarity of thought that I can still feel within me to this day – I realized that if I were to live, I needed to fulfill the debt I owed to Nature and all the animals that had so enriched my life. For even as I could feel the broken bones within my crumpled body, feel the fire of pain now engulfing me, and even though it was one of my beloved creatures that had caused me this distress, I knew then and there that I had an absolute duty to pass on my intimate knowledge and understanding of Africa’s wild animals and my belonging to Kenya.
I thought: if I survive this, I will write. This will be my legacy. I will set down everything I have learned in my efforts to contribute to the conservation, preservation and protection of wildlife in this magical land.
It was as if the elephant had heard my thoughts. There was a tense silence as she took one more look at me and moved slowly off.
I would live on. In a state of some distress, my friend managed to find his way back to our driver to fetch help.
After many hours of lying beneath that boulder, experiencing agonizing pain such as never before, I was rescued by the Flying Doctors. My ordeal was far from over. I was to endure endless operations, raging infections, bone grafts and a lengthy convalescence in which it took me months of learning to walk again. But I was alive, still here in Africa. I had survived because of elephants’ extraordinary ability to communicate very sophisticated messages to each other, messages that often go against all their natural instinct. For we discovered that Eleanor knew Catherine – as we subsequently named my wild attacker – and had somehow told her that I was a friend.
As for my epiphany – the certainty that I had to write about my life and my work – here it is, some years down the line. This is the story of my settler ancestors; of growing up on my parents’ farm; of safaris and nights under the stars; of my soulmate David, my daughters Jill and Angela, the birth of our elephant orphanage, my life lived – all interwoven with spellbinding stories of the many different animals that have immeasurably enriched my life, animals I have reared and loved and come to know as a surrogate mother.
Set against the majestic land of Africa, the birthplace of mankind, my story begins.
The legendary American writer Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899-1961), winner of the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes, was probably the one introducing the word ‘safari’ to the English language. Hemingway traveled in East Africa two times in his life and the experiences gave him material for several short stories and novels. The remarkable personality of Hemingway also contributed to the image of the Great White Hunter. He was probably not the greatest of hunters but he had a true love affair with the hunting experience, the nature and wildlife of Africa. Without learning the Swahili language he also managed to have some understanding of the Kenyans, which was far from common at that time.
“All I wanted to do now was get back to Africa. We had not left it yet, but when I would wake in the night, I would lie, listening, homesick for it already.”
First Safari
From early in his life Hemingway traveled more than most people at that time. He had an enormous appetite for adventure, war and danger. That gave him a chance to show of the macho image he was creating for himself all his life. The first visit to Kenya and Tanganyika was in 1933 with his second wife, Pauline. He was probably a bit bored at the time seeking out new inspiration. Early on the safari Hemingway was sick with dysentery. He stayed several weeks in Nairobi where he met other adventure seeking men from Europe and America. One of them was Bror Blixen, the husband of Danish writer Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen). After continuing the safari and returning home Hemingway started writing the travel description “The Green Hills of Africa”. The book did not sell well at first, which depressed Hemingway, but his two major African short stories were quickly recognized to be among the highlights of his writings (The short happy life of Francis Macomber and The snows of Kilimanjaro)
The second safari
In the winter 1953-1954, Hemingway set of for Africa again. A bit older and changed – drinking far too much. Now traveling with his fourth and last wife, Mary, to enjoy another safari. He also wanted to visit his son, who was living in Tanganyika (Tanzania). The visit was in the middle of Kenya’s Mau-Mau rebellion ignited by later president Jomo Kenyatta. The rebellion against the British colonialists was very violent. Hemingway almost lost his life on this journey, but it was not as a victim of the Mau-Mau. As a matter of fact, it happened 2 or 3 times that Hemingway was declared dead (only the last time, of course, was it true). In January 1954 he had the rare chance of reading his own obituary notice. On the journey from Nairobi to Bukavo – Congo, he and Mary had several emergency landings in the small airplane together with the pilot Roy Marsh. They had two serious crashes near Entebbe in Uganda. They were alive, but wounded after the plane disappeared in flames. They decided to return to the luxury of New Stanley Hotel in Nairobi.
Hemingway wrote about this second safari and his flirt with a young, wakamba girl. The book is written as fiction, but most of it can be read as the diary of Hemingway. ‘True at first light’ was published posthumous in 1999. The unfinished manuscript was completed by his son Patrick. Ernest Hemingway shot himself on July 2nd 1961.
Things you may not have known about Ernest Hemingway…
1. He was a failed KGB spy
In the last few years of his life, Ernest Hemingway grew paranoid and talked about FBI spying on him. He was even treated with electroshock therapy as many as 15 times at the recommendation of his physician in 1960. It was later revealed that he was in fact being watched, and Edgard Hoover had personally placed him under surveillance. In 2009, the publication of Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America, revealed that the FBI was in fact right to spy on Ernest Hemingway, the Nobel prize-winning novelist, because he really was on the KGB’s list of its agents in America. Based on notes from a former KGB officer who was given access in the 1990s to intelligence archives in Moscow from the Stalin era, the book reveals that Hemingway was recruited in 1941 before making a trip to China, and was given the cover name “Argo”.
According to Soviet documents, he met with Soviet agents during the 1940s in Havana and London and “repeatedly expressed his desire and willingness to help us”. In the end, Hemingway turned out to be of little use to the Soviets however, as it’s claimed he failed to give them any political information and was never “verified in practical work”. By the 1950s, “Argo” was no longer an active Soviet contact. Some project that Hemingway’s escapades as a KGB spy were more likely all part of an elaborate charade by him to gather literary inspiration. Others suspect his paranoia over being watched by the FBI may have led him to take his own life.
2. Ernest Hemingway survived through anthrax, malaria, pneumonia, skin cancer, hepatitis, diabetes, two plane crashes (on consecutive days), a ruptured kidney, a ruptured spleen, a ruptured liver, a crushed vertebra, a fractured skull, and more.
In the end, the only thing that could kill Hemingway it would seem, was himself…
“In 1954, while in Africa, Hemingway was almost fatally injured in two successive plane crashes. He chartered a sightseeing flight over the Belgian Congo as a Christmas present to Mary. On their way to photograph Murchison Falls from the air, the plane struck an abandoned utility pole and “crash landed in heavy brush.” Hemingway’s injuries included a head wound, while his wife Mary broke two ribs. The next day, attempting to reach medical care in Entebbe, they boarded a second plane that exploded at take-off, with Hemingway suffering burns and another concussion, this one serious enough to cause leaking of cerebral fluid. They eventually arrived in Entebbe to find reporters covering the story of Hemingway’s death. He briefed the reporters and spent the next few weeks recuperating and reading his erroneous obituaries.”
3. Ernest Hemingway was charged with war crimes under the Geneva Convention when he took command and led of a group of French militia into battle against the Nazis.
Hemingway as a young soldier
Serving as a war correspondent during WWII, he had removed his non-combatant insignia and posed as a colonel. In the end, he was not convicted and claimed that he only offered advice and any titles given to him by the men were simply signs of affection. According to Hemingway himself, he and his unit were the first to enter the city during the Liberation of Paris, when he and his unit retook the Ritz Hotel, and more importantly the Ritz Bar, from Nazi control a full day before the Allied liberation force entered the city!
4. Ernest Hemingway killed himself with his favorite shotgun bought from Abercrombie & Fitch.
The suicide of his father haunted Hemingway until the day he followed his example. Indeed, depression and suicide plagued the Hemingway family: His grandfather committed suicide. two of Ernest’s sisters and his only brother, Leicester also killed themselves; two of his three sons received electroshock therapy for emotional turmoil; his granddaughter Margaux, a supermodel and sister of actress Mariel Hemingway, died in July 1996 in what was deemed a depression-related accident. Margaux and Mariel’s father, Hemingway’s eldest son John, now 75, has said with grim humor: “My brothers and I are determined to see just how long a Hemingway can live.” (Neil A. Grauer, Remembering papa)
Are you a value minded traveler looking to explore nature and enjoy delicious pot-boiling traditional foods? Then Kakamega and Bungoma counties in western Kenya are calling.
With a basketful of sights and sounds these areas will undoubtedly draw your appreciation for nature. Birding enthusiasts will for the most part love the Kakamega forest in Kakamega County, home to over 360 species of birds and more than 380 species of trees. The only tropical rainforest in the country, Kakamega forest is also host to 27 species of snakes, baboons, and white tail monkeys. An interesting spectacle here is Mama Mutere, a name coined by the locals for the oldest tree in the forest, nearly 400 years old.
Kakamega forest also provides for nature walks although it is advised that one carries a heavy jacket and gumboots on some occasions as the forest can get quite chilly and the terrain muddy when it pours.
Further down from kakamega is the stunning webuye (Broderick) falls in Bungoma County. Draining into Lake Victoria, the hippo infested falls serves as a beautiful destination for team building and great scenery. One can also enjoy a spectacular view of Webuye town from the Chetembe hills.
To relax, indulge and explore what nature offers, these areas are available for tourists at pocket friendly fees.
Lastly, you cannot have been to western Kenya without trying their famous sumptuous meal of the traditional chicken (ingokho) and ugali. These can be enjoyed at Park Villa and Camp David hotels.
Funzi Island is known for its pristine beaches and as Kenya’s best nesting site for a variety of sea turtles. Sailing, creek fishing, windsurfing and canoeing are some of the activities to enjoy here. Plus spotting dolphins should be fun!!!
One of Kenya’s most remote areas, Rusinga takes you away from hustle of city life. This place excudes an atmosphere of serene tranquility; Lapped by lake Victoria waters and with beautiful exotic gardens.
An aerial view of the beautiful environments, amazing sites and scenic accommodations only found in western Kenya, as seen from a new perspective: through the lens of a flying camera.
Produced, filmed and edited by Ben Kreimer for African SkyCAM and the Kenya Tourism Board.
Zuru Kenya 
