This luxury holiday home catering to Mombasa living is bound to make your coastal visit one to remember. Inspired by Miami design, this elegantly furnished house sleeps up to six people.
casa de palma
“Malibu” comes fully furnished with two bedrooms, one office/bedroom, 3 baths, roof terrance with wet bar and jacuzzi, private garden with lap pool and outside dining, washer/dyer, air-con units in all rooms, 3 flat screen TVs with DSTV, and high-speed fiber internet connection.
Roof terrace with jacuzzi
pool by night
At Casa de Palma all the details are looked after. As a guest, you get to rest easy with 24-hour compound security, including guards, electric fence and power backup system all within the safe Mtwapa East Community.
GardenGarden
Whether you stay for a month or a night you will find more than just the essentials to make your stay exceptional.
The modern kitchen is fitted out with full sized American fridge that includes fresh water dispenser and ice marker, top of the line Ariston stove, oven and microwave and beautiful European plate-ware.
Modern kitchenModern kitchenModern kitchen
For quiet movie nights or to catch the news in the morning, the living room boasts a 55” Samsung smart TV with DSTV connection and surround sound. Each of the two bed- rooms are also contain Samsung smart TV on a swivel arm for optimal viewing from bed.
Living room
The two main bathrooms on the second floor offer beautiful rainfall showers with on demand hot water from the solar water heater and high quality bathroom finishing.
casa de palma bathroom
Bathroom
The bedrooms offer orthopedic Latex mattresses from IKEA, private balconies, aircon units and beautiful high spec wardrobes.
Staying at Casa de Palma is not only pleasant but well worth it at $120 a night. The fact that it’s also located within Mtwapa creek near etablishments like La Marina Restaurant, the range of activities do to here is endless.
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.
With great sadness, we report the death of Satao, one of Tsavo’s most iconic and well-loved tuskers. This magnificent elephant was widely known in Tsavo East National Park, where he was observed with awe by many thousands of Tsavo’s visitors over the years. No longer will Tsavo and Kenya benefit from his mighty presence. Satao was shot dead by poisoned arrow on 30th May 2014. The arrow had entered his left flank and he stood no chance of survival. We spotted his carcass on 2nd June but to avoid any potential false alarms, we first took pains to verify the carcass really was his. Today it is with enormous regret that we confirm there is no doubt that Satao is dead, killed by an ivory poacher’s poisoned arrow to feed the seemingly insatiable demand for ivory in far off countries. A great life lost so that someone far away can have a trinket on their mantelpiece.
Satao, a mighty beast and one of Tsavo’s best loved icons
THIS REPORT HAS BEEN CLEARED FOR PUBLIC CIRCULATION BY THE KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE.
INCIDENT REPORT
For the last 18 months, KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE (KWS) and TSAVO TRUST jointly monitored Satao’s movements using aerial reconnaissance, and KWS deployed ground personnel in his known home range. But with today’s mounting poaching pressures and anti-poaching resources stretched to the limit, it proved impossible to prevent the poachers getting through the net.
Immediately reports of a fresh carcass in this area of Tsavo were received by KWS, a TSAVO TRUST reconnaissance flight took off with a KWS officer on board. It did not take long to locate the carcass near the boundary of the National Park. A joint KWS / TSAVO TRUST ground team followed up immediately. Despite the mutilated head, they deduced that the carcass was most probably that of Satao for the following reasons:
Satao was well known by the KWS / TSAVO TRUST units operating continuously in this area. When he was alive, his enormous tusks were easily identifiable, even from the air. Although the poachers had hacked off his face and taken his ivory, there were other physical attributes and circumstantial evidence that pointed to this carcass being that of Satao.
Satao was very much a creature of habit. He roamed a very specific area, known to KWS and TSAVO TRUST, most often in the company of small groups of bull elephant.
With the recent rain, over 1,000 elephants have moved into the area to take advantage of the green and plentiful vegetation. Satao had not moved from this area for the last two months.
Satao was last seen alive by TSAVO TRUST on 19th May 2014, just 300 meters from where his carcass now lies. He was with four other bulls that he was frequently seen with. During May 2014, TSAVO TRUST had observed him no fewer than 9 times from the air and several times from the ground. Protection efforts were stepped up when he ventured right up to the boundary of the Park (an area that is a historical and present poaching hotspot, especially for poachers using poisoned arrows).
Satao had “clean ears” – there were no cuts, tears or obvious scars, making him easily identifiable when he was alive and now that he is dead.
The mud caked on his mutilated forehead and back was similar to that seen on him when he was alive.
Since locating the carcass, several joint KWS / TSAVO TRUST reconnaissance flights have tried and failed to locate Satao in his known home range.
The facts all point to the same appalling conclusion and we are left with no choice but to acknowledge that the great Satao is no more.
Satao, second from the rear, in the company of his fellow Tsavo bulls
THE ENORMITY OF THE TASK AT HAND
The area Satao frequented is a massive and hostile expanse for any single anti-poaching unit to cover, at least one thousand square kilometers in size. Roads and tracks are few and far between and in parts the vegetation is very thick, making access difficult. Elephants concentrate here in large numbers after the rains which come in from the coast. The communities living just beyond the National Park boundary persistently carry out illegal activities inside the Park in this area. Understaffed and with inadequate resources given the scale of the challenge, KWS ground units have a massive uphill struggle to protect wildlife in this area. There is a tremendous will amongst the KWS field units and the TSAVO TRUST personnel working alongside them to protect Tsavo’s elephant herds but more help is needed.
COOPERATION IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY
At times like this, it is hard to see any positive side to the situation. But let’s not forget that Satao’s genes survive out there, somewhere in the Tsavo elephant population and they too need protecting. Satao would have been at least 45 years old. During his lifetime he would have weathered many droughts and seen many other poached elephants, and he would have sired offspring that, given a safe environment to grow up in, may become tomorrow’s generation of great Tsavo tuskers.
We also wish to emphasize the level of cooperation and coordination between KWS and TSAVO TRUST that this incident proved. Without the regular joint KWS / TSAVO TRUST aerial reconnaissance of this section of the Park, Satao’s carcass may not have been found, and as a result KWS’s swift and successful follow-up may not have ensued. Following TSAVO TRUST’s report from the air, KWS ground units were immediately deployed. The KWS reaction was rapid and decisive, and is still ongoing. Due to the sensitivities of such operations and the risk of compromise, we cannot comment further on the progress being made. We hope to relay additional updates in due course.
Meanwhile, we applaud KWS’s success in arresting the main poison dealer and supplier in Kilifi, whose deadly product has been the cause of many painful and wasteful elephant deaths in Tsavo.
Working together – and often against the odds – we can continue to make a positive difference to Tsavo and to Tsavo’s elephants.
Tsavo is our home, our passion and our life’s work but, as the untimely death of Satao so tragically proves, we cannot win every time. Rest in peace, Old Friend, you will be missed. Rest assured the fight to protect Tsavo’s elephants goes on.
It is 1.15pm, and before I have my sumptuous lunch at the Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort and Spa in Mombasa, I decide to put down a few thoughts of my six-day visit to three different parts of Kenya with a Ugandan delegation.
“This is a beautiful country,” I remember my colleague Edgar Batte saying earlier. Abu Mwesigwa had chimed in: “Unfortunately, some Kenyans don’t know what they have and that is why they let outsiders disrupt their peace.”
Here were Ugandans enjoying what God gifted Kenya.
This was a dream holiday coming true. However, I could have freaked out had I been fainthearted. A day before my flight from Kampala last Saturday, a bomb had gone off in Nairobi.
A few days earlier, British tour firms had evacuated their clients fearing for their safety after some Western governments issued travel advisories, especially against travelling to the Kenyan Coast.
It is some of these places that I was due to visit on invitation of the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB), who are now looking to Uganda to boost the number of foreign tourists.
On May 17, I boarded a Kenya Airways flight from Entebbe and landed at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after a 50-minute journey.
The Immigration officer allowed me a six-month stay in Kenya despite my telling him that I was spending only six days.
During my stay, I have spent nights in four hotels: Stanley in Nairobi, Sarova Mara in Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Swahili Beach in Diani, South Coast and the Whitesands from where I am working now. From the four hotels, Whitesands seems to have the highest number of guests, and guess what, the majority are Africans.
The friend who had warned me on Facebook about travelling to Kenya would certainly have been put to shame by the number of visitors.
He had seen my photos as I enjoyed swimming at the grand Swahili Beach. Cowardly attacks would not stop me from visiting the Mara, the beautiful beaches in Diani, and enjoying swimming, scuba diving and watching dolphins in the Indian Ocean at the reef near Wasini Island.
Now at the mainland in Mombasa, I cannot imagine fear would deny me such an experience.
And forgive my language, only stupid Kenyans could collaborate or allow foreigners to deny them to enjoy this immensely endowed country.
On Saturday, together with six colleagues from Uganda, we spent a night at Stanley. The attention to detail of the staff was my highlight.
I was in a beautiful room facing Kimathi Street. I later ventured into the night, starting out at Mojos and Tribeka, just opposite Nation Centre. I later relocated to Club Rumours on Tom Mboya Street. It was full-house in the entertainment spots as Arsenal fans celebrated their first trophy in nine years.
We danced to local music, and Ugandan artistes like Jose Chameleone, Radio and Weasal also played through the night. I walked back to my hotel room at 3.20am and slept for two and half hours before I was woken up to catch a flight at Wilson Airport.
Our flight on a Safarilink plane to the Mara was filled with foreigners. A few Europeans I spoke to dismissed the travel advisories and said they were having fun in Kenya.
SUNDOWNER IN THE WILD
Kenyans have heard so much about the Mara and I am the wrong person to talk about it. But it’s good to note the sundowner in the park, dinner in the wild in the dark night, the tent bandas at the Sarova Mara Lodge, and the animals that were kind enough to come out to be seen.
Uganda is increasingly becoming Kenya’s friend in deed. Even as the tourist industry is getting a beating from travel advisories and terrorism threats, Ugandans have not stopped visiting.
In fact, more are arriving, not for business or jobs but for holidays. According to KTB statistics, Ugandans have overtaken South Africans as the continent’s top visitors to Kenya with Nigerians coming second.
Last year, Ugandan tourists arriving by air numbered 47,398, South African were 36,409 and Tanzanians were 28,561. Ms Ann Kanini, the public relations officer for KTB says they have rolled out marketing programmes in Uganda, South Africa, Nigeria, China and India because those markets are “less sensitive” and can take advantage of the low seasons to enjoy Kenya’s wonders.
“Most Ugandans who come to Kenya for honeymoon or holidays largely go to the beach,” says Ms Kanini.
Now Kenya wants to increase awareness of more destinations they can visit such as the marine parks in Wasini, the luxury beaches in the South Coast, Nakuru, Naivasha, and parks like the Mara.
“Cooperation between Uganda and Kenya is picking up well and in the last two years, Kenya has engaged more than 10 key tour operators from Uganda,” Ms Kanini says.
Kenya wants Ugandans to visit more than the regular sites. When I arrived at the Coast through Ukunda airport, a flight that took one hour and 20 minutes from Nairobi, we checked into the Swahili Beach Hotel near the airport.
The hotel can easily be mistaken for a traditional structure plucked out of the 18th century Arabic-cum-Indian epoch. The rooms give a feel of the life of sultans of yesteryears and the swimming pool stretches down to the beach.
On our fourth day, we drove 70km south, stopping at Shimoni in Kwale County. Here, we passed the slave caves, and boarded the Dolphin Dhow. We headed into the ocean, towards Wasini Islands, a land of 3,500 residents. The island sits on a coral reef with mangrove trees as vegetation.
In the middle of nowhere, we saw light blue water and our guide, Hamis Ali — a young man who speaks Arabic, German, French and Spanish in addition to English and Kiswahili and his local Digo language — told us we could swim. “What?” I asked. Here, he said, are beaches in the middle of the sea because of the coral reef that rises and it is gifted with sands like you find on the main beach. As we swam on a reef in the Indian Ocean, we could see the Tanzania mainland in the distance. Not far from where we were swimming, we saw three pairs of magnificent dolphins.
Our guide told us that the Digo, the small tribe on the island, look after the dolphins. “We don’t swim with dolphins but dolphins are allowed to swim with us,” he said.
It is here in the middle of nowhere — but feeling like I am living in paradise — that I looked around and the only Kenyans on board were the dhow captain, our two guides and KTB representatives. Down in the reef we saw all kinds of fish, and the corals which are soft unlike the rocky ones on the mainland. Ms Kanini could only ask, “do you see what Ugandans who end their trips in Mombasa miss?” She was right.
As the sun went down, we rushed back to Shimoni, but not before visiting Wasini Island. We walked through the coral park that is under the care of a women’s group on the island, where a wood bridge stretches through the mangrove forest and connects two villages. We were warned not to walk barefoot on the island because the corals were acidic.
At Shimoni, as darkness approached, we entered the historical slave caves from where those captured from the hinterland, as far as Uganda, were detained in a warehouse and shipped to faraway lands. That broke down my spirit but I appreciated it as part of East Africa’s history.
We later returned to Mombasa. As I signed out on Friday, the front desk manager at Sarova Whitesands told me that many Ugandans have spent nights at the hotel.
“And they know how to spend their money,” Jayne said.
Ms Kanini only wishes Ugandans who come for wedding and honeymoons at the Whitesands venture into places like Wasini and experience the marine parks.
With my flight only two hours away, I tell my friend on Facebook, “What travel advisories were you talking about?”
How time flies, its been a year already and we have lots to be thankful for…
“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more.
If you concentrate on what you don’t have,
you will never, ever have enough.”
Oprah Winfrey
1. We are thankful for the gift of life first and foremost.
2. This beautiful country of ours, the vast lands, beautiful culture and a welcoming people without which this blog would be nonexistent.
3. We are thankful for having started a beautiful journey exploring this beautiful country of ours – Kenya, and having some members of the blogger family join us along the way.
From the book Kenya. Photo by Michael Poliza.
4. Kenya is going through very trying times given the insecurity levels at present, but we are thankful that despite all that our brotherly love and spirit has not died. We are still one! ( A moment of silence for all those we’ve lost to terrorism.)
5. Our families and friends definitely make the list.
6. The passion for writing and travel.
From the book Kenya. Photo by Michael Poliza.
7. All the regions we have already covered…and the many more we are yet to.
8. Our fellow bloggers who ensure we are up to date with our facts, never-failing to correct us when we’ve erred…we are grateful.
9. The opportunity to discover different historical pasts of our land and to fall in love with Kenya over and over.
10. One year of blogging…can’t believe it’s already been a year, Blimey!
As we continue in this journey, we hope to make many more friends along the way, travel to many more destinations, and discover much, much more than we’d expect. Cheers to Travel!!!
Not so long ago, several anonymous graffiti artists caused a great hullabaloo on the streets of Nairobi. Their mission, to mobilize Kenyans for change in last year’s general elections. The Ma-Vulture graffiti revolution hoped to encourage Kenyans to ditch politicians widely viewed as corrupt, ineffective and divisive.
The political murals, all done in the dead of the night, painted Kenyan politicians as Vultures; describing the scandals that have engulfed Kenya and the political mischief practiced by Kenyan politicians among other shoe-pinching-political issues.
Despite being popular in some Kenyan neighborhoods, graffiti culture has often not been appreciated by the public, viewing it as vandalism and a symbol of rebellion but this is slowly changing. From featuring in small kiosks/shops and neighborhood walls, graffiti artists are now making a name for themselves doing bigger and better things.
“Mathare Wall” by Bankslave
Along with the Ma-Vulture revolution was the Peace Train Project which yet again, saw graffiti artists come together in partnership with the Kibera Walls for Peace team to create a HUGE peace mural along the entire side of a 10-car commuter train which passes by Kibera. This project was especially vital as Kibera is where rioters tore up the train tracks during the 2007 post election violence. The artwork featured messages of peace for the upcoming election with the main phrase, “Tuwache Ukabila, Tuwache Ubaguzi, Tuishi Kwa Amani”
Then there was the spray for change Project with Basco Paints. The manufacturer of Duracoat worked hand in hand with top Kenyan graffiti artists to create images of a New Kenya on ‘canvas’. The canvas, being the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, was an ideal backdrop to showcase a new Kenya to Kenyans from all walks of life, as well as international visitors. This project served to promote the artists, our country and the voice of a new generation to Kenyans and the world at large.
Spray for change additionally, hoped to drive urban art to become a way of beautifying neighborhoods and a form of sustainable income generation for up and coming artists. Delivery trucks for Basco Paints were commissioned as canvases for these artists to showcase their work, creating “mobile” art galleries for Kenyans to experience.
The artist that received the most votes for their New Kenya art piece, Swift9 walked away with a cash prize and paint for a community initiative of their selection, totaling Kshs 250,000.
Swift9 (center) next t his winning piece of 800m Olympic champion, David Rudisha, with Basco Paints MD, Kamlesh Shah (right) and Head of Marketing, Altaf Jiwa (left)
“Rudisha represents Kenya’s sports and athletics. Everybody rejoices when Kenya wins, no matter where you are in the country. It unites us.” Swift9
Swift9
My style is Urban Ethnikk.I’ve been involved in numerous graffiti projects and workshops in Kenya and around the world. I want to bring graffiti art to the mainstream audience in East Africa and the global graffiti community. My portfolio encompasses exhibitions and collaborations, group and live demos that I have been a part of locally and globally.
other renown Kenyan Graffiti artists include;
Tyso
I learnt different art forms from watching art students when I was younger, but my true love for art was born at Words and Pictures (WAPI) when I touched on graffiti. With my high school deskmate J Kello, we formed our crew and the next thing we knew we won a prize for the best graffiti piece at WAPI. Since then doing graffiti and design became my livelihood.
Bankslave
My preferred medium of expression is spray paint. As part of the Nairobi underground scene, I have done massive murals all over Nairobi. I’ve collaborated with 60Nozzles, Gas Crew, Spray-Uzi (Kenya) and Ghetto-Pimps Crew (Germany). I just came from completing the Kibera train graffiti project where I painted the first graffiti on a train in Kenya, if not Eastern Africa.
Esen
My style is 3D graffiti. My drive is to put the East African graffiti scene on the world map. I’m in one local and two international crews, 3WG (3rd World Graff) which I co-founded with my fellow crewmate Wise 2, TPA (The Public Animals), runs with SC (Silver Caps Worldwide) which started in Barcelona.
Wise Two
My art is a fusion of stencils, and psychedelic and African graffiti patterns. Through showcasing my art in various international exhibitions and events, I’m working to create awareness of the Kenyan graffiti art movement amongst the global graffiti community and play an integral part in bringing graffiti art to the mainstream East African audience.
Kerosh
Graffiti has to be relevant, aesthetically appealing and full of content that is thought provoking .This form of art requires a very conscious mind, concrete research, daring charm and guts.
Shan
I have worked and been a part of G.A.S- Graffiti Artists and I.C.G- Intense Cities Group. I’m part of a crew called Banditry Unlimited Customz (BUC) who deal with customizing items through art. Graffiti is the future of ART, and with avenues and platforms such as the one accorded by WAPI, its acceptance and growth as an art form is solely inevitable.
Smokilah
I’m a professional graffiti artist who specializes in mural art. I’m part of Spray Uzi, one of the most prolific graffiti Crews in Nairobi including members such as Swift9, Uhuru Brown and Bankslave. We are responsible for splashing Nairobi with beautiful graffiti Murals that you see all over. Currently, I’m stationed at Pawa254 Hub.
Uhuru B
A mixed media and graphic artist, my name Uhuru means freedom and stands for (Upendo, Halisi, Undugu, Riziki, Utu) translated to “The importance of love and the brotherhood of our well-being“. My own story manifests confluence and the idea of people coming together as one. I promote messages of truth, emancipation, spirituality, and freedom through my art.
Perhaps one of the biggest reasons graffiti is misunderstood as an art form is because it is often done illegally and the artists are often secretive about their real identities. In fact, getting a graffiti art trainer is not easy and one ‘has to know someone who knows some’ to reach them, as most of them do not use their real names to tag.
Kenyan artists are using this expressive form of art as a medium to spread positive messages. Street art is about the message behind it. Its not about what they are doing but the point they are trying to bring across.
There will never be a stop to graffiti, it is an epidemic. Cannot be stopped. No matter what there is no cure.
Still many think it is not criminal, but a way to spread a positive message.
“Street art is about the message behind it, it’s not about what they’re doing but about the point they’re trying to bring across,” senior Eddie Lopez said
Street art is a big thing in Chicago. Especially in the more urbanized areas like Pilsen, North and South sides. It is so popular because there are many communities who do support graffiti because it keeps the youth busy. They think of it as art.
“Street art brings out the culture in the community, it is beautiful if you ask me,” senior Alexander Herrera said
“Graffiti is art because art comes in many different perspectives, it’s awesome,” sophomore Ericka Bucio said
It’s free and it’s important.
“Graffiti is art because graffiti isn’t sold for millions of dollars, its out for everyone to see. It’s not in a gallery for certain people to notice and pay millions of dollars for it. Graffiti is free for everyone to see,” senior Kimberly Rodriguez said
Art comes in many different shapes and sizes. Art is what comes from one and expressed onto something else. “The art of being Art”
“Graffiti is too powerful, it cannot be stopped. Art can’t be stopped,” senior Eddie Lopez said.
The city does almost everything to stop graffiti but do we see any change? They can enforce laws and it might sleep for a while but graffiti will always find a way.
“There will never be a stop to graffiti, it is an epidemic. Cannot be stopped. No matter what there is no cure,” former Cicero graffiti writer Slite One said
Graffiti is seen as become to be intertwined with hip-hop culture and modern styles derived from New York city subway graffiti in the 1980’s and 90’s. It was on trains for everyone to see. “Train Bombing” it trended as. The meaning was “Bombing the system” they were rebellious. Eventually became a problem that New York was trying to avoid. Trains will be clean at the end of the day but at sunrise these trains were filled with colors again. The city never slept. Writers never gave up; they had to then take drastic measures. Graffiti on trains was dying. Graffiti on train carts would cost the city thousands of dollars to clean. Later they started protecting the train yards more.
“Having a different name gives you a feeling of freedom. You can say what you please and do what you want to do without anyone knowing who you are. You have a different identity. Like having a second life, some of us like our second life better,” former Cicero graffiti writer Slite One said
Still many think it is not criminal, but a way to spread a positive message.
“Street art is about the message behind it, it’s not about what they’re doing but about the point they’re trying to bring across,” senior Eddie Lopez said
Street art is a big thing in Chicago. Especially in the more urbanized areas like Pilsen, North and South sides. It is so popular because there are many communities who do support graffiti because it keeps the youth busy. They think of it as art.
“Street art brings out the culture in the community, it is beautiful if you ask me,” senior Alexander Herrera said
“Graffiti is art because art comes in many different perspectives, it’s awesome,” sophomore Ericka Bucio said
It’s free and it’s important.
“Graffiti is art because graffiti isn’t sold for millions of dollars, its out for everyone to see. It’s not in a gallery for certain people to notice and pay millions of dollars for it. Graffiti is free for everyone to see,” senior Kimberly Rodriguez said
Art comes in many different shapes and sizes. Art is what comes from one and expressed onto something else. “The art of being Art”
“Graffiti is too powerful, it cannot be stopped. Art can’t be stopped,” senior Eddie Lopez said.
The city does almost everything to stop graffiti but do we see any change? They can enforce laws and it might sleep for a while but graffiti will always find a way.
“There will never be a stop to graffiti, it is an epidemic. Cannot be stopped. No matter what there is no cure,” former Cicero graffiti writer Slite One said
Graffiti is seen as become to be intertwined with hip-hop culture and modern styles derived from New York city subway graffiti in the 1980’s and 90’s. It was on trains for everyone to see. “Train Bombing” it trended as. The meaning was “Bombing the system” they were rebellious. Eventually became a problem that New York was trying to avoid. Trains will be clean at the end of the day but at sunrise these trains were filled with colors again. The city never slept. Writers never gave up; they had to then take drastic measures. Graffiti on trains was dying. Graffiti on train carts would cost the city thousands of dollars to clean. Later they started protecting the train yards more.
“Having a different name gives you a feeling of freedom. You can say what you please and do what you want to do without anyone knowing who you are. You have a different identity. Like having a second life, some of us like our second life better,” former Cicero graffiti writer Slite One said