The two top reasons to come to Kenya are most certainly the wildlife and the beaches, but there are other things to see and do here. During some recent national holidays with long weekends we tried out something new in a place called Sagana, about an hour an a half North of Nairobi towards Mount Kenya. An otherwise fairly sleepy town that is well positioned on the northern trade routes and in a fertile area, one of Kenya's two main rivers passes through the town and has become the main location in the country for river-based sports.
The whitewater rafting is the main highlight of activities there with some of the drops a level 4 (with level 5 being professional) and provide a real rush. During a 3 hour trip, as well as the several large drops, there are also plenty of smaller rapids and some more leisurable cruising parts where you can even swim/float in the river alongside the raft. The instructors do an excellent job and it is a wonderful trip. There are also opportunities to jump into the river from bridges or the top of waterfalls, there are small whirlpools which you can slide into off of the rocks, small boats to paddle around in, zip lines and various other activities. All well organized by various tour companies operating alongside the river. They also offer camping and glamping, which our kids particularly like. Nearby there was even a hidden gem of a gorge that has developed as the floods have carved through the salt that forms the earth there (and from the locals who are digging out the salt to sell it as well).
There are a lot of great things around, so we need to make more of an effort to go explore at weekends. With international tourists still scarce and that unlikely to change for the next few months there is more attention on domestic tourism, even farms and garden centres in Nairobi who have organised tours for kids (and eater egg hunts or other activities).
We also paid a visit to a friend we made from an Airbnb stay 4 years ago, who built a farm on the northern slopes of Mount Kenya, and visited Lewa Conservancy. An incredible place that I blogged about separately (https://blog.huawei.com/2021/06/24/race-to-save-africas-natural-heritage/) which Huawei supports financially every year as part of our environmental initiatives, they took us on a game drive viewing rhinos, elephants and the like, showed us their amazing Control Centre where they monitor wildlife movements and respond to any issues, and also did a demonstration of the dog tracking unit. The kids enjoy viewing wildlife more and more, but still get bored after a couple of hours!
I also had a business trip to the coast. Kenyans love having meetings, seminars and conferences at the coast (and sometimes in Naivasha, by the lake too) especially government workers since they get generous travel benefits. Attending the conference, it was very easy to meet many government friends in the evenings, even if they were there for other reasons, as they had free time and were at hotels nearby. One of the popular restaurants was for grilled meet, which customers pick and then they cook for you. I am sure that before the COVID-19 curfew the buzzing atmosphere would get out of control later at night!
The hotel I stayed at, Sarova White Sands) is one of the nicest there, with excellent service, great food and world-class facilities with several swimming pools, kids clubs, watersports etc. With July one of the coldest months of the year in high-altitude Nairobi, it was nice to get some warmer weather at the coast, run along the beach and enjoy some outdoor eating in the evenings which isn't possible in Nairobi.
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