Life Goes On
We hope that everyone had a wonderful festive season, and that you have started 2022 with all the verve and vigour as we at Tropical Ice have. Iain and Alex, together with our entire families (Iain's youngest boy, Duncan, managed to get out of Australia after two and a half years), celebrated wildly down on the Indian Ocean at Watamu, and then spent four days at our Durusirkale Camp on the Galana river, which many of you will remember fondly from your Great Walk of Africa. Tsavo was looking as beautiful as we've ever seen it, with emerald green plains stretching as far as the eye can see. Yes, the rains have come to Tsavo.
These rains have been heavy and consistent, and when this happens we've learned from experience that we will have an amazing summer Great Walk season. Please, therefore, check out our departure dates below to see if there is one, which will work for you. And, remember, if you've done the Great Walk once before, come again, it is constantly changing. No two walks are ever the same.
Early this morning, a group of six American guests set off on our exciting Wild Frontier safari, which will take them up to Samburu Game Reserve in northern Kenya, and then onwards for a six-day hike with camels across the spectacular Ndoto Mountains. They will then fly down to Amboseli National Park for three nights in our camp below snowy Kilimanjaro. This trip will be followed by two Great Walk of Africa departures, one of which will be with another American group.
So, there are folks out there who believe that Life Must Go On, and despite what you might think, international travel is pretty easy. The hardest part is boarding your flight in your own country, and this is straightforward if you do two simple things: Arrive at the check-in counter with a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of departure; and a short Health Surveillance Form filled out and submitted, which will give you a QR Code, that you will require in order to board the aircraft. The easiest part of your travels over to Kenya will be your arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Everything is made very easy for you in Kenya.
As far as your departure from Kenya is concerned, you can leave the PCR protocols to us. Last season we had medical people carry out tests in our camps for departing guests.
Last year, in one of our newsletters we recommended that you look for the best airline carriers, rather than those which fit into your frequent flyer miles schemes. We still feel this way. Put these miles on the shelf for a while longer until things settle. The two best airlines to visit Kenya with are: Qatar Airways and Kenya Airways. These have remained steady and reliable throughout the entire pandemic. We would also strongly suggest you look into the new Kenya Airways direct flight between New York and Nairobi. It is in the Dreamliner aircraft, and we've heard nothing but great reports from those who have travelled on it. They depart New York three times a week. Qatar Airways flies into Nairobi several times a day, and they have been voted Best Airline in the World in recent years.
Tropical Ice has been in the adventure travel business for 43 years, and the true adventure always began when the airplane landed in Tsavo. All that's changed today is that the real adventure starts a couple of days earlier, when you arrive at your airline check-in counter. Embrace it! It all works out...and leave it to us to make it all worth while for you.
