Nearer to Heaven

 Sun downer moments as the elephants come down the Aberdares slopes to the salt lick and the water troughs. In their heavy, hurrying, clouds of dust arise flocking in different sizes, huge matriarchs, young males and babies tag along side their mothers to quench their thirst.

“This is the Treetops Hotel”

Treetops Hotel is a hotel in Aberdares National Park in Kenya near the township of Nyeri, on the Aberdares Range and in sight of Mount Kenya. Was first opened in 1932 by Eric Sherbrooke Walker, it was literally built into the tops of the trees of Aberdares National Park as a tree house, offering the guests a close view of the local wildlife in complete safety. The idea was to provide a hunting experience in relative safety and comfort. From the original modest two room tree house, it has grown into 50 rooms. The original structure was burned down by African guerrillas during the 1954 Mau Mau Uprising, but the hotel was rebuilt near the same waterhole and has become fashionable for many of the rich and famous. It includes observation lounges and ground level photographic hides from which guests can observe the local wildlife which come to the nearby waterholes.

It’s the African ark with a glaring chance of seeing more animals christened with a history of royal connections.

“For the first time in the history of the world,

A young girl climbed into a tree one day a princess and,

After having what she described as her most thrilling experience,

She climbed down from the tree next day as a Queen- God bless her”

(Quoted by Jim Cobbert, a legendary hunter)

As it retells the history of Princess Elizabeth’s night and the moment she was named the Queen.

Good dishes and delicacies are allayed: roasted lamb; meat loaf and salad; black forest gateau or fruit salad; clear beef and many more with the best cup of Kenyan grade coffee to top it up.

Elephants, buffaloes, bush backs, water-bucks, warthogs, the Egyptian geese, blacksmith plovers, yellow billed ducks, scared ibis, glossy starlings and a solitary spoonbill stork, all in, on or above the waterhole.

The wonderous game viewing drive deep into the Aberdares National park spices more of your stay. Treetops is a place of lots of charm just out of its simplicity nature. And out of the humbles structure it bore a Queen. You don’t want to miss this spectacular once in a life charm moment.

Memorable Place in Hell’s Gate

Amusing, this is the only blot on the landscape of the awesome Hell’s Gate Naivasha. Driving a few kilometers back down the Moi South Lake Naivasha Road and just a turn you feel the presence of once a tributary of a prehistoric lake that fed the early humans in the Great Rift Valley. Hell's Gate National Park is named after a narrow break in the cliffs, once a tributary of a prehistoric lake that fed early humans in the Rift Valley. It received the name "Hell's Gate" by explorers Fisher and Thomson in 1883. It was established in 1984. It is known for its wide variety of wildlife and for its scenery. This includes the Fischer's Tower and Central Tower columns and Hell's Gate Gorge. The national park is also home to three geothermal power stations at Olkaria, one of its kinds in Africa.

Hell’s Gate park striking feature is that you can walk or even cycle along with youngsters on the smooth dirt roads and mingle quite happily with the wild. The game view ranges from herds of gazelle, hartebeest, eland buffalo and the occasional giraffe where the animals seem oblivious of people. If one is lucky you will be able to see the elegant cats and you can’t miss seeing baboons. There are over 100 species of birds in the park, among them, Vultures; Eagles that nest on the cliffs; flocks of swifts hurrying for flying insects when darkness falls. In addition, up on the cliffs there are Klipspringer antelopes and the rare chandlers mountain reed bucks.

The landscape itself strikes out Hell’s Gate to be its own unique beauty. In history this was the outlet of a prehistoric lake that stretched from what is now Naivasha to what is now Nakuru. You are ushered in with the flat grass land with high cliffs; ahead there is the Fischer’s tower, a tall spike of rock named after Gustav Aldolf Fisher, a German explorer who “discovered” Naivasha in 1883.

The park is equipped with three basic campsites. There are also several lodges around Naivasha Lake, popular among tourists for watersports, bird and game viewing in private ranches and walks along Crescent Island, Crater Lake, and Mt. Longonot. The going down the devil’s bedroom is very steep, not always obvious and also quite slippery at some places. But the effort is well worth it, being magical, memorable down there that you would wish to experience.

Mystifying Ruins of Gede

A small Swahili town lays the ruins depicting from the 13^th to 17^th centuries, located in Gedi, a village near the coastal town of Malindi Kenya.

“Ruins of Gede”

Yes, that is what they call it back here in Kenya. “Gede” is a name derived from the Omollo nomadic community from Ethiopia that last settled at the mysterious ruins. The name means precious due to the excavations carried out during the year 1948 – 1958 which later on revealed that Muslims inhabitants traded with people all over the world. The artifacts included beads; Venice and Ming vase from China, an iron lamp from India and scissors from Spain.

Interesting, seems they must have traded with people from different parts of the world Asia, China, and Arabia to name a few. The items excavated are well kept and can be found in a museum within the complex that was opened in the year 2000.

It is believed Gede had a mosque; a palace; tombs and large stone houses built in a complex way far most for their time since it were inclusive with bathrooms, with drains, and overhead basins to flash toilets. We are given the impression that this community was prosperous. The city streets were laid out at right angles and had drainage gutters. There are also wells which supplied water to the community in addition they used coral reef from the nearby Indian Ocean to construct the buildings.

Although there are no written records about the existence of this town but in the early 16^th century the village was abandoned. The possible explanation was that a punitive expedition either derived from revenge or any military form of raid mainly from Mozambique in 1589.

It is now under the care of the National Museum of Kenya and apart from the preserved ruins. It has an imaginatively designed and a well stocked regional museum. In addition, the surrounding indigenous forest is a sacred site and the local community uses it for traditional rituals. The place has a beauty but also a creepy aspect. It is a place that has inspired tales of ghosts and mysterious happenings.

In 1948, it was declared a National Park. The ruins being famous have continued being a popular tourist destination. This is a Historic adventure you wouldn’t want to miss. Come and join us in our expedition.