KENYA MZIMA: Muthaiga Golf Club

KENYA MZIMA: Muthaiga Golf Club: Muthaiga enjoys the influential position of having been one of the Kenya’s pioneer golf courses and it serves as a home to the Kenya Golf U...

Muthaiga Golf Club

Muthaiga enjoys the influential position of having been one of the Kenya’s pioneer golf courses and it serves as a home to the Kenya Golf Union and plays host to the most prestigious golfing event in

the country, The Kenya Open.

The course club is situated at the Kiambu Road towards Kiambu about 200 metres (220 yards), further on the left. The original nine holes were laid out at Muthaiga in 1913 and the club foundation stone was laid in 1912 and the golf course become an amenity for the club members and their friends.

Muthaiga lies at the edge of Karura forest and so sports many indigenous trees. The suburb Muthaiga was actually named after the Kenya greenheart, or as the Kikuyu call it, The ” muthiga” tree, Known for its healing properties.

The golf club has the “muthiga” tree on its coat of arms. A variety of trees and flowering bushes not only come into play on almost every hole, but also make this course one of the prettiest to play. By 1926 the course was later extended to eighteen holes to accommodate the growing membership.

The club decided to take on Associate members who later formed the Associate Members clubhouse which then became the clubhouse for the entire golfing section in 1921. The Golf Clubs Cadre of proficient caddies is at your disposal. Most of these men are sufficiently low-handicapped players themselves that their advice is well heeded on questionable distances and shots.

Muthaiga is still noted for it’s very fine greens which gives the club a beautiful layout and one that has may challenges in store for both the regular and the visiting golfers.

Play Golf in Kenya - Vipingo Ridge Golf Resort

Vipingo Ridge Golf Resort on the North Cost of Mombasa lies in the centre of a 2,500 acre former sisal estate. The property rises from just above sea level to a 140 metre high ridge before falling off again to the scenic lake and game conservation area to the west of the site.

The two golf courses at Vipingo Ridge are the first in East Africa to be built to a truly international standard, with the world renowned USGA specification being used for all aspects of the course.

The large and undulating greens at Vipingo Ridge are cultivated with fine Bermuda grasses to guarantee fast and true putting surfaces.

A fully automated irrigation system and a large inventory of new green-keeping equipment ensure that the playing surfaces are maintained in pristine condition all year round.

Kenya’s world famous wildlife is never far away. A round of golf in Kenya can often be a nature walk in itself, with a remarkable profusion of bird life and wildlife surrounding the greens.

You don’t have to move far from the green in Kenya to discover a world of travel opportunities. Kenya offers endless choice of activities suited for adventure or relaxation.

No matter how you want to spend your time off the course, you’ll find plenty of options. Next time you are on a Kenya Safari, remember to pack your golf clubs.

Selenkay Conservancy

16 kms north of the northern boundary of Amboseli Park is the 15,000 acres Selenkay Conservancy. The Conservancy is one of the pioneers of community conservation in Kenya.

Selenkay shares the same eco-system as Amboseli and is established on lands leased from the local Maasai by Gamewatchers Safaris Ltd with the aim of protecting the habitation and encouraging wildlife conservation as an alternative to farming as a means for the local population to earn a living.

Migrating species previously killed or driven off land set aside for farming are now encouraged to make the conservancy their home. Recent years have witnessed a significant increase in wildlife numbers with elephants returning to make the land their own after a 20 year absence.

Roads into the very heart of Selenkay’s Maasailand have been created and a single camp built. The camp’s remote location off the beaten tourist track means that the local wildlife is unused to vehicle traffic, which it rarely encounters, and therefore behaves in its natural manner.

Visitors to Porini Amboseli Camp (only 18 at any given time) benefit from the knowledge and experience of the Maasai employed as game rangers, trackers and camp staff and from an environment still in its wild and unspoilt state.

Wildlife: Visitors can expect to see elephants, Thomson and Grant’s gazelles, lions, cheetahs and leopards, bat eared fox, mongooses, porcupine, giraffe and yellow baboon among the many now indigenous species

Activities: Morning, evening and night game drives. Escorted guide walks with the expert Masaai guides. Sundowners at scenic points within the conservancy. Visits to a local Masaai village.

Getting there: Road: 175 kms from Nairobi, down the Mombasa road and via Emali (roughly 4 1/2 hours).  Air: Chartered flights are able to land at the Selenkay airstrip, located 5 minutes drive from Porini Amboseli Safari Camp.

Where to Stay: Within the Selenkay Conservancy there is the Porini Amboseli Camp with 9 tents accommodating a maximum of 18 guests and a seasonal mobile camp, the Gamewatchers Adventure Camp which also has 9 tents for up to 18 guests.

This is a total of 18 tents in 15,000 acres which is 1 tent per 722 acres, following our conservancy formula of not more than 1 tent per 700 acres to ensure low-density tourism with minimal impact.

Ol Kinyei Conservancy

The Ol Kinyei Conservancy covers an area of 18,300 acres within the former 200,000 acre Ol Kinyei Group Ranch in the greater Mara ecosystem. The land belongs to the Maasai c

ommunity who set it aside for the purposes of wildlife conservation.

Located within the Serengeti-Mara eco-system, Ol Kinyei is renowned for its unspoilt and breath-taking scenery with diverse terrain offering on one hand open savannah plains and rolling hills on the other.

The land, with its abundance of water sources in the form of springs, streams and rivers, coupled with spectacular views across the Mara plains, is home to a wide variety of animal species.

The local Maasai make first class guides and are on hand to share their experience on what to see and do.

Wildlife: There is a resident lion pride of over 20 animals and several leopards also have their territories within the conservancy and are often sighted by guests from Porini Mara Camp on evening or early morning drives. Cheetah are frequently seen and it is not rare to come across large numbers of giraffe as well as Cape buffalo and elephants. The wildebeest migration also passes through Ol Kinyei when herds from the eastern plains of Loita join the migration to the Mara Reserve.

Activities: Morning, evening and night game drives. Escorted guide walks with the expert Masaai guides. Sundowners at scenic points within the conservancy.

Getting there: Road, 207 kms from Nairobi (roughly 4 hours). Air: the conservancy has its own airstrip for private charter flights, or is 16 kms from the Siana airstrip by which is used for daily scheduled flights between the Mara and Nairobi.

Where to Stay: Ol Kinyei Conservancy is home to only one permanent camp, the Porini Mara Camp which has six tents accommodating a maximum of only 12 guests at any given time and two small seasonal mobile camps of seventeen tents in total.

This is a total of 23 tents in 18,300 acres which is a maximum of 1 tent per 808 acres and a lower tourism density than elsewhere in the Mara – making this not only an exclusive experience but one that respects the principles of eco-tourism.

Lewa Wildlife Conservancy - Conservancies

Recently crowned UNESCO World Heritage Site, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy prides in its key goal of ‘conservation, community and inspiration’. Lewa offers the full package for wildlife and conservation lovers ranging from children, researchers, leisure tourists, adventure lovers and even cultural enthusiasts.

Similar to Ol Pejeta, Lewa hosts an abundance of endangered flora and fauna. Aside from game drives, Lewa also offers a walk in the wild accompanied by local

armed guides. This makes the wildlife experience a little more intimate and enjoyable. Many times you will enjoy this experience as you watch the Maasai morans also graze their cattle as the elephants, antelopes and zebras graze alongside a resting lion!

After a game drive, a relaxing visit to a nearby Maasai or Samburu cultural village will give you the perfect opportunity to interact with the locals

Lewa Conservancy also takes social responsibility to neighboring communities very serious. If you like, you could get a chance to visit the different development projects Lewa runs. You are sure to get an appreciation of where your money goes.

Ol Pejeta Conservancy (O.P.C) - Conservancies

Situated between the foothills of Mount Kenya and Aberdares is Kenya’s best kept conservation havens, the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The Ol Pejeta Conservancy is one of the only wildlife protection areas that’s home to very high numbers of endangered species. Aside from the big 5, more than a thousand different mammals and bird species roam the wild.

A safari into the O.P.C will let you enjoy the company of rescued chimpanzees as you learn about the stories of torture they went through in captivity in West and Central Africa. This is actually the only place in Kenya to see chimpanzees and you can have a chance to adopt one of them!

On a game drive, you can visit the largest black rhino sanctuary and learn about the conservation efforts that are conducted to protect these endangered species. After the single largest translocation process, with the Kenya Wildlife Services and neighboring Lewa Conservancy, the O.P.C is home to 88 black rhinos. You could also make a donation to help more conservation activities for these endangered species. Aside from black rhinos, O.P.C is also home to a founder population of 11 southern white rhinos and 4 northern white rhinos in a separate sanctuary.

Visit this conservancy and get to appreciate as you explore Kenya’s wilderness with the   help of well trained professional guides.

Staff at the O.P.C always target to meet your personal needs. All tourists are treated as individuals. They give you a chance to set your schedules, explore at your own pace and discover the wild in your own way.