Recreational heaven at Kenyan safari resort

If you are the kind who only visits the nice places around Nairobi and thus conclude that Kenya has very nice places for holiday, you need to travel to the outskirts of this East African country. You will be left agape with the various exquisite places.

Nanyuki, found in the central part of Kenya is one of such places. Located approximately 250 kilometres from Nairobi city, most of the journey will reveal a number of scanty forests and large fruit plantations ranging from pineapples to mangoes.

However, besides that green, there is not much to see and for most of the journey, it is very clear that you are entering a remote area. But on arrival to Nanyuki Town, you see some kind of urban livelihood. However, as you branch off the main road, towards the remote parts of Nanyuki, you are engulfed into the similar atmosphere you met along the way. All green bushes.

But approximately 2.5 kilometres off the main road is Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club. There are two gates that see you through this Safari Club. However, while entering the first one, there is a sign post in big white letters reading, “Foot traffic is not allowed along this route.” Another one cautions that the driver keeps a speed limit of 25kph because there are animals crossing.

It is true that there are animals crossing along that route because from the bus we can see various wild animals walking around the bushes. Since we arrived at the club around midday, we were able to see a few wild animals like warthogs, antelopes and cobs.

However, on arrival at the second gate, we are allowed to get out of the bus and walk. Everywhere you turn, the best you can say is wow. Seated on 100 acres of land, Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club also known as Nanyuki resort hotel, is covered in green.

A clean environ with manicured hedges and lawns, an art gallery plus an animal orphanage welcomes you when you enter this gate. As you continue towards the club reception,there are children play areas, bicycles you can hire for cycling and a craft centre. While the eye catching artistic hedges, made in the shape of elephants and ancient sheds cannot be ignored, it is at the reception that you get a clear view as to why the resort is at the top of Kenya’s nine best luxurious hotels and a popular tourist attraction in Central Kenya.

With a magnificent view of Mount Kenya, boasts of 120 luxuriously appointed hotel rooms. Set in landscaped gardens, water falls, man-made rivers found amongst trees, the club resort offers a unique blend of comfort, relaxation and adventure.

It was originally the retreat of movie star and Club founder, William Holden and some of the Club’s illustrious former members have included Winston Churchill and Bing Crosby. Photos mostly of these pioneer members are pinned all over the balcony walls.

At the club, there is a lot to look at like the peacocks as they display their beautiful feathers and the Colobus monkeys. While I was still trying to sink in how beautiful the peacocks looked, I was told that the spot I was standing at was the pathway of the equator.

I was also told that because the resort has the lowest level of the equator at latitude 00.00. It is a popular tourist site where visitors from across the world come to have their pictures taken while they cross the line of the equator as they dance with traditional Kenyan dancers.
It is also at this resort that I had my first experience with a wash room furnished with a sofa set, two high stools plus a full set of makeup and a dressing mirror.

Besides the new kind of experience, there were many recreational activities available like horseback riding, golf, cricket, bowling on grass, table tennis, swimming, a beauty spa, a walk through the maze, game drives, basketball and much more.

  You do not need a whole week at the Safari club to know that you are at a five star club. But the moment you set foot at the reception, it is obvious. The class of the hotel goes beyond the beauty of the place to the cuisine. Given that they have visitors from across the world, they prepare cuisines from across the globe.

However, the Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari club is not the only eye catching place in Central Kenya. A few kilometers out of Nanyuki Town is the Trout Tree Restaurant, the first tree restaurant I have ever visited.

Built in and around a huge Mugumo (Sacred Fig) tree, the Trout-Tree Restaurant serves fresh grilled trout got from the trout ponds that are visible below the restaurant, he restaurant also boosts of Colobus monkeys that are considered to be residents at the farm.