Unforgettable trip to Mount Kenya Safari Club

By Elisha Mayallah

Dusty, as usual, on this bright day when the six-in-hand team of horses pulled up in front of the Mount Kenya Safari Club and the driver jumped down from the new Station Wagon and helped his passengers climb in.

Mount Kenya Safari Club is the ideal place for a truly superb holiday in Kenya. With some of the country’s finest attractions on the doorstep visitors can enjoy an enormous range of excursions and activities.

A few early risers stood at the reception watching, and wishing they could afford the $200 it took to make the few mile trips to The Ark. No one ever said it would be a luxury trip. The board seats got pretty hard before the end of about three hour’s journey.

Opened in November 1969 The Ark overlooks the Yasabara waterhole, perhaps the largest salt-lick in the Aberdare Mountains and the haunt of various forest game unequalled in Africa. This tree-lodge is uniquely shaped to resemble the actual Ark, designed with decks from which many balconies and lounges provide superb vantage points for viewing the animals visiting the salt-lick and waterhole. A ground-level bunker provides excellent photographic opportunities, and the Yasabara waterhole is floodlit by night to enable all-night viewing of game. A "Resident Hunter" is always on hand to enlighten on the wildlife and landscape.

Access to vehicles is limited to conserve and protect the environment which host’s wildlife such as elephant, rhino, buffalo, bushbucks, giant forest hogs, Sykes monkey, leopard, and bongo. After lunch at The Aberdare Country Club guests take a 45-minute game drive within the National Park arriving at The Ark in time for afternoon tea.

A few miles north of The Abardare Park the main road disappeared into a rocky, unworn stretch of pine trees and tall grass that had been beaten down by the few ranchers who lived in the area. The driver had a difficult time dodging prairie dog holes and rocks, and the tourists riding behind him bounced and joggled, swung and swayed as the coach rumbled along.

Nestling on the slopes of Kamatongu Hill, the cottages of the Aberdare Country Club offer splendid views of the plains below with the Aberdare range of mountains to the West and Mt Kenya to the East. Originally the private home of a wealthy English family, the house was called "Steep", the main building consisting of the present dining room, lounge and bar, built in the early 30’s with a total of 6 bedrooms.

The Club now has 46 guest-rooms, and is situated on 1,300 acres of now electric-fenced private land, home to several species of plains game.

The Aberdare Country Club is a haven of unhurried charm, set in gardens bursting with the profuse colour of over one hundred species of flowers. Tables are scattered, and the numerous birdbaths dotting the grounds are visited by many different varieties of birds.

This was in 2001, the first commercial trip made by the Arusha- based tour and travel agents - first familiarization trip ever made - to the Tanzania travel agents. And the real beginning of tourism to Kenya parks. As time passed the visitors to the Ark grew larger and other entrepreneurs got into the act. Then the road reached the Ark and the stage lines became a thing of the past.

Why should one bear the hardship of riding in a wagon three hours? You can ask Mr. Gideon Saul of Club Afriko, Arusha that question, and the answer you will get is . "For the fun of it."

In 2001, exactly three-years after the first trip, the travel agents and a group of friends hitched up their wagons and took off to commemorate the first stage run. It was a fun trip. The road was better than it had been in 1997 because most of it then had been converted into forest roads and kept in a fair condition.

Last modified: September 11, 2003.
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