Jewel in Tsavo – Voyager Ziwani

Boys on a boat on Lake Chala. Photo by Mutua Matheka.

In May Uniglobe Northline Travel co-sponsored some categories of the BAKE (Bloggers Association of Kenya) awards with the Heritage Hotels of Kenya. Uniglobe Northline was interested in the travel category in the awards because we do tours and travel we thought that travel blog best represents the essence of travel, the adventure, the pitfalls, the drama and the fun.

We teamed up with Heritage Hotels of Kenya to co-sponsor several awards. We rewarded the best travel blogger Emily Nderitu with two nights for 2 at Voyager Ziwani Camp. We also rewarded the best environmental/agricultural blogger Peter Wachira, the best food blogger Rajan Solanki, and the best photography blogger Mutua Matheka. The diversity is because the Voyager Ziwani Camp has both leisure and agricultural activities. This would be a good way for bloggers to come and see how the two can be done together. For more information on the BAKE awards and pictures read celebrating the best bloggers in Kenya.

On the weekend of 7th to 9th June we went to Ziwani Voyager in Tsavo. Luckily everybody came on time and we were able to leave on time. We had breakfast at Capital Center then had to face the Mombasa road traffic jam which was a nightmare. Some of the bloggers knew each other well but some were just acquaintances. But after sharing food and a long journey (including a traffic jam) together by the time we reached Ziwani people had bonded.

Viewpoint on the river. PIcture by Mutua Matheka.

Ziwani Voyager is beautiful. Looking at the pictures you can get a feel of it but you must go there to experience it. It is a tented camp on one side with a river on the other side. The river would sooth us to sleep at night. The river has hippos and crocodiles. We managed to see both during our three days.

My “tent” at Ziwani.

During our stay we had al carte meals. Because we went in low season they don’t do buffet. The food was very fresh, delicious and very beautifully displayed. On the last night we had some delicious goat meat. The goats are breed in the farm next to the camp.

The first night we went on a game drive. Ziwani is a sanctuary (privately owned) meaning that we could do a game drive at night. At National Parks (owned by KWS) and Reserves (owned by the community) you can’t do game drives past 6 pm. We had a guide from the camp called Chameleon who told us about the animals.

River view

Sunset at Ziwani

On Saturday we went to the farm. At the farm they grow passion fruits, oranges, tangerines, and bananas. They also grow maize commercially for seed. The farm is called Gicheha Farm. We went round the farm. They have some a fantastic irrigation system. We had never seen anything like it. We bonded with the farm manager. On Sunday as we left we each got a goodie bag of tangerines. Very delicious those fruits.

Courtesy of Voyager Ziwani

Rayhab pretend driving a tractor.

In the afternoon we went for a picnic and swim at Lake Chala. That was the highlight of our trip. The Lake Chala is on the boundary of Tanzania and Kenya. It is a beautiful, clean lake – unpolluted.  Whether you were watching or swimming the lake was a great experience. The view of the lake is beautiful. Its abit challenging to get down to the lake but it was worth it. It was an interesting trip to say the least.

Lake Chala – Picture by Mutua Matheka

Lake Chala. Picture by Mutua Matheka.

Before I forget to mention it we loved the picnic lunches or packed lunch that Ziwani provides. It really is a complete meal. Sometimes you ask for packed lunch from a hotel and you are left feeling hungry after lunch. This lunch was enough and we even had some left over to give some boys fishing at the lake.

After that we went to visit the Sniper Tree. This baobab tree which has been hollowed out is where a German female soldier, whose husband was killed in the British – German war, revenged the death of her husband. She lay in wait in ambush with a few soldiers and when the British were passing they killed some of them. Sadly when they were discovered she was killed. It is said the locals loved her and used to bring her supplies of food. We didn’t manage to go to Grogan Castle because we were running behind of time but we saw it from a distance. It looked very beautiful.

Mutua Matheka up the tree as Ndeithi takes a photo.

In the evening we had mbuzi and had drinks around the fire. Some of the guys went to discuss recipes with the chef and to see him cooking. We had a very late dinner but we really enjoyed it.

The next day we had to say goodbye to this beautiful place called Ziwani. But before we did we went on a nature walk. We saw crocodiles basking by the river. We got a lot of information on hippos. We saw different kinds of birds. We found out about a famine that killed almost all the animals a couple of years back. We got new natural toothbrushes.

Crocodiles we saw on our nature walk

It was with sadness that after breakfast we said Goodbye to Ziwani. We had such a fantastic time there. It was better than we expected and we had bonded. We had left Nairobi strangers but left Ziwani as friends.

On the way back we went through the Tsavo West National Park. We visited Mzima Natural springs. This water is the real minerals water not the fake ones we are sometimes bottled for here in Nairobi. We got to see a natural aquarium. The water is so clear you can see the fish swimming. There is a viewing point where you can actually watch the fish swimming.

We had such a great time. Thank you to Heritage Hotels and Uniglobe Northline Travel for sponsoring this trip. Hopefully this is one of many to come. Thank to all our fellow travelers and bloggers. We had a fantastic time.

Mount Kilimanjaro. Picture by Mutua Matheka

Inside the tent

Mutua Matheka enjoys lunch

Tunavuka Border. At the Border between Kenya and Tanzania.

Talking to the farm manager

Discussion at the farm

Lunch

Viewpoint at Mzima – A natural aquirium

Nancy (my colleague) and Rayhab hang out with Chameleon.

Tangerine

Posing for the camera

If you would be interested in going to Ziwani for a holiday please contact Uniglobe Northline Travel at holidays@uniglobenorthlinetravel.co.ke.  Call us on +254 20 3742397/3742398/3742399.  Or just ask us on twitter.  You can also contact us on Facebook.

The writer is the Communications Executive for Uniglobe Northline Travel.