Here are the available villas for rental in Kenya.

Eating out is so wild in this horn of plenty

From the Mail on Sunday

When I arrived at Galdessa it was the rainy season, a sultry afternoon under a dark sky. A man in khaki shorts and shirt offered me mango juice on a tray at the small, dusty airstrip, and a wet towel at the entrance to the 16-bed lodge in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya.
A bright blue-and-orange agama lizard baked on the stone outside the main mess. Golden weaver birds fluttered through tall palms, the ground was carpeted in fragile blue flowers and bright green grass led down to the swirling waters of the Galana River.
I had been told of the beauty of Galdessa, which means baboon in Walungulu, the language of the tribe which used to live in Tsavo. And that the managers, Johann du Doit and his Malaysian girlfriend Marina Amansham, would do everything to make me comfortable. But I was also told this was to compensate for a lack of game viewing because the seasonally thick bush makes it difficult to see the animals.
At Galdessa, however, they come to you. Less than three hours after I arrived, I was standing 4ft from a huge and very wild elephant. We had just finished a meal of wild-spinach ravioli and fillet steak and had settled in the open-sided sitting room for coffee, when two 3ft tusks and a trunk appeared under the low makuti roof (a thatch made of coconut palm).
It is one thing to view an elephant from the safety of a Land Rover; it's quite another to look up at a great beast silhouetted against a starry sky. Hidden by the low roof, I moved forward until I was so close he could have touched me. But even when he drifted off, bored and apparently still oblivious to his audience, the cabaret wasn't over. Barely had we drunk our coffee than Johann belted across the room: 'Would you like to see a puff adder?'
Not wanting to seem a party pooper, I peered into the bushes outside the mess tent where Johann was jabbing at something on the ground with a forked stick. Johann is a snake man, has been ever since he was a child in the farming community of north-western Kenya, close to the Ugandan border. Now it was his turn for an adrenaline fix as he showed how to pick up the long, fat and dangerous snake which, like all others found at Galdessa, was bagged up and driven well away from the camp before being released.
It was a salutary reminder that the Kenyan bush is very real. When night closes in the hippos, which by day can be heard honking harmlessly in the river, haul themselves out of the water to graze on the riverbank around the bandas (huts).
Physically exhausted after long walks and fresh air, I always slept too soundly to hear them. But one sleepy, still afternoon, I was treated to the sight of a large hippo rolling down the middle of the river. Six times I counted four stumpy legs sticking skywards, before racing to my bedroom for a better view.
Banda One, with a wide platform on stilts jutting out over the sandy banks, has the perfect view over the river. Safe on my vantage point, I could click my camera with abandon. But now Marina was calling me to see another elephant that had entered the camp. ... more

Excellent beaches and friendly locals

Excellent beaches, although the beach boys can be a bit off-putting, but very friendly. The hotels all have swimming pools and you can relax under the coconut trees.
The waiters will even climb the trees to get you a fresh coconut. Mombasa has so much to offer from the old town to the gold shops. The safaris were excellent and we saw all the big five, with the exception of the rhino.
The Kenyan people are so friendly and willing to show you their way of life.

Into the wilds of Kenya

Back in 1993, three children at Bury Church of England High School, where my wife Jackie teaches, approached her saying, "We want to do something for wildlife", writes Teletext viewer Ray Vet, of Lancashire.

They started by sponsoring an elephant and a rhino and since that initial first step, the group has continued to grow and has raised over £75,000 for conservation and education projects.
Five children and four ex-pupils from the school were told they would travel to in October to deliver their latest cheque for £10,000.
On October 22, we set off to Nairobi and went to the Serena Hotel. After breakfast we headed up the road to meet Daphne Sheldrick at her house on the edge of the Nairobi National Park.
Here, the children were then taken into the bush for a hands-on session with the orphaned elephants. Then it was back to the hotel to relax by the pool.
The next day we visited the Langata Giraffe Centre, where you can be literally head to head with them - the children of course thought this was great fun.
After checking out of the hotel, we headed south to Kilaguni Lodge in Tsavo West National Park. As we had lunch, two families of elephants came to drink at the waterhole right in front of the open restaurant. The afternoon was taken up by relaxing round the pool followed by a game drive, taking in Mzima Springs - inhabited by families of hippos.
Whilst walking to and from the buses, we were provided with an armed guide - you never know - there were crocodiles in sight on the far bank of the spring.
We had an early game drive the next morning and saw giraffe, buffalo, gazelles, kudu, zebra, secretary birds and ostriches. After breakfast, we were again escorted by an armed guard as we set off for a game walk with the lodge's naturalist all the time pointing out things that we would never have been aware of. When he pointed out the lion paw prints, he certainly had everyone's attention.
After lunch we planted three trees and then it was back to the pool for a well-earned rest, followed by another game drive before the evening meal.
Our next destination was Salt Lick Safari Lodge, where the rooms are on stilts. We did another game drive and then met the general manager who invited us to his house right next to the lodge where two lionesses and three cubs had wandered into his back garden. We were up early for another game drive at 6.30am, followed by breakfast then a very interesting talk about the sanctuary.
After lunch we spent a very leisurely afternoon by the pool at the sister lodge, Taita Hills. As darkness fell we were treated to a night game drive with lots of eyes reflecting back at us and lots of nocturnal creatures that we hadn't heard of. It was quite a novelty to see a sleeping ostrich.
Once back at the lodge, we had the unique and unforgettable experience of being able to get close to several families of wild elephants, many with tiny calves, as they came to the waterhole to drink.
On October 29, we were back on the road, heading for Voi Safari Lodge to meet Daphne Sheldrick and the BBC crew who would be filming our group for the Really Wild Show.
We went off to the mud wallow to film and see the older elephant orphans who had been moved to Tsavo East from Nairobi to begin their rehabilitation into the wild. The mud wallow is one of their daily rituals and makes good filming.
After lunch, we headed for Ore School where we were greeted very warmly and treated to a dance extravaganza and songs. The group had raised money for the school, which included paying for a new water pipe. The buildings had been mainly constructed by parents breaking up rocks and constructing them themselves. What commitment.
We also offered the school books and games that were greatly appreciated. The biggest cheer was for the set of goal posts to replace the sticks they were using. What an afternoon that was. ... more

Masai elephant I'll never forget

From the Daily Mail

Oterira, the muscular Masai scout and guide, moved silently, effortlessly, in the coarse grass that cut into my ankles.
He seemed not to notice the searing sun that made his skin shine as he paused regularly at the shrubs and trees to reveal their secrets.
One, its rough surface like sandpaper, is used, said Oterira, for just that - to smooth the wood still used for weapons and in the Masai homesteads. He crushed a deep green leaf in his hand and a red sap appeared. This is used to dye clothes and provide the brilliant 'streaks' that scar the faces of tribesmen.
The dusk walk in the exposed Kenyan wastelands of the sprawling Masai Mara is a daily event for Oterira, but for the tourists who accompany him it is a unique chance to learn about a way of life that has changed little with generations and to experience the magnificent game reserve on foot.
Attached to the Sarova Mara, one of the network of discreet tented camps expertly camouflaged beneath dense lush vegetation around the sprawling reserve, Oterira is on hand to guide you through the list of game - elephant, zebra, impala, cheetah, giraffe, tobi and leopard - drinking as the sun goes down at the watering hole metres from the door of your luxurious mosquito-free tent.
He is there, too, to identify the rasping cicadas, croaking tree frogs, birds, monkeys and wild animals that make up the park's own natural orchestra.
For me, however, his greatest skill was in knowing where to find the lions and cheetahs, with their tiny cubs at play hidden beside a dried-up creek.
One young lion suckled at the milk of its mother, her head always alert and tilted towards us. Her partner, his huge mane failing to disguise the scars of combat on his cheeks, dozed beside a partly eaten gazelle carcass.
The following dawn, as I drifted gracefully in a hot-air balloon over the savannah and grazing animals, we flew over the precise spot of the creek where the lions had been. All that remained were hyena, who had expertly cleaned the bones of the gazelle.
Men such as Oterira are playing a key role in the reinvention of Kenya as an environmentally friendly, conservation- conscious tourist destination, providing for the first time an insight, not just a glimpse, of life in East Africa. ... more

Closest thing to paradise

Although my fourth visit to Kenya is rapidly approaching I have seen only a small percentage of its beauty and variety, writes Teletext Holidays viewer Julie Fahey, of Northwich, Cheshire.

Each visit begins at the amazing Travellers Club, north of , which sits snugly on the edge of a beautiful, white sand beach. It leads down to a huge crescent-shaped bay, enclosed by a semi-circular coral reef.
The Indian Ocean is an inviting azure blue, but dippers are advised to wear beach shoes as the hidden coral can be painful for unprotected toes.
Along the beach, there are always locals eager to earn a few shillings by taking you on a beach safari. This involves wading through the tropical waters and spotting the delightful and sometimes comical sealife - starfish, tiny lobsters, urchins and sea cucumbers.
The beach traders can be a bit tiresome though if you're firm but polite and promise them a little trade later in the holiday - but only if you mean it - they will leave you in peace.
The Travellers Club has a fantastic introduction to the excitement of the safari. If you go all-inclusive, you will be able to enjoy a brilliant two day safari to the hotel's own elephant sanctuary, Mwaluganje. It must be the closest thing to paradise.
To wake up in a luxury tent in the morning to find 20 wild elephants enjoying their morning mud bath only 30 yards from the breakfast table was like a dream come true for me.
However, to be sat in an open-sided safari vehicle and be charged by a five-ton bull elephant is a different matter altogether. Our driver was very experienced and was able to get out of the way fast. Although I'm not fluent in Swahili, I'm sure the air went a shade of blue!
For those less enthusiastic about wildlife, a trip into Mombasa is essential. Traffic jams abound, as there are few working traffic lights in the centre of town. In seconds, road junctions become blocked by cars, all jammed bumper-to-bumper.
It is hilarious to see a police officer appear, jump onto the bonnet of the car nearest to the centre of the junction, and begin frantically waving his arms, spinning around and around, until finally the traffic becomes mobile again.
There is also a wealth of history in Mombasa. The Old Town is not to be missed. The town square looks like the backdrop for a '50s black and white film, along with the port. Here, labourers sit day after day, waiting to get a few hours' work unloading the ships that come into the old harbour maybe once or twice a week. For culinary shoppers there are spice shops and the famous slave market, now used as a fruit and vegetable market.
And no visit to Mombasa is complete without driving under the giant tusks erected over Moi Avenue, in honour of the visit of the late Princess Margaret in the '60s. ... more