bthere: Inflight Magazine Brussels Airlines

Text Tabitha Lasley

A round-up of travel news from Brussels Airlines’ long-haul network

Hotel with a view
Giraffe Manor, Kenya

Where is it? Langata, Nairobi, Kenya, tel. +254 (0)20 891 078, www.giraffemanor.com What’s the view? More often than not, guests who gaze out of the window will find themselves nose to nose with the rare Rothschild giraffe. In 1974, two of them were moved into the grounds and now many of the once endangered species call the manor home.

What to expect If you’re not keen on the idea of sharing your breakfast with a giraffe, you might want to steer clear. The animals on the estate are so tame, they routinely stick their heads through bedroom and dining room windows and can be fed by hand. The hotel itself is an intimate affair – there are only six bedrooms and décor errs towards the chintzy. Downstairs, the style is more old-colonial, with lots of polished wood and low-slung furniture,

What you need to know The manor has played host to a string of illustrious guests, including Jerry Hall, Mick Jagger and Marlon Brando. It’s also home to many species of birds, large families of warthogs and the elusive bush buck. A portion of the hotel’s income goes towards Kenyan conservation work.

Why go there? It goes without saying that if you like giraffes, you’re going to love Giraffe Manor. If you like warthogs too, so much the better. The hotel itself is surrounded by 140 acres of lush forest yet it’s only a stone’s throw from Nairobi. So if you want to get close to nature without straying too far from civilisation, it’s perfect.

What does it cost? From €264 per night, half board.

Interior designs

The Gambia is known largely for its beautiful beachside resorts and year-round sunshine and, until recently, most tourists didn’t venture beyond the parameters of their hotels.

But now a change is afoot. Tourists are slowly being lured into the interior of the country, not least by the rich animal life which flourishes there. At the Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Trust, guests can stay in traditional safari tents perched just above the River Gambia and get within close quarters of some 77 chimpanzees, as well as colobus and green vervet monkeys and western baboons. Meanwhile, guests at the Mandina River Lodge, an hour inland from the coast, get the chance to track baboons and meet the indigenous people of the area. See www.chimprehab.com and www.makasutu.com for more details.

One to watch… Baka Gbiné

They’ve already released a hugely successful album – Gati Bongo – and been name-checked by the likes of Marie Daulne, so it seems unbelievable that up until last year, most members of Bake Gbiné had never left the rainforest where they were born. But the group are members of the indigenous Baka tribe, pygmies who are believed to be the oldest inhabitants of Cameroon. Now, in an effort to draw attention to the deforestation that’s threatening their way of life, they’ve finally begun touring and have swiftly become a fixture on the festival scene, performing everywhere from Glastonbury to the Sfinks festival.

Trenchant issues

Local communities in rural Uganda have joined forces in a bid to reduce elephant crop raiding. Villagers from the Nyanga and Rushorosa parishes have dug almost 20km of trenches around their farmland by hand, and while much of the work is paid, some have even offered their services on a voluntary basis. It seems as if their hard work is already paying off. There has been a reduction in the amount of crop raiding reported and the number of elephants killed in revenge has dropped drastically – from 10 per year to just one. However, the trenches aren’t a permanent solution and the Uganda Conservation Foundation is currently drumming up funds for the construction of fencing and watchtowers, which will enable villagers to anticipate any errant elephant’s arrival. If you want to help out, you can find out more at www.ugandacf.org