Tourism Fair

Darlings! As I write this, I'm listening to the Gold Collection of The A - Z Encyclopedia of Jazz and sipping a much needed chilled Tusker....from my own fridge. It's a warm evening, open pit fires from various house gatherings throwing sparks and contrasts in the shadows, the piano lounge singer belting out Elvis's "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You", filtering in from the restaurant across the ways, curtains blowing gently in tune, Malcom in the Middle on the telly downstairs...damn, lost the ambiance.

The fair was today! I tried so hard not to be the first one there so I did some sightseeing along the way to the exhibition, checking out the exorbitant prices of crafts and various items at the oh so snobby stores; items that you will very easily find at the open-air Maasai Market on Tuesdays and Saturdays. You can bargain the heck out of everything at the markets and most likely you'll be dealing with a very stubborn maasai lady who will argue her case through an interpreter and finally settle for a price that suits you both while spitting on the ground exclaiming, "You are robbing me blind but you look like someone who will treasure these things I make so I will part with it!" I'm going this Saturday and I'm sooo excited! Oh, check out http://www.kikoy.com/ about the wraps for both men and ladies but I forbid you to buy anything there. You just have to come here and check out the expansive collections and see how kikoys are utilized in their natural environment before you will truly appreciate them and I guarantee you'll be hooked.

So I finally made my way to the fair and was greeted at the entrance by the hosts of the exhibition, The Going Out Guide folks who produce a magazine every month, mainly inflight material for Kenya Airways. It covers various activities, restaurant and hotel reviews in the area and offers specials to the domestic and international tourist as well as provide health and safety guidelines. Nice and comprehensive but often comes out slightly later in the month that's featured. Still a good guide book. I walked in and was greeted by a smiling bui-bui (hijab, typical Muslim woman dress) hostess of the Indian Ocean Beach Club. Her booth was almost infront of the entrance and they had done it up exactly like their lobby in Mombasa so it looked very inviting. I immediately started beaming and felt like a 28 yr old shopping for a vacation.....which I am....ok, not 28, really more 23 no! 21 at heart but you should have seen my face. I was stoked for lack of a better word. I want to be in this industry in whatever capacity I can wedge my way in because I know how I feel when it comes to traveling, holidays, finding a great deal and having a great time away from home, stress, angst etc. Just being away from the norm and feeling pure joy, exhilaration, a surge of energy and an anticipation of the unknown and wanting to expound the experience to the absolute fullest...to the point of exhaustion, fulfillment and satisfaction of achieving something enormously significant and wanting a new vacation immediately it's over just to recover. Lol, make sense? I hope so.

So I started walking around, immediately bombarded with offers, promotions and special rates. Most if not all the hotels, travel agencies, airlines were offering discounts from a 10% minimum upto 30% for booking right then and there at the exhibition fair. The fair goes on until March 13th so there was no rush to get there on Day 1 but y'all know me. Besides I wanted to gather as much information as possible today and then spend the following day analyzing and doing further research as to what would best fit me and in doing this reshape my resume to figure out what aspect of this industry I would be a perfect fit in. So I walked around, sat down on many beach chairs, lay back on a couple of deck chairs, greeted by true Maasai warriors, tasted sweet swahili treats from the Tamarind Restaurant, presented with packages and logos, my favorite one being from the Leopard Beach Hotel "Where Leopards Meet Lobsters" and finding ridiculously cheap deals that have to have a humongous catch somewhere. E.g. Fly to Cairo from Nairobi, roundtrip, 5 nights stay, half-board, a dinner cruise on the last night, daily excursions etc. all for $490. Now I checked and a ticket to Cairo costs about $350 - $400 so I'm a little suspicious about the accommodations and extras they're advertising especially if a regular ticket costs that much. Oh well, nothing to lose, might as well check it out....I'll send someone first.

These are a few of the places I found that I need your picks as I'm confused and in love with all of them.
http://www.serenahotels.com/ - Serena Mountain Village (Tanzania) & Zanzibar Serena Inn
http://www.leopardbeachhotel.com/ - Revamped on an up-market scale. (place used to be fugly)
http://www.neptunehotels.com/ - Paradise Village, amazing rates but something iffy about it
http://www.kililibaharini.com/ - FAVE!!!! Check out the suites and other images....I want this one
http://www.royalreserve.com/ - fully furnished 1-2 bdrm apartments, self-contained....4 p.m checkout!
http://www.turtlebay.co.ke/ - All inclusive, meals, drinks, rooms & a marine park, awesome rates
I haven't even gotten to the rock climbing, mountain hiking, safari driving excursions that are also being offered. More on that.

Back again. Eco-tours are gaining ground in Kenya especially camps and tours organized by the community locals and develop a more self-sustained culture that's not too commercial if not at all. Check out the Masai mara at http://www.basecampexplorer.com/ They are a group that has eco-camps in Spitsbergen, Svalbard, The White Sea, Russia and Masai Mara, Kenya. Very interesting actually. Seems like you interact more with nature and the locals and your fellow company is just as interested in the environment and not what time the Manager's Special kicks off. their rates are actually reasonable.

So I did a comparison chart and I'm going to see how I can attach it to this blog. I'm honestly the worst blogger every. I have links that go nowhere. Lol, anyway, long day today, going to see my Nairobi attorney (I have them everywhere) to get some paperwork, apartment to relax and back to the fair. I did have one very nice gentleman call this morning and he gave me an additional discount on an air package $245, Whitesands hotel, airfare, 2 nights, half-board, airport transfers etc. Not bad eh? But it can go lower! Lol, more later loves! Thanks to the FEW that do respond, you're not on a legendary list.

Oh, how could I forget. If you're thinking of contributing to charities in Kenya actually anywhere for that matter, DO YOUR RESEARCH! Yesterday an agency calling itself the International Relief Agency of Kenya completely vanished with millions of goods and shillings that they had been collecting for a couple of months from various folks. They had established a well stocked office, invited potential donors over, solicited funds, promised them a grand party to reveal where the money was going to be utilized and on the day of said festivities, the offices were found emptied, thieves gone, goods and money vanished. Very sad. But jerks like that get caught easily.