Postcard from Kenya: Finch Hattan Camp, Day 1

Yesterday, I flew back to Nairobi to meet my fam group of 6 travel industry colleagues plus our host, Wazha Dube, of Index Select.  After a welcome dinner and drinks, we went to bed early in anticipation of our early wake up call.  We were at Wilson Airport before 7 am, in plenty of time to check in and weigh our baggage.  There’s a 33-lb weight limit for internal flights in Africa, which is a challenge especially if you’re bringing a computer, camera, binoculars in addition to your safari wardrobe which, I have learned, is an actual “thing”.

It was a much clearer day than the day of my first flight and, from the plane we were able to see Mount Kilimanjaro off in the distance.  We landed in Tsavo on an actual paved runway, where we were met by our Maasai guides decked out in traditional red plaid native dress.  Wazha, a Katanga tribesman from Botswana via NYC, explained that tribes all over Africa have their own proprietary “fabric”, from which any manor or wraps, dresses, scarves or headdresses can be made. Lakshmi, our on-site host at Finch-Hattan Camp, quipped that the Maasai are neither the biggest nor the most important of the 42 tribes in Kenya, they just have the best marketing!

The Finch-Hattan Camp is inspired by Denys Finch-Hattan of “Out of Africa” fame.  He led 5-star safaris early in the last century, before there was such a thing.  He was famous for serving 7-course dinners to visiting British nobility on fine bone china and crystal, before perishing at the age of 44 in the fateful plane crash featured in the movie. Today, Finch-Hattan Camp attempts to replicate the iconic safari experience for its 21st-century clients.

Finch Hattan Camp is situated on a natural spring in Kenya’s Tsavo West National Park, whose 3,500,square miles are some of the most bio-diverse in the world.  Birds, animals, and reptiles of every description roam the area in large numbers, gathering at the springs to drink, grazing the grasslands, and hunting each other for food, under the dark of night.

In just one day, we watched the sun rise, were charged by a mama elephant, watched a lion devour a wildebeest while his harem of females looked on, had a gourmet al fresco breakfast, saw various birds, monkeys, baby zebras and elephants and finally, drank gin and tonics while watching the sun set behind the Chyulu Hills.  

The safari life at Finch Hattan Camp is no joke.  Add it immediately to your bucket list, and go.