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Low Cost Carriers / LCCs / Kenya Airways / Airlines / Airline News / New Routes / → All Tags

Jambo Jet Might Be the Latest LCC to Arrive in Africa

There’s plenty of low cost carriers being planned and prepped for takeoff in Asia, but now it looks like Africa is getting in onto the LCC craze.

Kenya Airways is thinking about getting passengers across the continent cheaply and quickly, and they’re going to do so thanks to a new airline that they’re calling Jambo Jet. The spin-off will focus on regional and domestic routes along with international flights between countries that are pretty close together. That means it’s doubtful that this new airline will be flying nonstop to South Africa, but we shall see how everything shakes out.

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Celeb Travel / Volunteer Travel / Africa Travel / Kenya Travel / → All Tags

Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler Do Good In Kenya

Kristin Cavallari recently traded in The Hills for Kenya. The reality star was on a charity trip with her boyfriend, Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Culter, on behalf of of her charity One Kid World.

The couple handed out school supplies and helped rebuild two schools while also connecting the kids in Africa with students in the U.S. via a pen pal program. Not surprisingly, they worked in plenty of photo opps with the kids too.

Kristin isn't alone in her philanthropic ventures. Jay also has his own foundation which is hosting a charity event in his hometown of Santa Claus, IN on May 14th. Tickets, which start at $100, which includes dinner, drinks, a performance by David Nail and of course an opportunity to meet Jay and Kristin. For details visit http://jaycutlerfoundation.eventbrite.com/.

Related Stories:
· Kristin Cavallari takes a charitable trip to Kenya[DailyMail]
· Celeb Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: DailyMail]

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Royal Travel / Travel News / Wedding Travel / Celeb Travel / Honeymoon Travel / Romantic Travel / The Royal Wedding / Prince William / Kate Middleton / Safari Travel / Kenya Travel / Africa Travel / → All Tags

Where Prince William Popped the Question to Kate Middleton

The best way to start a day is with news of a royal engagement! This morning (or evening, in Britain), it was formally announced that England's Prince William has proposed to long-time girlfriend Kate Middleton, who accepted. The pair have been dating for eight years ever since meeting at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. They are due to be married in the spring or summer of 2011, with a wedding no doubt conducted at Saint Paul's Cathedral in London [or Westminster Abbey or Windsor Castle].

With all the excitement over the engagement, you can bet that both St. Andrew's in Scotland and Saint Paul's in London will become even bigger tourist hotspots than they usually are, but there's one area no one's thought of yet: the place where Prince William actually popped the question to Kate.

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Adventure Travel / Africa Travel / Safaris / Horseback Riding / → All Tags

Get On Your Horses, Kenyan Style

On those days when we figure we've spent much too long with the Tivo, it's time to dream us up a bit of adventure travel. The crew of Bailey Robinson have a motto of "travel without compromise" which seems to fit our mood, too, and our eye's been caught by a trip through currently-not-too-dangerous Kenya.

We should mention that this gang is obviously obsessed with horses, and riding features in a lot of their trips; this one in the Maasai Mara is no exception.

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Street Art / Artists / JR / Public Transportation / → All Tags

Art Not Just For Art's Sake in Kenya

Not all art is strictly about the aestetic, some pieces provide an important function in the community like the large black and white photographs installed this week on rooftops across Kibera, Kenya. The intimate photos, taken by photographer JR, act as a second roof, protecting the village’s delicate structures from water damage, a vital job in one of Africa’s worst slums.

Over 2,000 feet of rooftops were covered with pictures of the faces of the women of Kibera. As part of the installation JR also covered a train that passes through the village twice a day with images of the women’s eyes and then plastered the bottom half of their faces on a slope just below the tracks.

This way, when the train passes through it completes the women’s faces. A gallant effort considering the only things wrapped around buses in America are advertisements. The collection of rooftop faces is the artist’s most grandiose project to date, so large it can be seen on Google Earth.

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Africa Travel / Smoking / Smoking Bans / → All Tags

New Smoking Ban in Kenya Cutting Loosie Sales

Kenya is the latest country to join the no-smoking bandwagon, with an stringent anti-tobacco law that went into effect this week. The government's ban on butts is so strict, residents can't even puff in parks, private cars or their own homes.

The new rules require smokers to stick to sealed and ventilated rooms, so unless a house is equipped, it's technically out of bounds. For those hangers-on, the government has established a few outdoor "smoking zones" that draw clusters of smokers, eager to avoid fines of up to $46,000. (That's not for the first offense!)

Also included in the new tobacco control legislation is a ban on sales of single cigarettes, designed to keep lower-income Kenyans from lighting up. One vendor in Narobi told the BBC that his sales of loosies had indeed dropped off--but that people were just buying packs instead.

Related Stories:
· Stringent Law for Kenyan Smokers [BBC]
· Smoking coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: prondis_in_kenya]

Summer-Vacations-With-An-Edge / Africa Travel / Active Travel / Adventure Travel / → All Tags

Summer Vacations with an Edge: Kenyan Revival

We're all about supporting the underdog. In tourism terms these days, that'd be Kenya. But last week European travel agencies publicly endorsed the recently troubled country as a recommended and safe summer safari destination. Sweet!

This summer we're backing an awesome Kenyan adventure from UK-based Exodus Holidays called the Classic Kenya Safari and Kili Climb. A word to the weary: It's not your grandmother's safari.

The 14-day excursion takes you from Nairobi to stunning Lake Nakuru National Park, then on to the Masai Mara Reserve where big time animal migrations start in July. After sleeping in a bush camp and comparing battle stories with local Masai warriors, it's off to Tanzania where it's man versus mountain. You'll spend the next six days climbing Kilimanjaro's Rongai Route until reaching the summit where you'll do that tribal victory dance your Masai friends taught you.

The safari departs from Nairobi on Aug 10 and costs £1,399 ($2,717), not including flight.

Related Stories:
· Exodus Holidays [Official Site]
· Summer Vacations with An Edge [Jaunted]
· Africa Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Steve Taylor]

Sex Travel / Africa Travel / → All Tags

Grandmas Take Sexy Holidays in Kenya

A word of warning: don't think about a middle-aged or elderly woman you know while you read this story. It'll put you off your lunch.

A bunch of middle-aged women have started a dubious new trend in Africa travel: Ladies in their 50s and 60s are heading to Kenya for a holiday and picking up handsome men in their 20s to have a good time in exchange for expensive gifts.

Locals don't like it, and try to discourage it--for example, if a woman wants to change her hotel room from a single to a double, some places will say no--but they estimate that as many as one in five single women visiting from richer countries are there for sex. In exchange they buy their companions new clothes, expensive sunglasses and a few nights in a hotel. This is sex tourism as we've never imagined it before--and it's disgusting.

Related Stories:
· Sex Tourists in Kenya [Reuters]
· Kenya Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Naddsy]

Celeb Travel / → All Tags

Lindsay Lohan Loves Africa, Too

Hard-partier Lindsay Lohan is looking to spruce up her troubled image and be the bigger person in the Lohan/Hilton feud. Rehab? Nope, she's hopping on the Africa train--shades of Brangelina--and wants to head to Kenya to be a do-gooder.

Lindsay plans to team up with charity organization One Campaign to help fight AIDS and poverty in Africa. An insider reports, "She wants to be taken seriously as a person, and she's well aware of her image as a fluffy party girl. She sees working in Africa as a means to shed her 'naughty girl' reputation."

We sincerely hope Brangelina gets to those suffering Africans first. Given the choice between a complete set of rugs and accessories as presented by Brangelina's new line of products or some nose candy from La Lohan, we know which one they'd rather choose. Unless Lindsay comes out with officially branded sacks of millet, of course.

Related Stories:
·   Lindsay Lohan is heading to Africa [TheBosh.com]
·   Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie: Trinketmasters [Jaunted]

Stupid Pet Trips / → All Tags

Traveling Without Junk in the Trunk

We like animals, and we also like running pictures of animals, as you, gentle reader, may have noticed. So we started an animal feature, which, for lack of editorial imagination we called Animal Planet. We also considered calling it Commander Snuggles Cuddly Fuzzy Happy Time Hour. Then our sister at HotelChatter said we might get sued, so it's now called Stupid Pet Trips.




Where's my Elephant? Thus asked Bart, and frankly, we have the same question. They're big, smart, and never forget--just like Sir Ian McKellen in the Lord of the Rings--and they are easiest to spot in Kenya.

The best place, or rather the most popular, to see elephants--and the rest of the "big five" of Kenyan wildlife, which includes rhinos and lions--is on the Masai Mara reserve. While luxury safaris are in abundance in Kenya these days, almost as much as zebra and wildebeest, some feel that the best way to see the countryside is on the back of a truck. These so-called Guerba tours are considerably cheaper, though--close to half the price. However, amenities are not close at hand, nor are they going to be anytime soon.

If the sole reason for your trip is to see a enormous pachyderm, not get a spa treatment on yet another continent, then the Guerba tours are a safe bet. Otherwise, might we suggest the San Diego Zoo?

[Image via Michael Poliza/Flickr]

Related Stories:
·   Keep on Truckin' [The Guardian]
·   Stupid Pet Trips [Jaunted]

Travel Photos / → All Tags

You Can Keep Your Black Tongue

We're suckers for photographs of animals. Especially giraffes! They have blue-black tongues, something we're ashamed to admit we learned from an episode of Salute Your Shorts. Nickelodeon is a far better filter for facts than CNN, we find.

Anyway, for our cool animal and nature photo fix, we recommend Kalabrid's photos of Kenya over on Flickr. She's staying there for a few months and already has shots of zebras, giraffes, and local flora. What, no lions yet?

[Image via kalabird/Flickr]