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Instagram Contest Alert: Fly to Kenya to Visit Lipton's Tea Estates

Three quick questions for you: are you on Instagram? Do you like drinking tea? How about an all-expenses-paid trip for two to Kenya?

Lipton—yes, the iced tea company—is looking for one outstanding Instagrammer to head over to Africa to visit the Lipton Rainforest Alliance certified tea estates in person. Yes, kinda like how Olive Garden has a real cooking school in Italy and how Sutter Home wine is a real Napa vineyard, Lipton's teas are truly made from leaves ethically harvested in Kenya and they're pretty proud of the fact.

You have until March 2 to submit to this "Liptagram Challenge," and there will be weekly prizes for photos, but it's that Grand Prize of the Kenya trip you should set your eyes on—how often does a Kenya trip come up as a prize!?

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Richard Branson Has a New Pad in Kenya and Everyone's Invited

WHat the luxury tents will look like

Share your next vacation with a few wild party animals...or just animals. Richard Branson has just the place for the latter, or both if you're into it! The newest addition to Branson's Virgin Limited Edition Retreats family is Mahali Mzuri in the Kenyan bushlands and it's taking reservations for a summer debut.

The safari grounds, located in the Motorogi Conservancy within the Maasai Mara ecosystem, will play host to travelers looking for the "glamping" experience while staying right on the reserve. 12 luxury tents are poised on the edge of the wildlife sanctuary, and each features an en suite bathroom, a living area, and a front porch for watching zebras and giraffes as you sip tea.

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The Adventures of Travel Cat: Narok, Kenya

Kitty cats. They rule the internet and, whether we realize it or not, pretty much the world too. Ever noticed how cats sometimes stake out the coolest spots in a city? This new feature—Travel Cat—focuses on exactly that. Submit a photo to be featured by tweeting or Instagramming it to us (details below).

Travel Cat spotted in: Narok, Kenya

This week's Travel Cat comes from Nairobi-based traveler Naomi Mutua, (@AKenyanGirl on Twitter), who says of this chill cat:

On my way to the Loyk Camp at Masai Mara, we stopped by the town of Narok. As I had a cup of tea, this beautiful black tom came by, and shared some of my late breakfast.

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The Adventures of Travel Cat: Wasini Island, Kenya

Kitty cats. They rule the internet and, whether we realize it or not, pretty much the world too. Ever noticed how cats sometimes stake out the coolest spots in a city? This new feature—Travel Cat—focuses on exactly that. Submit a photo to be featured by tweeting or Instagramming it to us (details below).

Travel Cat spotted in: a beachside restaurant on Wasini Island, Kenya.

This week's Travel Cat is from Jaunted twitter follower @AKenyanGirl, who spotted this cat begging for table scraps of a yummy seafood lunch.

"This kitty was asking to share my lunch of delicious crab in Kenya's Wasini Island," says Naomi.

Frankly, who can blame this sand-colored kitty chilling out in the sand, for thinking he's entitled to a little legmeat here and there? After all, he did get us Google-Mapping the location of Wasini Island.

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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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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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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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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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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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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]

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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]

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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]