Hi all we have booked a 2 week all inclusive in Kenya staying at the Bamburi beach hotel in Nov.
I appreciate there is a large kenya thread but there are no recent postings.
Could anyone give me advice on how much spends to take, ie prices of meals drinks etc.
Has anyone been to this hotel recently?
I*'m pretty much sorted with medical and safari advice its just these more basic things.
Cheers harry

Hi Harry. Were going to Bamburi beach hotel in november too. On the 25th, how about you? Were going with eclipse/first choice. Maybe well see you there.lol!

Hi Micky were also going with eclipse arriving 12th, alas ships that pass in the night

Hi Harry. Just missing each other then. Hope you have a fab time.
Does anyone know what the beach is like at bamburi?

We were at Bamburi March/April and there was quite a lot of seaweed on the beach at that time of year. Apart from that the beach was lovely with soft white sand, great for a long walk first thing in the morning.

The biggest problem on the beach is the beach boys who can be as much a pest as you allow them to be. A persistent, but polite No would work, as would only wearing a bikini and not carrying a bag or any visible means of paying them!

luci

It might not be a bad idea to learn a little Swahili before going to Kenya.
Words like 'hapana' for No, and 'sitaki' for I don't want, 'kwenda' for Go and 'sasa hivi' for Immediately. 'Asante sana' for Thank you may come in useful.
Lonely Planet have a small book of Swahili phrases which might be very helpful. I have always found that using the language of the area shows a level of respect which is often appreciated. It also gives one a confidence which is somehow lacking when speaking English in a foreign country. I'm talking basics here.
Worth a try perhaps?

Definitely worth a try. We learned the basics, eg Please, Thank You, etc.

However we got friendly with a house boy who taught us the phrase to use to get rid of the beach boys and it worked a treat. Unfortunately I can't remember what is as it was a long time ago.

luci

A few more handy phrases;
You must know Jambo! as a greeting, any time of day and add
Habare? - How are you?/ What news? hence "Jambo, habare?"
Tafhadali - please
Saa - time
Saa ngapi - what time is it? (remembering to read the clock opposite ours ie: 8 am is 2 am, 12 is 6 etc.)
Kwaheri - Goodbye/goodnight
Lala - sleep
nsuri - good/alright,
sana - very (hence: nsuri sana)
mimi - I
wewe - you
wapi - where?
lete - bring
chakula - food
Hodie - Greetings, may I come in? (use when entering a room/office etc)
Karibu - Welcome, enter
shilingi ngapi - how much?
filamu - film
picha - photo
camera - kemra
Kikapu - basket
kahawa - coffee
chai - tea
maji - water
baridi - cold
moto - hot
kikombi - cup
ngini - more
dawa - medicine
duka - shop (Wapi duka la dawa? - Where is the chemists shop?)
daktari - doctor
fundi - expert
HATARI! - DANGER!
choo -toilet (wapi choo? should be helpful!)
Nataka - Iwant/I'd like to

These should help to start with!! Kiswahili, as spoken most purely on the coast and Zanzibar, is complicated. However up-country Swahili is less so; simply stringing the words together without worrying too much about the grammer will usually be understood.

After watching Holidays-uncovered on TV recently about hotels in Shanzu beach, Kenya owned by the African Safari Club, I have become very concerned about my wedding that I have booked with them in December at the Flamingo Beach Hotel.
I would appreciated any information anyone has, as I am unsure whether to cancel my wedding with them and book somewhere else in Kenya.
Denise.

anyone stayed here!!

I know the African Safari Club had a hard time last night on Holidays Uncovered. I am taking my wife for the first time to Kenya staying at the Dolphin. I have looked through this site and others but have found very little about this hotel-maybe that's a good thing!! Can anyone give any comments that may make this an enjoyable holiday. (its my wife's 50th birthday there as well as our 25th wedding anniversary).

I haven't stayed here but it was on my list of top 5 to try and book for my visit this year but they were fully booked. If you're trying to get in this migration season i.e. Jul-Sept 05 then you may struggle. More info on http://www.mpata.com/ and there is one very short review that I found on http://travel.yahoo.com/p-reviews-379755-prod-hotel-action-read-ratings_and_reviews-i

If you do go, please post a review as would love to know what it's like.

Good luck!

I hesitate to raise my head above the parapet (it got shot off last time) but we travelled to Shanzu in October/November last year, and had a great time. i didn't see the programme in question, so am unable to comment, but based on our experience there, we would not hesitate to go back, or to go somewhere else with ASC. (Ducks down quickly )

doonhamer32

nice to hear some positives about Shanzu beach. I know there are a lot of unhappy people but surely most of the people that had a great holiday never think about putting a positive response on these sites. Please feel free to send me hints/advice to ensure we have a great holiday and are not ripped off. We intend to look for good deals for a Masai trip and also deep sea fishing.

thanks shelly. i have a booking here just wanted to know if anyone has been.

I know a few contributors to this Forum have stayed at the Bamburi Beach and there are a few more, like us, who will be staying there during the coming winter.
Please can anyone who's stayed there let me know what is in the immediate vicinity to the hotel as far as bars and restaurants go? We are All Inclusive at the hotel but it might be nice to go out for a few evenings whilst we're there. I really hope no-one's going to tell me that it's not safe to go out of the hotel on our own at night. Also, which currency is best to use outside of the hotel?
Thanks.

Hi ! I have just come back from Mombasa and the Masai Mara, where we stayed at the Leopard Beach and David Livingstone Safari Lodge. It was the most delightful experience. We booked David Livingstone after we arrived into Mombasa with Somak who was the local Cosmos Agent and we had the most wonderful 2 nights of our lives. The lodge was beautiful, an art exhibition going on there, most delicious food, the friendliest staff more like the far east, extremely spectacular game drives and two fool moon nights. Leopard beach upgraded us to their new rooms which were very very nice but the food there was not as good as in the Mara. I would recommend that you should book straight with Somak Holidays in the UK as there pricing is better

Dear Maggie

I have just came back from a wonderful safari in Kenya and Tanzania. Contrary to all the travel advisories that we used to here about, it is a beautiful country. People are wonderful, the food is fantastic and tastes real, the overall experience is fantastic. I would use a Serena Hotels in Tanzania and other interesting combinations in Kenya as Serena hotels have smaller accommodation in Kenya due to their age. In Masai Mara we stayed at David Livingstone, it was the best, in Lake Naivasha at Crater Lake, truly serene, in Samburu at Elephant Watch Camp, very rustic, in Mt. Kenya at Mountain Lodge Serena, great balconies for game viewing and in Tsavo at Finch Hattons, In Tanzania we stayed at Serena everywhere. In Zanzibar, we stayed at Bluebay which we were told is better than Breezes but this we did not visit. We booked through a small company in Calgary which used a company called Five Continents Travel in Kenya as their correspondents.

Hi,
Thanks so much for your interesting reply. I wrote the initial request over a year ago I think! 2006 is much closer and a lot has happened in between. We are using Goway travel (bases in Vancouver and Toronto) because we were very happy with them in South Africa in April 2004 when we took a group and went round the country on the Shongololo Express; a fabulous train and travel experience. In East Africa we are going only to Tanzania arriving in Kilimanjaro Airport . We shall be spending 1 night in Arusha before going to Lake Manyara(1nt), Tarangire (1nt), Serengeti (4 nights as per my request!) and coming back to the Ngorongoro Crater (2nts) before flying from Arusha for a week in Zanzibar. At the Tembo and Breezes. Our travel agent is fairly tied by Ontario regulations to using a company which operates out of Canada. There will be 16 of us in all .
I agree with you about the excellence of Serena everywhere. However in order to keep our prices at an affordable level we are not going to be using them all the time, but a tented Camp (Grumeti) and Sopa and Serena. I was very recently at a reunion (in Brampton, Ontario of all places!) of the St Joseph's Convent in Zanzibar, my very first school. I met the owners of Wildersun Safaris in Tanzania (who also went to the school and live in Arusha with a beach house in Zanzibar!) and Goway will be using them. So they are a Tanzanian owned company who have promised to pull out all the stops for us.
I would love to hear more details of your wonderful trip and thanks again for writing. My email address is xxxxxx
Maggie

Edit to remove email address as per T&C's. luci HT Mod