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Welcome to the TRAVELLING articles on DoinDubai

Dubai has two major airports and any statistics I quote about the number of visitors that fly in and out will be out of date by the time you read this. But rest assured, the word is HUB. Take advantage of your time in Dubai and GO PLACES! DoinDubai has reviewed places based on real holiday experiences. So no PR type information, just what went well and itineraries you can copy. Fabulous places in Sri Lanka and Italy have kindly offered DoinDubai subscribers real benefits for booking via the site. So take a look and go travelling.

If you would like to know how to feature a hotel or destination on DoinDubai then get in touch.

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NAIROBI SHELDRICK ELEPHANT ORPHANAGE

A visit to the Sheldrick elephant orphanage makes a great half day out in Nairobi, a super short break destination from Dubai.  The orphanage is located in the scenic and very green Karen area of Nairobi and the best time to visit is between 11 and 12 in the morning to catch feeding time and the organized talks. The purpose of the orphanage is to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned elephants and eventually return them to their natural habitat in the wild. Rescued from what you may wonder, one baby elephant became separated from it’s mother and wandered into a settlement where it was hacked on the head with a machete, another fell down a well and cried till it was heard and so on.

When they first arrive in a traumatized state they are wrapped in blankets to keep them warm as they are susceptible to pneumonia as they don’t get the natural heat from other elephants if they were in a herd.  On the day we visited we saw two groups of elephants, 14 in total, aged between 2 months and 18 months. All the orphans are kept in the centre until they are at least 2 years old, then they are taken into Tsavo East forest (the largest reserve in Kenya)where they are carefully and closely monitored by their keepers for up to 5 years until they are fully accepted and integrated into their herd.

Daphne Sheldrick, the founder and owner of the orphanage researched long and hard into what would comprise the best food for the baby elephants and eventually found that a vegetable based, low fat baby formula milk similar to SMA Gold for human babies made the optimal mix. This is what the elephants are currently fed on! We witnessed the older elephants quickly guzzle down 12 pints of milk in just a few seconds!

The spectacle of watching the elephants frolic in the mud, play with each other and their keepers and hearing the talks is a fascinating and special experience completely off the beaten track despite it being an extremely popular outing.

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NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK: KENYA

Kenyan_elephantsThe Nairobi National Park is about a 20 minute drive from Nairobi airport slightly to the South of the city. It’s an ideal way to experience a taste of life in the bush without having to buy expensive internal flights to the Masai Mara and pay quite steep lodge rates. Having said that you’ll save money entry fees to the park are not cheap. It costs US $ 40 (AED 150)  per adult and US $ 20 (AED 75) for children aged between 3 and 18 if you’re a non resident. Children aged 2 and under are free. However this fee doesn’t give you access to the animal orphanage just inside the park, this costs a further US$ 15 ! Of course resident rates at KSh 300 (AED 12) per adult are significantly cheaper but smart cards are required.  We also had to pay Ksh 1000 (AED 40) for our car, a four by four off roader, saloon cars are cheaper. If you aren’t with a guide (not necessary) it’s a good idea to buy a map of the park in the shop at the entrance area, priced Ksh 250 (AED 10)

Nairobi National Park

 Apparently the park has 43 lions in it’s 117 square km but they aren’t easy to spot, there are plenty of giraffes, gazelles, zebra and some buffalo. The park doesn’t have many vehicles in it so you can observe the wildlife fairly peacefully, that said there are some people who play loud music in their vehicles even while observing the animals, obviously this creates a disturbance, but the park doesn’t issue any guidelines on etiquette before you go in.

 The landscape in the park is quite varied from flat,  yellow and green arid savannah grass land to quite dark green, dense, lush foliage all within 20 minutes slow drive. There are even some drives called Forest Glade. Go slowly and keep your eyes peeled, you’ll be amazed at what you see.

There are no cafes in the park so you need to take your own packed lunch, there are however a couple of designated picnic sites, we opted for the Impala Point site which had basic toilet facilities, a few shaded picnic tables and benches and a fantastic view of the valley below with herds of buffalo. However the facilities are not well kept and despite there being areas for rubbish, empty bottles and cigarette ends were thrown on the floor near the picnic tables.

 If you want to know what it really feels like to go on safari, you could opt to stay a night or two in the first tented camp set up in the park, the Nairobi Tented Camp.

This is the first of a few posts about Nairobi in Kenya, a great different destination to visit from Dubai, especially at this time of year, keep watching for the next posts or subscribe so you don’t miss out, and do tell me whether this post has whetted your appetite for a visit to Kenya, an ideal short break destination from Dubai.

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RESTAURANTS IN THE SEYCHELLES

Life's a Beach
Restaurants in the Seychelles come with a free view

Anse Soleil Café

This is very near the Four Seasons and the café itself is not wildly easy to find, but keep following the sign boards and asking, people are very friendly and helpful in the Seychelles. But beware this is a very popular beachside café, go swimming in the picture postcard bay and stroll right up the steps for lunch in your swimming things, but don’t leave it too late as there will be a long queue and there is absolutely no booking or reservation system here. It may not sound appetizing but the fried octopus is fabulous! (Curries are good here too) Parking is not easy but definitely possible.

Batista Villas

This café/restaurant is further South along the Coast towards TakaMaka and is quieter than Anse Soleil but has an equally beautiful beach /cove to swim in, it also has a basic shower facility too. There is usually only buffet, (Creole food) no a la carte. Great for privacy and peace.

Kas Kreole

This is actually on the Eastern side of Mahe (so the other side) but again definitely worth it, run by a German proprietor, the eclectic food is good and it overlooks the sea. We went for dinner one night and were not disappointed. It can get quite busy. Kas Creole is after Taka Maka opposite a petrol pump but the restaurant is in the back by the sea. Service was great too.

Chez Plume

An elegant open air restaurant, about 10 minutes drive from Le Meridien, it has a French feel about it, is across the road from the sea, but personally I found it a bit too hot even in the evening although the food was fine.

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