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First headquarters for Kenya—and East Africa, for that matter—is Nairobi, (about $1,000, jet economy class from New York). The New Stanley Hotel is in the center of the city, has 200 rooms all with private bath (11 and up for a double, with breakfast); half a mile away is the older, quieter Norfolk, from whose veranda the early settlers used to pot marauding lions ($10 double). Whether at the Norfolk or the New Stanley, in a tented camp or an inn, guests are awakened each morning at 6:30 by the inescapable old British Empire custom: tea, delivered whether it is wanted or not, to the bedside.
Five-day package tours (from $140 per person) and all-out game safaris (from $1,000 for 30 days, including white hunter) can be booked in Nairobi; or travelers can head on their own for the Mount Kenya Safari Club (built by Actor William Holden's syndicate, now linked with American Express), where the living, hunting, dining and golf are expansive and expensive (front suite. $84 per person). And no matter which way they drive, tourists will inevitably meet up with animals. Motoring out of Nairobi in a hired car recently, two U.S. schoolmarms spied a lion sprawled at the roadside, got out to cut off his claws for souvenirs. Just in time, the beast awoke, blasted an indignant roar at his company, and ambled off. The gibbering women were revived with brandy provided by a sympathetic passerby.
Provided with the expert advice of the East Africa Tourist Travel Association and the help of a good guide, travelers cannot go far wrong in the region. At the lodge near the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanganyika are rooms ranging from double cabins (sharing outside kitchen and bath) from $8 a night, to a party cabin with four double bedrooms and a single, two private baths, kitchen, sitting room and dining room ($70 a night); food, bought at a local store, comes with the free service of a cook-houseboy. linen, cutlery, crockery. Hunters can also outfit themselves in Tanganyika with a safari the likes of which Tarzan never saw: all manner of bearers and boys, Land Rovers, guns, white hunters, impeccable service—right down to fine English china, antique silver, iced martinis and nine-course meals (lobster remoulade, filet mignon. etc., etc.). Cordon Rouge '49, and a snifter of brandy. As in all East Africa, travelers can quickly pick up enough Swahili to get along on the hunt, e.g., Memsahib nakwisha piga nyati; tia chini ya kitanda ("My wife has shot a buffalo; put it under the bed"), or Hapana taka piga simba leo. Tengeneza chandarua ya mbu na tafadhali ngoja kidogo nge ("I do not want to shoot a lion today. Fix the mosquito net and please leave the room").