Kenya camel race

The International Camel Derby and Festival – Maralal, Kenya “Hit them up, move them out, raw hide” is the theme of this International Camel Derby held annually in the northern regions of Kenya. A blend of culture, colour, action, adventure and the finest camels of the north.

The derby has been running since 1990 with visitors and entries from Australia, America, New Zealand, Canada, England, France, Spain, Japan, South Africa and beyond. All competing against the reigning Kenyan champions. The derby is not only recognized as a serious Kenyan safari sport but an international sport and a great way to create awareness of the rapid onset in the desertification of Kenya, while also promoting better camel husbandry among the people of Kenya and the benefits of these spitting, kicking yet adorable creatures in arid environments.

The camels are chosen by judges for these races depending on handlers, strength and potential for speed. Did you know a camel can get up to 25 km an hour when racing? Hang on tight!

The venue is Yare Camel Club and Camp 3km south of the township of Maralal in northern Kenya. In addition to the camel races you will also find cycling races, donkey rides for the timid, darts (I wouldn’t say the kind you play at the pub with your mates), different challenge events, local dancing displays and stalls. The camel races are broken into two main events over a number of days.

The first of them being Novices and Amateurs, so don’t expect to be just a spectator on the side lines, you have the option to hire a camel and handler for the day, saddle up and join in for this rapid, furious and hairy 10km ride on the back of a beast. The most challenging race is Elite Camel which is, a 42km marathon over a measured distance, passing the Maralal Township and running through semi-desert environments. No handlers or assistants are allowed to be used; you are left to the mercy of the desert and your own devices or imagination.

The Kenya camel derby is a mecca for adventurers, nomads and camels alike set in the spell binding country of Kenya. Enjoy the very safari adventure fan gateway. 

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Kenya gede ruins

Kenya has been voted as a number one in safari destination in the world this is due to its variety of safari getaways which ranges from culture,ancient history,birds,sea life,athletics,mountains,rivers for kayaking,indigenous forests.Gede ruins in Kenya coast  is one of the places which you won’t like to miss on your safaris in Kenya adorned with ancient history and beauty dating back 19 th century , Gede ruins  is located in coast province, Kilifi district. It lies 16 km south of Malindi town and approximately 90 km North East of Mombasa.

Gede ruins are the remains of a Swahili town, typical of most towns along the East African Coast. It traces its origin in the twelfth century but was rebuilt with new town walls in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. This rebuilding is connected with the emigration of many citizens of Kilwa to Mombasa, Malindi and other places along the Kenya coast.

With its numerous inhabitants, the town became wealthy and it reached its peak in the fifteenth century. This enormous wealth is evidenced by the presence of numerous ruins, comprising of a conglomeration of mosques; a magnificent palace and houses all nestled in 45 acres of primeval forest. But in the first half of the seventeenth century the last families left the town.

Gede's eventual abandonment to nature is believed to be as a result of a number of factors. Namely, the Wazimba raid along the East African coast in 1589. The removal of the Sheikh of Malindi and the Portuguese to Mombasa in 1593. The falling water table as shown by the deepening of the well outside the Great Mosque and finally the overhanging menace of the Galla, a hostile nomadic ethnic group from Somalia. Gede remains the first intensively studied site on the coast. It was first visited by Sir John Kirk, a British resident of Zanzibar in 1884. Over forty years later in 1927, it was gazetted as a Historical Monument. Two years later in 1929, it was declared a "protected monument" and in the late thirties, the Public Works Department carried out work on preservation of its crumbling walls. Gede was soon after the repairs in 1948 declared a National park and an Archaeologist appointed as warden. Thus, the first archaeological work at Gede began under the direction of James Kirkman followed by the first publication of the site. In 1969, Gede's administration was taken over by the Museum Trustees.

Currently the Monument is under the care of the National Museums of Kenya and in addition to being a very important archaeological site; Gede indigenous forest is a sacred site for traditional rituals and sacrifices for the surrounding community.

After visit the ruins, a day or two at the Kenya beaches is worth, as you end your Kenya safari holiday  in style before you set for your outbound flight back home.

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The laughter of Spotted hyenas

Spotted Hyena Scientific Name: Crocuta crocuta (spotted hyena) Swahili : Fisi Which weighs from 90 to 190 lbs, have a gestation period of about 100 days and stay in captivity upto 22 years. The hyena (spelled "hyeana" in some parts of the world) is Africa's most common large carnivore. 

In ancient Egypt, hyenas were domesticated, fattened and eaten, and in turn, humans have on occasion become food for hyenas. Reputed to be cowardly and timid, the hyena can be bold and dangerous, attacking animals and humans. Female spotted hyenas are dominant over the males and outweigh them by about 3 pounds. It is difficult to distinguish between the sexes in the field because external female genitalia have a superficial similarity to those of the male. Spotted hyenas are found in grasslands, woodlands, savannas, subdeserts, forest edges and mountains and an animal you won't miss while in your kenya safari.

Spotted hyenas are organized into territorial clans of related individuals. The center of clan activity is the den, where the cubs are raised and individuals meet. Hyenas mark and patrol their territories by depositing a strong-smelling substance produced by the anal glands on stalks of grass along the boundaries. "Latrines," places where members of a clan deposit their droppings, also mark territories. Hyenas are social animals that communicate with one another through specific calls, postures and signals. Hyenas usually bear litters of two to four cubs, which, unlike the other two species, are born with their eyes open. 

Cubs begin to eat meat from kills near the den at about 5 months, but they are suckled for as long as 12 to 18 months, an unusually long time for carnivores. At about 1 year, cubs begin to follow their mothers on their hunting and scavenging forays. Until then, they are left behind at the den with a babysitting adult. The spotted hyena is a skillful hunter but also an opportunistic scavenger. It consumes animals of various types and sizes, carrion, bones, vegetable matter and other animals' droppings.

The powerful jaws and digestive tract of the hyena allow it to process and obtain nutrients from skin and bones. The only parts of prey not fully digested are hair, horns and hooves - these are regurgitated in the form of pellets. The high mineral content of the bones hyenas consume make their droppings a highly visible, chalky white. Hyenas make a variety of vocalizations, including wailing calls, howling screams and the well-known "laughter" used to alert other clan members up to three miles away of a food source. Hyenas eat a great variety of animal products, vegetation and, according to campers, even aluminum pots and pans. 

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