Travel
granola, I people-watch. The racial
melange distinguishes Nairobi from
Cape Town or Johannesburg, where
you wouldn’t see blacks or coloureds
in luxury establishments except as
waiters, cleaners or worker.
Simon knows everyone who’s anyone
in Kenya and quite possibly the world
(if not the universe); he knows
everything about everything
(almost). With wit and charisma,
Simon stretches breakfast until
lunch and then to supper — but not
before we partake of drinks at the
balconied bar, where locals who look
as if they belong on an English
country estate gather to chit-chat
about their horses over Nairobi’s
finest cocktails and canapés.
Supper. There’s super pumpkin soup,
cashew and feta salad and homemade
pasta. However, Nairobi’s elite come
for steak tartare, prepared by an
Algerian chef who worked on the
French Riviera. Chef also excels at
traditional English afternoon tea,
served in the quaint colonial salons
and library. Incidentally, Kenyan tea
is a revelation.
Kenyan Coffee is also special; when
you’re mummified in it during the
oriental spa’s signature Coffee Scrub
Ritual designed for honeymooners.
Gents, if you succumb to the tender
touch of pretty young therapist,
Margaret, whose soft hands are
craftily implemented to out-massage
Thai and Balinese counterparts,
prepare for another honeymoon.
After overly indulging in the spa,
I realise coffee is best had in a cup at
the Brasserie. I do little else other than
return to this exceptional spa, for an
Anne Semonin Deep Marine Purifying
Facial. Over applications of seaweed,
algae, sea salts and personalised blends
of essential oils and trace elements,
spa manageress Katy imparts terrific
Kenyan tales of passion.
I then learn that Lord Erroll was the
22nd Earl of Erroll, who was part
of the “Happy Valley Set,” colonials
notoriously devoted to debauchery
and decadence. The rakish young
aristocrat, an overly accomplished
lover, famously got murdered on the
Nairobi-Ngong Highway — but not
before infamously seducing heiress
Idina Sackville, scandalously
wrecking her marriage. I next learn
that Karen Blixen was a Dane,
best-known for writing Out of
Africa, and lesser known for
dissipating aristocratic husband
Baron von Blixen’s inheritance on
coffee plantations she didn’t know
how to cultivate. She became
famous for her raging romance
with aristocratic big game hunter
Denys Finch Hatton, who perished
in his private plane.
Kenya certainly inspires wild
passions. I’m yet to meet the
irresistible Masai, for whom
European princesses forsook their
palaces. Despite its historic location,
I witness no untamed occurrences at
Hemingways. Sigh.
Indeed, decorum is maintained by an
impeccable butler service headed by
David who customises my itinerary and
sends me to neighbouring celebrity
haunt Talisman. At this enchanted
Aladdin’s Cave-like under-the-stars
restaurant, you could be eating
spinach-feta samosas and seaweed
salad, served by legendary waiter
Alfonso. Simultaneously, the enigmatic
manager, Stephen, refuses to
acknowledge it’s Brad Pitt sitting in a
corner, dipping into chocolate fondant.
Travel Tips: Kenya Airways(www.
kenya-airways.com) just launched
Boeing 787 Dream Liner out of Paris
and New Delhi. It provides awardwinning in-flight service and food,
in addition to air hostesses
resembling super models.
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