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'I don’t envy the designers at Land Rover. Creating the new Defender must have been one of the most challenging jobs of ...
21/09/2020

'I don’t envy the designers at Land Rover. Creating the new Defender must have been one of the most challenging jobs of the automotive world. The old models have been adored across the globe for decades, for their flaws as much as their off-road capabilities. Their designs were simple, rugged and instantly recognisable. The new one would have to be modern but still evoke this heritage. It would have to be comfortable without losing its character, and be just as effective in the dirt. It’s no wonder it endured 1.2 million kilometres in testing before it was released.'

Jan Fox had the chance recently to test the new Land Rover Defender with Inchcape Kenya LTD and Land Rover Kenya. Follow the link below to see what he thought of it!

I don’t envy the designers at Land Rover. Creating the new Defender must have been one of the most challenging jobs of the automotive world. The old models have been adored across the globe for dec…

'Nearby was a peculiar palm-like tree with dark green fronds and yellow corncob-shaped cones. We spotted more of them as...
13/09/2020

'Nearby was a peculiar palm-like tree with dark green fronds and yellow corncob-shaped cones. We spotted more of them as we trekked across the summit. My brother, Andreas, pointed out that these were Matthews Cycads, endemic to Kenya and with origins stretching back 280 million years to a time before dinosaurs. Because the montane forests in this part of country are isolated by the dry gulf that surrounds them, they have been allowed to evolve in their own direction. So these cycads are true living fossils.'

‘Maape!’. ‘Let’s go!’. Our Samburu guide, Lemaiyan, urged us to continue our climb after a long water break. The mid-morning heat had been turned up a notch, and our progress was slow. We zigzagged…

'On average, of the 1.5 million wildebeest that trek into the Mara from the Serengeti each year, 300,000 die. Most are k...
09/09/2020

'On average, of the 1.5 million wildebeest that trek into the Mara from the Serengeti each year, 300,000 die. Most are killed at river crossings, which may seem like a huge waste. But wildebeest – both alive and dead – influence the landscape in ways that aren’t at first obvious. The carcasses that float down the river nourish an entire ecosystem – river fish, microorganisms, birds and even hippos. Their bones take years to break down beneath the water’s surface, functioning as a slow-release fertiliser for plants. And the bodies of those killed by lions and other predators provide nutrients for the land where they decompose.'

Of the 1.5 million wildebeest that trek into the Masai Mara from the Serengeti each year, an average of 300,000 die, most while crossing the Mara River. While death at such a scale may seem sensele…

'When Boho opened, there weren’t many restaurants around that served plant-based cuisine, so Sarah struggled to mould cl...
25/08/2020

'When Boho opened, there weren’t many restaurants around that served plant-based cuisine, so Sarah struggled to mould classically-trained chefs to her methods of cooking. ‘In the end, I gave up looking’, she said. ‘I found it much easier to train the staff that I already had, and who were eager to learn. Everyone in the kitchen today used to be a cleaner.’'

Boho Eatery

‘This is one of the best rhubarb crumbles I’ve ever had!’. That was high praise from my wife, Gabie, who is crazy for crumbles. We were at the Boho Eatery, along Ndovu Road in Karen, enjoying a lat…

'One of the scouts then suggested that he cycled with me along the 10 km route. So together we headed into the forest, e...
19/08/2020

'One of the scouts then suggested that he cycled with me along the 10 km route. So together we headed into the forest, eyes fixed firmly on the winding dirt track ahead of us. We weaved in between aardvark holes and over thick lines of safari ants. Every now and again I had to duck to my handlebar like Chris Froome on a steep descent, to avoid low branches across the trail. My guide said that these had been constructed to discourage horses from churning up the main paths.'

Ngong Road Forest Association

A few years ago, a good friend of mine told me a story that has stuck with me. He was driving around town with his buddies one evening, with a chocolate cake from Java on the backseat. They hit tra…

'The menu was, of course, very French. We studied the breakfast one. My eye caught the Canelés – temptingly described as...
05/08/2020

'The menu was, of course, very French. We studied the breakfast one. My eye caught the Canelés – temptingly described as ‘small French pastry flavoured with rum and vanilla, with a soft and tender custard centre and a dark thick caramelized crust’. I remembered the rum baba cakes I used to indulge myself with on my trips in France – but only once on a bicycle.'

Chez Sonia

Chez Sonia promises something like my fond experiences in Europe.

'Given its proximity to the city, Karura became a convenient dumping ground for household garbage and industrial waste, ...
27/07/2020

'Given its proximity to the city, Karura became a convenient dumping ground for household garbage and industrial waste, and even the bodies of murder victims. Criminals conducted raids in adjacent suburbs, and retreated to the forest to evade the police. The guidebook paints quite a picture of these ‘dark decades’, of nefarious characters and activities, and of residents armed with golf clubs and other makeshift weapons who braved a walk in the forest.'

Friends of Karura Forest

‘It seems nothing short of miraculous, looking back, that the Karura Forest Reserve still exists, given the pressures it faced during the latter half of the 20th Century.’ This is the opening to a …

'...because of the coronavirus, this was the worst of times to open a hotel with its restaurants; but The Social House c...
21/07/2020

'...because of the coronavirus, this was the worst of times to open a hotel with its restaurants; but The Social House chose the best of times to reopen – as one of the earliest to do so. It has lived up to a third of its principles – attracting a good number of ‘uncommon people’. I reckon they will stay loyal. I will certainly be back to sample the marinated fish Ceviche dishes or a snack of Inca fries.'

The Social House Nairobi

For years I was saying that Lavington needed a hotel. Now it has one – The Social House. And it is a very special one. My son, Jan, beat me to writing about it for our Going Places column in Februa…

'It was back in the early 1990s that an enterprising guy called Frank Sutton opened the Karen Blixen Coffee Garden. ‘I w...
01/07/2020

'It was back in the early 1990s that an enterprising guy called Frank Sutton opened the Karen Blixen Coffee Garden. ‘I was wondering why,’ he told me, ‘with its good weather, Nairobi doesn’t have a garden restaurant – so I opened one.’ There are a few of them now; ones that fit my wife’s definition of a place where you can sit at a table and have your shoeless feet on grass.'

I have learnt a new word. We were ordering our lunches at the Steak Out restaurant in Lavington. Given the place’s name and also my previous experiences there, I said I would have a rump steak. ‘An…

'The exposed red brick walls and scattered outside tables of La Cascina lend themselves well to the image of a town squa...
24/06/2020

'The exposed red brick walls and scattered outside tables of La Cascina lend themselves well to the image of a town square in Italy. As described in their menu, ‘La Cascina’ actually translates to a typical Italian country house made of brick or stone, with a charming atmosphere. The design is certainly homely, particularly in the interior where the lighting is warm and framed pictures of Italy hang on the walls.'

La Cascina

When I spoke to the developers of The Hub Karen before it opened in 2016, they were enthusiastic about the mall’s open-air architecture, and particularly about the large piazza. They said that the …

'I asked Chan what he though was the reason why so many people still like having a physical rather than a digital book. ...
15/06/2020

'I asked Chan what he though was the reason why so many people still like having a physical rather than a digital book. ‘I guess it’s something to do with childhood,’ he said. ‘Books were among our earliest birthday presents. We enjoyed the thrill of turning a page and finding something new, some new picture. We grew up with books.’

Way back in the 1960s when I was a student of literature at a university in the UK, some academics were predicting that the rapidly increasing use of computers would mean that, though global commun…

'Darren – comedian, conjurer, magician and puppeteer – you might have seen him as an avuncular Santa at the Hub for the ...
12/06/2020

'Darren – comedian, conjurer, magician and puppeteer – you might have seen him as an avuncular Santa at the Hub for the last two Christmases. But he has a more serious – but also fun – job to do. He is the International Director of Project HAND UP. This is a puppet project that for a number of years has been delivering health messages in Kenya – in an entertaining as well as a powerful way. Entertaining, because puppets can do knock-about stuff; powerful, because they can say things about sensitive subjects much easier than we real people can'

Project HAND UP

In these days of the coronavirus, how on earth do you convince a child about the need to keep social distance? I’m glad I no longer face that kind of challenge. But if I did then my friend Darren C…

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