14 Places To Visit This Fall

Published in the Huffington Post (originally published on Fodors.com)

From cutting-edge contemporary art in Miami to epically awesome Kenyan resorts, this season's hottest destinations exceed expectations. Go beyond the biergartens in Munich, check out the other Portland, escape hurricane season in Mexico City, and discover a culinary hotspot in the heart of the American Midwest. Here are the 14 places to keep on your radar this fall

Kenya

Why Go Now: The country's celebration of its 50th anniversary of independence culminates on Kenyan Day (December 12), known locally Jamuhuri Day. Toast the nation at its newest high-profile opening, Virgin visionary Richard Branson's Mahali Mzuri, a 12-suite luxury resort in the heart of Kenya's Maasai Mala National Reserve. The lodge is notable for its eco-friendly ethos, remarkably fast WiFi, and sustainable tourism model, created in partnership with 250 local Maasai landowners.

Where to Stay: In addition to Branson's bold venture in big game country, there are two newly opened Kempinski hotels: Nairobi's Villa Rosa and safari lodge Olare Mara, which is also located in the Masaai Mala National Reserve.

Insider Tip: Few travel experiences are as photogenic as a Kenyan safari, but do not photograph local individuals without asking permission first. Taking pictures can offend social and tribal customs of communities like the Maasai.

14 Best Places to Go This Fall

Published in Fodors.com

From cutting-edge contemporary art in Miami to epically awesome Kenyan resorts, this season's hottest destinations exceed expectations. Go beyond the biergartens in Munich, check out theother Portland, escape hurricane season in Mexico City, and discover a culinary hotspot in the heart of the American Midwest. Here are the 14 places to keep on your radar this fall, from closest to furthest afield.

KENYA

Why Go Now: The country's celebration of its 50th anniversary of independence culminates on Kenyan Day (December 12), known locally Jamuhuri Day. Toast the nation at its newest high-profile opening, Virgin visionary Richard Branson's Mahali Mzuri, a 12-suite luxury resort in the heart of Kenya's Maasai Mala National Reserve. The lodge is notable for its eco-friendly ethos, remarkably fast WiFi, and sustainable tourism model, created in partnership with 250 local Maasai landowners.

Where to Stay: In addition to Branson's bold venture in big game country, there are two newly opened Kempinski hotels: Nairobi's Villa Rosa and safari lodge Olare Mara, which is also located in the Masaai Mala National Reserve.

Insider Tip: Few travel experiences are as photogenic as a Kenyan safari, but do not photograph local individuals without asking permission first. Taking pictures can offend social and tribal customs of communities like the Maasai.

A Crossing In Kenya: A Thrilling Spectacle of the Great Migration

Published in the Huffington Post

"They're building," Jimmy, our Wild Eye guide, said as we drove down the dusty road that paralleled the steep embankments of the Mara River. "Building" is when wildebeest herds gather before a crossing. He pointed to the other side of the river, where thousands of wildebeests were amassing. Behind the lines of curved horns and shaggy beards, we could see hundreds more making their way to their comrades, their dark coats forming the shape of a cornucopia--wider at the edge but eventually dwindling to a single-file procession that led back to the horizon.

We were in the Mara Triangle, the northwestern part of the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, an area independently governed by the Mara Conservancy and bordering Tanzania. Here, the great wildebeest migration was in full swing: millions of animals traipsing through Kenya from Tanzania and back again, in a never-ending cycle to find water and grass. The jaw-dropper in this region is the crossing of the Mara River, a display that is one of nature's most thrilling natural phenomena, and we were front row center!

Anatomy of a crossing
A crossing is a dramatic, dust-filled spectacle injected with the kind of thrill one gets watching a Jerry Bruckheimer film at the peak of its car chases and explosions. Would crocodiles, the length of a canoe, take down the first brave few? Would others drown in the attempt or be trampled? Bodies of unlucky wildebeests speckled the shoreline, underscoring the dangers. Sometimes the herd congregated at the edge of the river and then, for some inexplicable reason, decided not to cross and turn around -- teasing us as we waited anxiously for the show. There are no guarantees when it comes to a crossing. You may wait for hours and nothing happens, but when it does, it's magical. This time, Jimmy felt they would cross, and he was right. On both sides of the Mara, jeeps were filled with eager photographers sporting lenses the size of megaphones. Our jeep was no different.

We watched as a few wildebeests walked down the steep incline. They eyed the edge of the river, sniffed the water, looked right and left -- one dipped its hoof into the current -- and stopped. We held our breath. To the others in my jeep I voiced what I imagined to be the animals' dialogue. "You go." "No, you go." "Maybe we should wait?" "No. We gathered a thousand guys; we can't turn back now." The honking of the herd became a low steady hum, a giant beehive waiting to take flight, and then it began.

At first it was orderly: One brave beast took the lead, then the others dutifully followed slowly, in single file. But suddenly the endeavor became frenzied, as if a wildebeest in the back had screamed, "Lion!" The herd shifted gears and the speed increased; individuals fanned out to the sides and began leaping into the water, hurtling their body several feet into the air with the power of an Olympic diver, sometimes landing on the backs of others in a gnarled mess. Some swam calmly, but others entered the water wildly, as if their coat were on fire, apparently wanting to get to the other side in a hurry. Dust kicked up by the mob swirled overhead, obscuring those waiting their turn to take the plunge. The steady hum was punctuated with forceful brays, which mixed with the splashing of hooves hitting the water. Soon the herd became a moving, breathing bridge that spanned the width of the river.

Hippo encounter
Hippos upstream and down watched the scene casually, resigned that they could not take on an entire herd in defense of their territory. A lone wildebeest, overtaken by the current, headed toward a hippo the size of a house. As it approached, the hippo raised its head out of the water -- a sign of aggression -- not caring that the beest's trajectory wasn't intentional. The wildebeest began to swim in the opposite direction to avoid its angry adversary, but the hippo glided forward, ready to fight. The smaller of the two gave up, opting to head back to the shore from which it came instead of grappling with the multi-ton behemoth. A well-fed crocodile sunning on the bank watched the episode dispassionately.

Sad reality
Mara Triangle rangers on our side sat in dark green jeeps ready to enforce the mandatory distances for jeeps in order to protect the wildebeests along their journey. Across the river, the Mara Reserve rangers were less attentive and allowed the vehicles to get too close. To avoid the cars, the fearful wildebeests jumped down vertical chutes etched into the embankment by years of crossings and Mother Nature. Most were fine, but others toppled head over hoof, rolling until they hit the bottom. A body, decaying and bloated, lay on a ledge near the top, a victim of the plunge only a few days before. It was a frustrating sight to witness, one that we were powerless to change.

Fighting against the current
An adult male caught in a rip current a few feet from his goal struggled in the water to keep from being swept away, essentially swimming in place against the undertow. For a while we speculated that a crocodile was beneath the surface, holding him in place, waiting for exhaustion to set in before dragging it below. We saw its head go under, thankfully reappearing moments later. After 10 minutes it somehow made its way to the bank, and we cheered as it hauled itself onto the stones. Then it collapsed. Was it exhausted or mortally wounded? How would it ascend the plains above? For a long time he struggled to rise, only to fall again. Eventually he dragged himself to the top, appearing 50 feet from our jeep. His front legs buckled, thrusting him headfirst into a bush. Jimmy said, "His legs are broken." My heart tightened in my chest. I couldn't bear for him to have fought so hard only to die at the top. For several minutes he was immobile, chest heaving, and then, as if nothing had happened, he stood up and walked steadily toward his herd in the distance. Our gang exhaled with relief.

Success

Once across, the wildebeests scrambled up the slippery, rocky slope on our side of the Mara River. Their backs, shiny and wet, resembled a mass of beetles as they climbed the bank, spreading out like veins across the stony terrain and onto the plateau above. Calves fresh from the water, bedraggled and wet and separated from their mother, would face the water honking in panic. As soon as the mom appeared, each calf rushed to her and together they would gallop off toward the grass, happy to be reunited.

The crossing in all its glory and excitement lasted more than half an hour, the flurry giving way to peaceful grazing. It would be one of several we would see during our stay, each with its own thrills and gripping dramas, all extraordinary sightings I will not soon forget.

Where I stayed: A mobile camp on the edge of the Mara River, in the Mara Triangle, as a guest of Wild Eye's Great Migration Photo Safari

Best time to view the crossings: July-October

How I got there: South African Airways through Johannesburg to Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. I spent one night in Nairobi and flew via Air Kenya to an airstrip in the Mara Triangle. All in all, it was about 21 hours door-to-door.

My equipment: Canon 5D Mark III and a Canon 7D. Lenses included an EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM with built-in 1.4x, an EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, and a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM

For more photos and stories from my trip to Kenya, visit The Insatiable Traveler.

Three New Luxury Safari Camps Open in Kenya

Published in Fodors.com

In perfect pitch with the annual Great Migration (from July through November), a trio of safari camps in Kenya has debuted, boasting lots of luxuries—from spas to fine wines—along with intimate access to nature and animals.

During the Great Migration, a staggering number of animals migrate from Tanzania's Serengeti National Park to Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, around 1.5 million wildebeest, 200,000 zebras and Thomson's Gazelle.

To experience it all, consider a stay at Mahali Mzuri, Richard Branson's second property in Africa within the Virgin Limited Edition collection. (The first is Ulusaba Private Game Reserve, in South Africa.) Open since August, its 12 tented suites—in Swahili, "mahali mzuri" means "beautiful place"—are tucked into the Motorogi Conservancy in the Maasai Mara. Rates start at $580 per person each night, inclusive of all meals, drinks, and daily game drives within two local conservancies. Employees work diligently to shrink guests' carbon footprint, even at the spa, where a line of ethically sourced skin-care product (Africology) are used. Dinners can be had under a main tent, in the bush or in a more private setting.

Then, Speke's Camp is a sibling of Maasai Trails' Jan's Camp, near the Lotia Forest, adjacent to the Masai Mara, and debuted on July 15. While the eight-safari-tent property is located on private land, it is near the Maasai Reserve. Rates start at $305 per person each night and include game drives (plus the option to tack on a walking safari through the Loita Hills with expert guides). Each tent includes a bathroom and hot shower.

Open since early July, Elewana Collection's first camp in Kenya—Sand River Maasai Mara Camp—hugs its namesake river within Maasai Mara National Reserve. Each of the 16 tents hearkens back to the late 1920s but feature modern perks like a private sun deck, plus access to a swimming pool, library, and billiard rooms. Daily game drives and bush meals are available to guests. Rates start at $470 per guest per night and include all meals and drinks.

Off the Beaten Path in Kenya

Published in the New York Resident

Out of Africa Revisited: The Karen Blixen Museum in Kenya

Published in the Dallas Morning News

NAIROBI, Kenya — “I wonder if I’ll see Meryl Streep here,” I think as I first behold the squatty, sprawling gray fieldstone bungalow where once lived Karen Blixen, the real-life heroine of Out of Africa, a film that won seven Academy Awards. Now home to the Karen Blixen Museum, this elegant century-old cottage on the outskirts of Nairobi draws visitors from all over the world.

Streep, who played Blixen opposite Robert Redford in the 1985 Sidney Pollack film, was rumored to be on safari in Kenya, so it wasn’t altogether unreasonable to think she might wander in. George Clooney has even visited, but I wasn’t looking for movie stars; I’d come for Karen, whose true story is far more fascinating.

Exactly 100 years ago this December, Karen Christenze Dinesen, a naive 28-year-old Danish bride, boarded a ship in Naples, Italy, and embarked on a life-changing adventure in Kenya, where she would spend the next 17 years. Her story, later chronicled in her memoirs, Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass under the pen name Isak Dinesen, is one of a passionate, tumultuous 17-year love affair with Africa.

Her great adventure began when she married her cousin, Baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke, and they bought a 6,000-acre coffee farm in colonial Africa. After they divorced, the baroness tried to hold the failing farm together. Over time, she fell in love with tall, blond, balding British aristocrat, safari guide and aviator Denys Finch Hatton. Although he loved her and periodically lived with her in this house, he was a free spirit who wouldn’t be tied down. Killed in a plane crash on his way back to her, Finch Hatton is buried in the Ngong Hills above her farm.

At the time of his death, Blixen was losing everything she owned to drought, fire and creditors. At night she would walk paths of the farm agonizing over how to save it. In despair, she attempted suicide and left Africa forever.

Time would soften the rough edges of her story and help Blixen heal.

Bror and Karen named their 1912 bungalow Mbogani, a Kiswahili word meaning “house in the forest.” In 1964, the Danish government purchased the house, which had several owners over the years, giving it to Kenya as an independence gift. Acquired by National Museums of Kenya, it opened as a museum in 1986. After closing for renovations, it recently reopened to the public. Surrounded by sweeping lawns and towering trees, the house looks surprisingly unchanged from when Blixen lived there from 1917 to 1931, as old photographs show.

Though Blixen sold most of her furniture to pay creditors, a few pieces have been recovered and donated to the museum, including a bookcase built for Finch Hatton’s books with money he gave her. On it, she engraved small brass plates with his initials. A cabinet in the dining room held medicine used to treat natives on the farm. Other furnishings are of the period; some, including a phonograph, cuckoo clock and dining table, are from the set of Out of Africa.

The house is roomy, with a library, dining room, foyer, lavatory, three bedrooms and kitchen. The dining room where Blixen twice entertained the Prince of Wales has a fireplace and French doors opening to a small patio with views of the Ngong Hills. A millstone table there was Blixen’s favorite spot to sit and smoke each morning.

Twice nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature, Blixen died in Denmark at the age of 77. Biographer Linda Donelson writes, “Every evening before going to bed, she opened the south door of her house and looked toward Africa.”

Blixen writes, “I have had so infinitely much that was wonderful … I have looked into the eyes of lions and slept under the Southern Cross … seen the grass on the great plains ablaze and covered delicate green after the rains. I have been the friend of Somali, Kikuyu, and Masai; I have flown over the Ngong Hills.”

Here in Kenya in this house, Blixen would awake each morning thinking, “Here I am, where I ought to be.” Today, standing on her lawn where thousands of natives once gathered for Ngomas, drum dances lit by bonfires, I feel the same way.

Janis Turk is a freelance writer who lives in Seguin.

When you go

The Karen Blixen Museum, 6 miles outside Nairobi, is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., including weekends and holidays, offering guided tours. The museum conducts research and has collected oral history about Blixen from the descendants of her workers. It also hosts a new exhibition that tells Blixen’s story from the African perspective and is building a new visitor center. museums.or.ke

Stay: Out of Africa fans will love spending the night on Blixen’s actual farm in the Karen Blixen Suite, adjacent to the Denys Finch Hatton suite at Hemingways Nairobi, a new 45-room boutique hotel property that opened in April on what were once the grounds of Blixen’s farm, less than a mile from the Karen Blixen Museum. All rooms have arresting views of the Ngong Hills. For possibly the best steak in town, dine at Hemingways Brasserie, where the executive chef, Barry Tonks, is the only chef in Kenya to have been awarded a prestigious Michelin Star. hemingways-nairobi.com

Downtown: For a downtown option, stay at the new 200-room Hotel Villa Rosa Kempinski opening this month in Nairobi’s commercial center. kempinski.com/en/nairobi/hotel-villa-rosa

Safari: Kenya’s best safari camps are just a short flight from Nairobi on small carriers such as SafariLink. For a family-friendly option, visit Sweetwaters Serena Camp in Ol Pejeta Conservancy in the shadow of Mount Kenya. serenahotels.com/serenasweetwaters

If you want the best chance to see the Big Five of wildlife and long for your own romantic Out of Africaexperience, go on safari where Denys Finch Hatton and Bror von Blixen-Finecke did: the Masai Mara. Stay in the Olare Mara Kempinski Masai Mara Tented Camp in the Olare Orok Conservancy, where you’ll find more than 2 million wildebeest, zebra and the world’s largest lion population (kempinski.com/masaimara). Other great options are Elephant Pepper Camp (elephantpeppercamp.com), Mara Leisure Camp (maraleisurecamp.co.ke) and Cottar’s 1920s Safari Camp (cottars.com).

Experience: The Mara is also home to numerous Masai villages, many of which welcome visitors. The Masai retain their native dress and fascinating culture.

EXPLORE KENYA by visiting magicalkenya.com

Passport to Paradise

Published in Chile Pepper Magazine