2007 ITINERARY
DAY 1
Wednesday, March 14
From our various points of origin, we arrive at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and are taken by a Micato Safaris driver to the Fairview Hotel, an elegant, old-fashioned establishment on the outskirts of town, where we spend our first night in Kenya.
DAY 2
Thursday, March 15
After an early breakfast, we catch our flight across the Great Rift Valley to Eldoret, and move into our rooms at the Eldoret Club, a updated colonial-era country club that will be our base for a next few days. We spend the morning walking around the town of Eldoret, stopping at Kipchoge Stadium, where elite runners train among school kids, and dropping in at the office of the man for whom the stadium is named, two-time Olympic Champion Kipchoge Keino. After a quick visit to the school and orphanage that Keino founded, we return to the Club for lunch, driving past mansions belonging to newly wealthy runners. Next we set off, with running gear, for Kazi Mingi, the training camp Keino operates under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee for runners from all over Africa. After a tour of the camp and an easy run on its grounds, we take tea with the athletes and head back to the Club for supper, with a few local running celebrities as our guests.
DAY 3
Friday, March 16
We start with an early morning run on the Club’s golf course, and then bring along our running gear on a drive to Kaptagat (about 20 miles), the site of separate camps sponsored by Nike and Adidas. We visit the camps, chat with the athletes and join them for lunch at one of the camps or at a nearby village. Then we go on to Nyaru (15 miles) on the western rim of the Rift Valley and drive part way down the escarpment on a celebrated marathon training route used by Kenya’s elite (they run 13 miles from the bottom of the Valley to the rim, an ascent of 4000 feet). In late afternoon we meet a few runners from the training camps for a relaxed run along the picturesque edge of the Rift Valley then join them for tea at one of the camps. We return to Eldoret for supper at the home of a well known local athlete.
DAY 4
Saturday, March 17
After a morning run, we drive south into Nandi District (30 miles), home of the densest concentration of Kenyan running talent. Here we pass the childhood homes of Kipchoge Keino, Wilson Kipketer, Henry Rono, Mike Boit, Paul Bitok, Ibrahim Hussein and half a dozen other Olympic medalists and world record holders, all within a few miles of one another. This is the Kenyan equivalent of the Hollywood Stars tour. Lunch is at the home of one of the area’s newly prosperous runners, after which we move on deeper into rural Nandi (20 miles) for a look at the lives and traditions of these extraordinary people. We have tea at the home of one of Kenya’s first international athletes, then return to Eldoret for supper at a local Indian restaurant.
DAY 5
Sunday, March 18
We’re up and packed early for a short drive to the village of Iten (20 miles), where we’ll spend the next few days at the well-appointed High-Altitude Training Centre, run by Lornah Kiplagat, one of the world’s top road racers. For group members eager to compete in Kenya, today is the day. A low-key 10 K to benefit the charity Shoes 4 Africa will set off in mid-morning on Iten’s dirt roads. In spite of the race’s relative lack of consequence, members of our group who take part will find the competition quite ruthless (Kenyans don’t do fun runs). After the race, interested group members can drive back to Eldoret for the Club’s festive Sunday afternoon barbecue, regularly attended by running luminaries. We’ll regroup in Iten in late afternoon and join the athletes at the Centre for tea and an evening run. Supper is at nearby Kerio View, a spectacularly situated lodge that overlooks a vast panorama of the Rift Valley. There we’ll be joined by several members of Iten’s fast-growing running community.
DAY 6
Monday, March 19
We join athletes at the High Altitude Training Centre for a morning run and breakfast at the Centre. Then we head to nearby Kamariny Stadium to watch (and join, if anyone is inclined) some of the world’s best as they tune up for the World Cross Country Championships and the coming road and track seasons. Lunch is at the Centre, followed by a visit to nearby St. Patrick's High School, founded in 1961 and since then the alma mater of more world-class runners than any educational institution in the world. We tour St. Patrick's with retired headmaster Bro. Colm O'Connell, a garrulous Irishman who still coaches the school's track team. Back at the Centre, we take an afternoon run and tea with athletes there, then join a few local runners for supper at the house of a distinguished international marathoner.
DAY 7
Tuesday, March 20
After a morning run, we leave Iten, packed, for points south. Our first stop is the village of Nandi Hills (50 miles). There we walk to the historic hilltop Ketbarak, which offers a dazzling view over the Lake Victoria basin. The spot is also the site of the most notorious incident in Kenya's early colonial history – the assassination of the Nandi "orkoiyot" (ritual leader) by a British officer, ending the fiercest resistance the British experienced from any Kenyan tribe. After lunch at the home of a local teacher and running enthusiast, we drive to Kericho (60 miles), center of Kenya’s vital tea-growing region and the southern end of Kenyan running territory. We move into our rooms at Kericho’s Tea Hotel, a once-grand colonial establishment overlooking rolling green plantations that stretch for miles, and we join a few local runners on a leisurely run through the tea. Supper is at the nearby Kericho Golf Club with a few prominent runners from the area.
DAY 8
Wednesday, March 21
We go on a morning run through the tea plantations with local athletes, and after breakfast at the hotel, we tour one of Kericho’s tea processing plants, guided by its manager. We then join the manager and his family at his home for, what else, tea, before setting off for Lake Nakuru National Park (100 miles). We stop for lunch at an upscale hotel in the large town of Nakuru and reach the Park in time for an afternoon game drive, on which we can expect to see buffalo, rhino, giraffe, zebra, antelope and the lions who prey on them as well as vast flocks of flamingos clustered near the lake shore. Supper is at our lodge overlooking the lake.
DAY 9
Thursday, March 22
After a morning game drive and breakfast at the lodge, we're off to Nairobi (100 miles) with a packed lunch from the lodge. Immediately upon arrival, we board a plane for Mombasa, arriving at our hotel, the White Sands, in time for tea and a late afternoon swim. Supper will be at one of the hotel’s restaurants with our guests, a couple of European runners' agents whose clients will be competing in Saturdays World Cross Country Championships.
DAY 10
Friday, March 23
Options abound for a day on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast: relaxing on the beach, snorkeling, scuba diving, jet skiing, golfing at nearby links, exploring Mombasa’s ancient streets and markets or attending an academic conference that is being held in conjunction with the World Cross and will focus on various aspects of East African running. Group members will also be invited to a couple of World Cross-related events: a lunch given by the 2008 World Cross host city, a dinner given by the Mombasa World Cross Local Organizing Committee, and assorted press conferences.
DAY 11
Saturday, March 24
The present schedule of events for the World Cross has the first race starting at 3:30 pm. That gives group members a free morning to try a few of the options they didn’t choose on Friday. After lunch at the hotel, we’ll set out for the Mombasa Golf Club, venue of the long-awaited World Cross. Arrangements for our group are still being worked out, but we expect to have our own tent on the course near the finish line and access to the nearby VIP hospitality area. After the four races of the Championships (men’s and women’s, junior and senior) we return to the hotel and change for the festive Athletes’ Party, which concludes both the World Cross and the organized part of our tour.
DAY 12
Sunday, March 25
After another day on the beach, most group members will be flying back to Nairobi in late afternoon in time to catch onward flights to Europe and North America.
Rates (per-person, double-occupancy):
Land-only: $3,900
Single-room supplement: $640
Rates include: all accommodations, all meals, all transportation within Kenya, game park entrance fees, game drives, porterage and unlimited bottled water. Rates exclude: international airfare, visa and passport fees, travel insurance, gratuities and personal items such as laundry, beverages and phones.
Micato Safaris can suggest a consolidator who will arrange low-cost international air transportation and may be able to book direct flights from Mombasa to a few European destinations on March 25 for those group members who prefer such arrangements. Micato can also book extra days on the Kenya coast or safaris to such celebrated game parks as Kenya’s Maasai Mara for group members interested in extending their stays. Please phone for details.
Rates are based on a minimum of 15 travelers; should the group fall below that number, a surcharge may be applied or the trip may be withdrawn. Accommodations of similar quality may be substituted.
Contact Information:
Toll-free in North America: 800-642-2861
International: +1-212-545-7111
runnersworld@micato.com
http://www.micato.com/runningsafarikenya.html
Picture Gallery from the 2005 Running Safari in Kenya
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