TREETOPS SET TO LIGHT QUEENS BEACON
Known as THE place where a princess climbed up into a tree lookout one evening and came down as a queen the next morning, the world famous Treetops in the Aberdare National Park outside Nyeri, will be the place to be tonight in Kenya for all those fond of the monarchy. At 10.30 pm tonight, which is 08.30 pm in the UK, a beacon will be lit outside the present location of Treetops since those days in 1952 shifted and enlarged several times to give recognition and pay tribute to the 60 years Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Extensively refurbished earlier in the year and hence missing the actual anniversary on February 05th to the deep upset of many who had wanted to do pilgrimage, tonight at least, when the celebrations in London reach their climax, the lodge will be fully booked with representatives of both the Kenyan government and from the British High Commission present on site, to toast to many more years for the Queen to serve as the UKs monarch.
The guests will also be asked to plant trees as both the Treetop owners, Aberdare Hotels led by old friend James Waibochi as chairman of the board, as well as Kenya Wildlife Service have targeted over 125 hectares of adjoining forest for further replanting with indigenous trees to create additional tree cover in the wider area.
Kenya has clearly a special place with the British Royals as several members of the family have in the past visited the country and its wilderness areas, most notably the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as Prince William chose a Kenyan safari with his then girlfriend to propose to her and set the stage for the Royal wedding last year.
This will be good publicity for Kenya in the UK and hopefully overshadow some of the negative press we got more recently, when the son of a British aristocrat, who spent much time with his mother at Diani every year, has died while in police custody. For now we hope that the Kenya connection the Royal Family has with us and which has been very friendly and resulting in many visits over the past decades, will rub off on us and give tourism to Kenya a much needed boost from the UK. From my side I am happy to see Britain celebrate a rare Diamond Jubilee for Queen Elizabeth and I am sure all people in Kenya tourism extend their good wishes. And in a few weeks our athletes will go to the London Olympics and I hope that our team does us proud there and comes home with a record haul of medals, because the too helps us to promote said a regular source from Nairobi with clearly UK connections of her own.
But for tonight, at least for those not on the guest list in the UK, Treetops is the place to be to be part of the celebrations and commemorations, and if not tonight, remember, Treetops is now open again and has a fresh new sparkle in it, ready to host guests every night. Watch this space.
