House in Kenya
8 guests · 5 bedrooms · 4 baths
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Top-tier experienceA high end property in this area
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Includes essentials and more
About this house rental
'Pumzikatu' ('just relax') in the Shimba Hills, hangs over the Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctury. The location is idyllic with a micro climate 1000 feet above Diani Beach, 40 minutes away. Shimba Hills Game Park is close; also forest/jungle walks with guides of Shifoga Forest Conservation, and guests enjoy a cliff walk and bike rides.
The house is comfortable with good quality beds and linen. A fireplace is for ambiance and nice on a rainy night. Eating is inside, on the deck and al fresco between the pool and the amazing bbq.
In nearby Diani there are all the top restaurants, beach bars and activities, dhow trips, swimming with dolphins, kite surfing, microlight flying, flying Safaris, 4x4 trips, snake park, Colobus Monkey Trust and miles of beach to walk. There are also tourist shops, supermarkets, mini markets,
We have ATM's in Kwale, fruit, vegetables, rice, flour etc. - also beer and sodas but no wine.
We are ten minutes drive from the Shimba Hills Game Park with the famous Sable antelopes, giraffe, buffalo, bush buck, zebras and elephants. To see them one drives in at dawn and then when they hide from the sun, it is possible to walk to the Sheldrick Falls and back - a couple of kilometers accompanied by a park warden with a 'just in case' gun (although never needed). Our cook can prepare you a packed lunch or you can come back here and cool off in our pool and and have lunch.
We supply basics like flour and oil, starter tea and coffee but otherwise it is self-catering and after a welcome pizza, beer and a bottle of wine, you organize your meals with Cook. We offer full breakfast
Said, Matano and Rebecca will keep your rooms and clothes clean and serve your food and watch over your safety. Matano can make bows and arrows to your size and teach you how to use them. He can also teach you to make an Africa frame for a house. Said will welcome you into his home. His wife and he run a dance and music troupe from the village and they won the annual competition one year and met the president. They will come up to the house for a couple of hours and dance for you (for about $60), and expect sodas and cookies afterwards.
We have backgammon, books, and scrabble. In the garden we have a petang run. We will be building a games platform for open air ping pong, simple home gym and workout place.
We have an elephant watering hole (to lure them from out of the trees) just below the terrace
Salim the gardener will be so happy to show you all he has done. He, Said and Matano are happy to take you to the forest waterfall or for walks and they know a great deal about local flora and fauna and their medicinal uses. It is a paradise for bird watching for the patient among you, and photographers. (I have several times seen an eagle soar below and along the ridge). The bush babies come down to eat the bananas you put out and have been known to eat out of quiet guests' hands.
Visit a school for mentally challenged kids, a homeopathic school for young women and some orphanages.There is a colourful market on Wednesdays. There are two petrol stations. There are schools and churches of different Christian denominations, and many Mosques as most of the Digo people are Muslims. KARIBU.
The house is comfortable with good quality beds and linen. A fireplace is for ambiance and nice on a rainy night. Eating is inside, on the deck and al fresco between the pool and the amazing bbq.
In nearby Diani there are all the top restaurants, beach bars and activities, dhow trips, swimming with dolphins, kite surfing, microlight flying, flying Safaris, 4x4 trips, snake park, Colobus Monkey Trust and miles of beach to walk. There are also tourist shops, supermarkets, mini markets,
We have ATM's in Kwale, fruit, vegetables, rice, flour etc. - also beer and sodas but no wine.
We are ten minutes drive from the Shimba Hills Game Park with the famous Sable antelopes, giraffe, buffalo, bush buck, zebras and elephants. To see them one drives in at dawn and then when they hide from the sun, it is possible to walk to the Sheldrick Falls and back - a couple of kilometers accompanied by a park warden with a 'just in case' gun (although never needed). Our cook can prepare you a packed lunch or you can come back here and cool off in our pool and and have lunch.
We supply basics like flour and oil, starter tea and coffee but otherwise it is self-catering and after a welcome pizza, beer and a bottle of wine, you organize your meals with Cook. We offer full breakfast
Said, Matano and Rebecca will keep your rooms and clothes clean and serve your food and watch over your safety. Matano can make bows and arrows to your size and teach you how to use them. He can also teach you to make an Africa frame for a house. Said will welcome you into his home. His wife and he run a dance and music troupe from the village and they won the annual competition one year and met the president. They will come up to the house for a couple of hours and dance for you (for about $60), and expect sodas and cookies afterwards.
We have backgammon, books, and scrabble. In the garden we have a petang run. We will be building a games platform for open air ping pong, simple home gym and workout place.
We have an elephant watering hole (to lure them from out of the trees) just below the terrace
Salim the gardener will be so happy to show you all he has done. He, Said and Matano are happy to take you to the forest waterfall or for walks and they know a great deal about local flora and fauna and their medicinal uses. It is a paradise for bird watching for the patient among you, and photographers. (I have several times seen an eagle soar below and along the ridge). The bush babies come down to eat the bananas you put out and have been known to eat out of quiet guests' hands.
Visit a school for mentally challenged kids, a homeopathic school for young women and some orphanages.There is a colourful market on Wednesdays. There are two petrol stations. There are schools and churches of different Christian denominations, and many Mosques as most of the Digo people are Muslims. KARIBU.
Amenities at Elephants, Nature, View, Space, Pool, Bbq
Non-smoking
No pets allowed
Map of Kenya
Ratings and reviews
Summary of reviewsGreat communication with the owner before arrival. Stunning views, friendly staff, and a variety of room choices. Feeding bush babies on the balcony was a highlight.
6 / 10Average·Nov 2018
here was good communication with the owner prior to arrival in arranging menu preferences and shopping lists and we (2 adults & 2 children) were met promptly at Mombasa airport by Ian, the driver/guide for Pumzika. It became apparent on the drive to the house however that Ian would not be available for the duration of our stay or to take us onto our next destination as had been previously arranged. We were met at the house by a myriad of friendly staff and of course Kumi, the dog. The views from the sitting room and balcony as you first enter the house are simply breath taking and once recovered Risper, the house manager showed us the rest of the house. We had a wide of choice of rooms as there were just the four of us staying in order to celebrate my husband’s 40th birthday and the children opted to have rooms onto the pool and we went upstairs to take further advantage of the incredible views.
At lunch we realised that our food requests had not been met. There were no snacks or indeed drinks stocked for us or the children as had been agreed and this meant an additional fee to send someone to fetch these. We had also requested simple meals as 2 of our party were young children and meals such as 3 whole lobsters served with prawn and calamari were neither appropriate or cost effective. Despite being requested meals were served too far apart in time for young children, especially when no snacks are given in between.
We stayed 3 nights at Pumzika Tu and frequently there was no water to flush the toilet or wash with, no hot water to shower with and no power altogether, which combined with the bad weather (obviously nothing to do with the venue) and no driver to take us out for day trips made entertainment very scarce. You can feed bush babies by hand at night time on the balcony and it was agreed by all that this was the best thing about Pumzika Tu. There were 8 staff members at Pumzika Tu and this intensified the ‘goldfish’ feeling in the house rather than making it more relaxing as you may have thought. The tiny car arranged by Risper to take us onto our next venue would have been laughable had we any sense of humour left by the end of our stay and meant that we did not leave on a high,more a keenness to escape. Overall, whilst the house does indeed have incredible views and can fit large numbers of guests for a stay, we did not overly enjoy our stay.
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