You can tell you’re getting used to playing golf in Kenya when a pack of monkeys strolls on to the fairway and you don’t worry about them stealing your ball. But then it’s far more relaxing to appreciate the scene than worry about a £1 piece of rubber you’re probably going to lose in a few minutes anyway. Plus, the monkey business is one of the things that makes golf in the east African state so enjoyable in the first place.
This doesn’t mean that Kenyan golf courses are overrun with wildlife. They are generally kept to a very high standard. The variety of settings is also enormous; travel through the country and you’ll come across beach clubs set amid palms and casuarinas, those that are dominated by the perennial snow-cap of Mount Kenya and even one that’s built on the slopes of an extinct volcano. As many are at an altitude of 5,000ft or more, golfers are also likely to hit the ball 10% further thanks to the thin mountain air.
But the best thing about golfing here is the cost. The courses are far less damaging to the bank balance than their equivalents in the UK or Europe. A round in Nairobi costs £15 to £20 and for that you get first-class facilities, beautiful clubhouses and miles of tranquil fairways to hack your way through. As the courses don’t allow buggies, your only other outlay is likely to be on caddies, who’ll typically set you back less than £5 a time.
Given the temperature and altitude they are more than worth the money. And the local wildlife doesn’t put them off searching through the rough, which came as a relief.
In fact, the only drawback of playing golf in Kenya is the cost of getting there, as return flights on Kenya Airways start at £520.
Should you want to move around the country you also need to pay for another flight or arrange some kind of road or rail transfer, which pushes the cost up further. But accommodation is about as cheap as the golf and represents the same excellent value.
In all, there are 40 courses within the country’s borders, although the main centre is Nairobi, which has six within a 20-mile radius.
While there are rainy seasons in April and November you can play in short sleeves for most of the year (or a light sweater at a push).
This makes Kenya an ideal spot in which to escape the rigours of winter golf in the UK as, on average, there are between four to nine hours of sunshine every day.
Unlike southern Europe, the golfer is also provided with an astonishing array of other things to do.
For instance, play a morning round in Nairobi and you can spend the afternoon visiting the wildlife at Nairobi National Park before heading to the world-famous Carnivore restaurant.
Elsewhere, you can combine golf with viewing the exotic animals of the Masai Mara and Tsavo National Parks.
Non-golfing eyes may also turn towards the Indian Ocean, which laps the eastern coastline of Kenya and provides unlimited opportunities for diving, dolphin watching or sailing. Others may want to put the horrors of their last round behind them with a long sunbathe on the beach.
Venture south of Mombasa and you can also explore the Kisite Marine Park for a Dhow safari.
Along with snorkelling on the reef and wandering around a white sand atoll, you can dive with a qualified scuba instructor for as little as £15.
An al fresco lunch of crab and red snapper can follow at Charlie Claws, which nestles on the shores of the Indian Ocean and provides magnificent views of the nearby Tanzanian mountains.
As with everywhere else in Kenya, visitors receive a genuinely warm welcome throughout the marine park and immediately settle into a pace of life that’s completely forgotten the meaning of the word rush.
Should you carry this feeling on to a golf course you can also take advantage of the local tradition of sitting down for a cooling drink after the first nine holes.
Extend it long enough and you can catch the show of your life as the African sun starts to set and the fireflies come out for the evening. Just make sure you don’t stumble over any monkeys on your way home.
