Historical Back-Ground
At the beginning of the 20th Century after many false starts, Kenya "whites" were at last finding ways of taming Africa's soil and learning to cope with her fractious climatic conditions. Atventurous aristocrats set out for a new life in Kenya Amongst these were Roger, Comte De Perigny, and his wife, the former Margaret Copley Thaw, daughter of Pittsburgh railroad millionaire William Thaw. Born on January 9th 1877, her life had been lived among the industrial giants of the United States.

People like Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, Henry Frick, together with many scientists, financiers, inventors, engineers, schemers and dreamers, were friends of her father and frequent visitors to her childhood home.

Aged 21, she married George Lauder Carnegie, a nephew of the steel magnate-philanthropist, and, in such surroundings, she enjoyed ostentatious luxury. After her first husband died, in 1921, Margaret Carnegie followed a custom becoming fashionable among wealthy American widows. In 1923, she married into the French nobility, becoming the Countess De Perigny. Thereafter, she and her new husband divided their time between his Paris residence and the home they built in 1926 on land at the Naivasha lakeside which they called (after the many antelope of this species they found there) "Kongoni Farm".

Their beautiful property is today a private park open to visitors who wish to enjoy all its splendour in untouched surroundings.

Kongoni Game Valley still preserves the natural beauty of this land and its wildlife.

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The traditional up-country Kenya house with wide open verandas and a nice swimming pool looks out across gardens to the beautiful waters of lake Naivasha. The house is attractively furnished in an early 20th century style with large bedrooms each with private bathroom en suite.

Guests can relax in comfort and enjoy superb home cooked gourmet meals.

On the hilly terrain and Masai Land can be found many zebra, impala, giraffe and other game. Guests can take a game drive by four wheel drive vehicles or take guided walks. Boatmen are available for excursions on the lake to view the large colony of hippos and the many species of birds.

Kongoni Game Vallley is ideally positioned for daily excursions to Lake Nakuru National Park, Hell's Gate National Park, Masai Mara and Samburu National Park.

Kongoni Game Valley still preserves the natural beauty of this land and it's wildlife. The property covers an area of some 1,000 hectares between the hills and the plain. There are many tracks crossing the area. It is a unique experience to be alone with the animals away from the busy lodges and herds of mini-buses.

Two Range Rovers and one Land Rover with drivers allow you to go for game drives on the property at any time. For excursions outside the residence, it is possible to rent a car or use a mini-bus or the Kongoni cars for your excursions.

Accommodation
The main house offers 6 elegant large (approx. 30m2) double bedrooms with bathroom and one single bedroom, accessible from the interior patio, two verandas with panoramic views, two spacious sitting rooms and a large fully equipped kitchen.

At the back of the house, between the euphorbia trees, there are two independent pretty cottages in the same style as the main house; each cottage has three luminous double bedrooms, en-suite bathrooms, a small living room and kitchen.

The house is laid out on a single level, the walls are in blocks of sculpted stone and the roof is of traditional red clay roofing-tile, the interior walls are lined with boiserie. Both the house and cottages are decorated in original English colonial style but with an exotic touch giving by Arabic style furnishings from Lamu.

All the bathrooms have hot and cold water. The electricity is 220 volts and the plug is a square three pin plug as in the UK.

Staff
There are over 20 staff to look after the guests every need: 2 chefs, 4 waiters, 2 drivers, 4 watchmen, 3 gardeners, 4 laundry and room staff. The Manager of Kongoni speaks Italian, English, French and Spanish fluently.

Full board. The kitchen is run by two excellent chefs who can prepare international, Italian or local dishes. Meals are served beside the swimming pool, on the veranda or in one of the sitting rooms. Alcoholic beverages and wine are not included but are available.

Things to do
All activities within the boundaries of the property are included in the rate. Kongoni is the ideal location to savour the atmosphere of "OUT OF AFRICA". You can go on game drives both during the day and night, you can hike in the bush with Masai guides, you can drink tea at sunset in the observatory where you can watch the animals, you can make an excursion by boat on the lake and discover more than 400 species of birds and the many hippos, or more simply, you can get a tan by the swimming pool or play croquet on the lawns.

By car in 5 minutes you can visit the delightful Crater lake, in 10 minutes Hell’s Gate national park, in 15 minutes the main lake of Naivasha and in 1-hour Nakuru lake, world famous for its pink flamingos.

Kongoni is also an ideal base for air safaris, there is a runway on the property and another only 10 minutes from us. The Masai Mara can be reached in 40 minutes, the Amboseli and the Mount Kenya in 1 hour and a half.
 
Details
Sleeps: 13+6
No. of bedrooms: 7+3
No. of bathrooms: 6+3
Facilities/description: Full Board. 20 staff. Swimming Pool. Two Range Rovers & one Land rover for excursions.