Having just completed my second trip to Kenya within the last six months – one work trip and one holiday (staying at the delightful Loisaba Ranch) – I must just take this opportunity to express my appreciation to Lady Lori, and to insist that my travel experience would have been altogether more testing if Lady Lori, and in particular its CEO Ian Mimano, hadn’t addressed all of my concerns long before I boarded my Kenya Airways flight at London’s Heathrow airport.
I have no hesitation in recommending Lady Lori for both commercial and personal transport needs – that’s what they do, that’s what they’re there for – but their commitment and attention to detail really is second to none, and remained evident throughout my times in country in ways that entirely transformed both trips.
Whether it be the way that I was collected from the apron at Nairobi International Airport, with Lady Lori’s administrative staff taking charge of all paper work and visas, or Ian’s constantly information travelogue as he flew myself initially (my partner and I on the second trip), pointing out the Highlands landmarks, coffee plantations etc as we flew across the unexpected green topography, along the edge of the Great Rift Valley and onwards to the Mara. It was as if a whole education was packed into my first hour in the country, and wholly effective in encouraging a fascination towards knowing and seeing more.
As we flew across land owned by the Smithsonian Institute Ian pointed out the endangered Black Rhino that breed safely within this private reserve, and later swooped low to see Elephant herds and buffalo at just a few feet above the ground. It really was the most fascinating introduction to the country.
Ian was the perfect gentleman effecting charming introductions upon our arrival at Loisaba and accepting an invitation to stay for dinner there too, just another aspect of levels of customer care that I’m sure makes his clients feel that it will be Lady Lori that they book time-and-time again, and the service that they recommend to their own friends or colleagues.
While at Loisaba on this second trip, there was one evening where we enjoyed sundowners deep in the Mara, at the top of a bare rock mountain spike that would have been entirely inaccessible via any other means of travel. Lady Lori pilot Humphrey Carter was as perfect a host as Ian had been before him, and the opportunity to fly there along raging river beds with hills rising above us on either side, to watch the sun go down across the plains below us, and to watch the turbulence of a storm brewing on the horizon was simply fabulous – there’s no better word for it.
For our last day, back in Nairobi, Ian had booked us a room at the wonderful Ngong House Hotel – where most of the rooms are built as traditional treehouses – Ian called to invite us to lunch with him at the famous Wilson Golf & Country Club. That was wonderfully considerate of him, but when he collected us from the hotel’s gardens in his brand new helicopter – an EC130 B4 Eurocopter with sexy and stylish black and silver livery – it was tempting to rather imagine one’s self in a James Bond movie, especially as Ian landed the helicopter on the greens at the Club and immediately an admiring crowd gathered to check out the aircraft.
I’ve met with Ian a couple of times since, whenever he stops over in London, and every time it’s immediately evident that the passion he has for Kenya, for Africa, and for flying is very deeply ingrained. So much so that I will be flying with Lady Lori again very soon and have already recommended him to quite some number of my own friends. I am entirely happy to write this testimonial to his wonderful business now, and wish all at Lady Lori all the best until I see them again.
Marc Carter, Bath, United Kingdom
