Karibu Kenya! (Welcome to Kenya)

Geographic
Kenya is a land richly endowed by nature. It is a land of contrasts: snow-capped mountains and palm fringed beaches; lush farmlands and harsh deserts; misty highlands and sun kissed savannah; cosmopolitan cities set a midst the last bastions of great herds of roaming wildlife.

It lies on the eastern coast of Africa, between two water masses, the Indian Ocean to the east and the Lake Victoria (the second largest lake in the world) to the western end. The equator, latitude 0 the line that divides the world in to the northern and southern halves also divides Kenya into two equal parts

Kenya covers an area of a bout 582,646 sq Kms with a population of about 30 million people. The capital is called Nairobi a city just over a hundred years old. The name Nairobi is derived from the Maasai word Enkarenairobi which means "cool waters".

History
Kenya became independent on the 12th of December 1963 and is a member of the common wealth club of nations as well as the United Nations.

Today Kenyan inhabitants are almost all immigrants whose ancestors reached the country less than ten thousand years ago. The Cushites from the north were the first immigrants to arrive followed by the Nilotes who entered Kenya from the West of lake Turkana and finally the Bantu who arrived from the South and West about one thousand A.D.

The first Kenyans to arrive at the Kenyan coast were the Arabs who came during the third and the fourth century amidst strong resistance from the local inhabitants. The Europeans who were lead by the Portuguese followed them.

Culture and language
Kenya has a colourful mixture of people as well as cocktail of cultures, a majority of whom are indigenous Africans with significant populations of Kenyans of European and Asian origin. Kenya is made up of over 42 tribes all with unique language and culture. This rich cultural heritage and diversity of the people is expressed through song, dance, food, art and handcraft, which are truly unique.

The national language Kiswahili is a language that developed as a result of the mixture of Arab and indigenous Africans at the coast. It is widely spoken by most Kenyans and in the greater east and central Africa region. English is the official language.

Climate
Kenya’s climate is healthy and invigorating. The dry and hot season commences in mid December and ends in March. The long rains commence in April and ends in mid-June. From mid-June it becomes cool with a chilly August chilly, and dry sunny months of September and October.

Visiting Kenya
Visitors to Kenya must be in possession of a valid passport. All incoming visitors to Kenya, whether for business or pleasure, require a visa irrespective of nationality. Multiple and single entry visas are available. The single entry fee is US$50 or the equivalent in local currency and can be obtained upon arrival at the airport or at certain Kenya High Commissions and Embassies prior to travelling to Kenya.

The Kenyan currency is known as the Kenya shilling and comes in 1,5,10,20,50,100,200,500, and 1000 denominations. 100 cents make one shilling.

Places to visit
Kenya being the original land of the safari it comes as no surprise that the most popular places for visitors are the numerous game parks and reserves in the country. One of these is the Tsavo game reserve the largest in East Africa that is home to over 60 species of mammals and 400 species of birds. Large herds of elephants, lion, Zebras, cheetahs and a variety of antelopes can be spotted. Two other natural attractions are the Shetani lava flow and the Nzima springs.

Another reserve is the world’s famous Maasai Mara Game Reserve that at times is the most densely game populated place on earth. The reserve is well endowed with wildlife all year round. Maasai Mara is home to the renowned black-maned lions, elephant, leopard, cheetah and buffalo along with the black rhino. Another popular park is the Amboseli National Park at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa.

However Kenya is not just a land of game parks and reserves, there are several lakes worth visiting including Lake Naivasha, an ornithologist’s dream, and home to sometimes over 1 million flamingos and over 500 species of bird, Mount Kenya the highest mountain in Kenya.

A visit to Kenya is not complete without visiting the magical coast with miles and miles of palm fringed beaches and a rich cultural heritage. Apart from the superb hotels at the coast there are interesting sites to visit like the 16th century Portuguese- built Fort Jesus, Mombasa Old Town and the Gedi ruins, a city which was inexplicably abandoned in the 17th or the 18th century. Visiting Lamu town (also on the coast) is like travelling back in time. The town has narrow streets and two cars. Donkeys and boats are the only means of transport.

Kenyan Food
Kenya is an Agricultural country and for this reason the food served in various hotels and restaurants is fresh. Like any country with large cosmopolitan populations all types of food are available in the big cities ranging from Thai to Ethiopian. However that would defeat the purpose of coming all the way to Kenya. Unfortunately Kenya does not have many restaurants serving local Kenyan food as western fast food joints and ethnic cuisine from outside Kenya dominate. This does not mean you cannot enjoy Kenyan food on your visit. There is no better place to enjoy local food than straight from a Kenyan home. Some of the dishes that you are likely to come across include;

Ugali: This is the staple meal in Kenya is basically a ‘cake’ like food commonly made of maize meal but can also be made of millet. It is the ‘bread’ that accompanies all the various vegetable and meat dishes eaten in Kenya.

Sukuma Wiki: This is a large leafed vegetable also very common on Kenyan dinning tables and can be cooked in a variety of ways including with milk and ground nuts

Nyama Choma: This is a generic term meaning roasted meat, which is very popular around Kenya.
Nyama Choma is commonly goat meat but beef can also be roasted over a charcoal fire.

Chapati: As it may sound, it has close relations to its Indian counterpart with the Kenyan Variety fried with more oil and tracing its origins to the Kenyan coast.

Githeri: A dish made of maize and beans fried together; the modern version of the recipe can include carrots, potatoes and meat.

Irio: A dish made of mashed potatoes, peas, spinach and maize.

Mutura: An African sausage

Aliya: A dish made of sun dried meat

Omena: A fish dish, known as herring in English, and common among the people who live by Lake Victoria

Kenyan Beverages
Kenya, being in the tropics, is well endowed with fresh fruits of all types and these are common in juice form especially at the coast. That said Kenyan communities like many African communities have a lot of ceremonies where alcohol plays a major role and still do to this day. There are alcoholic drinks made from all types of grains and fruits e.g. mnazi a coconut drink from the coast and busaa a drink made from maize and common in western Kenya. These drinks are not found in bars and restaurants as the Government discourages them because they are very potent and cheap to produce but can be made available on request. More common is Kenyan beer, which are frequent winners of international brewing awards for light lagers. The name to look for in this regard is “Tusker”, the most popular beer in Kenya.