KENYA

Kenya is a State of Eastern Africa, bordering Ethiopia and Sudan to the north, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, Somalia to the north-east and the Indian Ocean to the east.

It covers 582,650 square kilometres.

About 31,500,000 inhabitants.

The capital city is Nairobi.

Nyeri, Mombasa, Embu, Garissa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Kakameda, which are the main cities of the provinces of the Country. Nairobi is the capital city of an independent region.

Mombasa International Airport.

The oldest human traces in Kenya belong to some nomadic tribes dating back to 2000 B.C. Other tribes arrived from every part of Africa from 500 B.C. and 500 A.C. When these tribes started migrating towards the inner part of the Country, in the VIII century the Muslims coming from Arabia and Persia settled along the coasts of eastern Africa. In 1505 the Portuguese attacked this region, putting an end to the Arabian monopoly of trade in the Indian Ocean for a couple of centuries. In 1720, however, Arabians took control of the coasts. The region had a commercial and economic decline due to plunders by the Portuguese, tensions between the Arabian governors, and fighting among the tribes. Meanwhile Britain started showing interest in this area. They subscribed a treaty with the Maasai commander in order to build the Mombasa-Uganda railway, destined to pass on the grazing lands of the tribe (where the city of Nairobi stands today). That is the beginning of the merciless decline of Maasai, who were forced inside smaller and smaller reserves, while white colonial troops increased in number. Some tribes like the Kikuyu continued their fight for their rights. Harry Thuku, one of the first leaders of the kikuyu political association, was imprisoned by the British army in 1922. His successor, Johnstone Kamau (later called Jomo Kenyatta) became the first president of the independent Kenya.
The rebellion against the colonial regime grew stronger: in order to stop it, more than 100 Europeans and 13,500 African died (guerrillas, civilians and soldiers).
Kenyatta spent some years in gaol and under house arrest, but when he was set free in 1961, he became the leader of the new KAU, the Kenya African National Union (KANU). He liberated the Country on 12th December 1963 and, once elected President, Kenya became one of the richest and most stable Countries in Africa. When Kenyatta died, in 1978, Daniel Arap Moi, from the Tugen tribe, came into power.
The local tribes showed their disapproval to the Moi government. For this reason the President ordered the tribes to be dissolved and the universities to be split up. Due to such abuses of power, all the international aids to Mio were stopped.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the biggest assistance institutions asked the government to stop its repression. Moi agreed and won the elections in 1993 and 1997. After 24 years as a President (and 13 years when he was vice-president), in the year 2002 a new President was elected: Mwai Kibaki, whose forte was the fight against corruption. Kibaki abolished taxes for primary schools, so that thousands of children were allowed to go to school for the first time. He reformed the Constitution as for people's rights and freedom, abolished the death penalty and relaunched economy thanks to privatizations. He currently has a good reputation both inside the Country and among the international investors.

The 12th December, the Independence Day (1963)

Presidential Republic.

Swahili and English.

Religions are divided this way: animists 24%, Catholics 25%, Protestants 15%, Christian-inspired sects 20%, Muslims 6%.

The time zone is two hours ahead Italy.
When in Italy the Daylight Saving Time is in use, the difference is one hour.

You need a passport with at least 6-month remaining validity when requesting visa. An entry visa is necessary, which can be previously requested and paid for at the Embassy of Kenya in Rome or else directly at the airport. The visa categories are as follows:
* Transit visa (USD 20) from one to seven days validity;
* Tourist visa (USD 50) one month or three months validity, in particular cases it can be renewed up to six months;
* Multiple visa (USD 110) for business;
* Single journey visa (USD 50);
* Double-entry visa (USD 50) issued to people who enter Kenya, go to another Country and enter Kenya again.

The country's monetary unit is the East African Schilling. For Italian tourists a holiday in Kenya is currently very economical.

CHECK THE CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATE

Not all the main international credit cards are accepted in hotels, shops and restaurants.

No vaccinations are required. Before departure it is nevertheless advisable to underwrite an adequate insurance policy, including not only medical expenses, but also a possible emergency repatriation or transfer to another Country.

The tourism peak season is in January and February, when the hot and humid climate is more tolerable. From June to September climate is still dry, and from March to May (and from October to December) rains are abundant, but they do not prevent tourists from having excursions and safari.
 
CHECK THE WEATHER FORECASTS IN REAL TIME

It varies from 110 to 240 V, with three flat slat-sockets: you need an adaptor. Please make sure you pay attention when using sockets even in hotel bedrooms and bathrooms, as safety measures in such Countries are different from European standards.

To call Kenya from Italy dial 00254 followed by the area code, then the number you wish to call. To call Italy from Kenya dial the country code for Italy 0039, then the Italian area code, including zero, and the number you wish to call (for example: to call a fixed net telephone number in Milan from Kenya just dial 0039 02 22 .... ; to call a mobile phone number from Kenya just dial 0039 348 65...). During safari communications are not guaranteed, not all lodges and tent camps in parks and reserves are equipped with telephone lines. If you have an Italian mobile phone you can receive and make calls. Anyway, we recommend to get informed about costs before your departure. If your mobile gets a line, aiming at respecting other people you had better not to use it inside archaeological sites, museums, buses, during guides' explanations and above all when waiting for or observing savage animals during safari.

Kenya is just perfect for pictures and videos. There are no restrictions to take pictures or make amateur videos for private use. During safari, it is advisable to ask the guide how and when you can take pictures in order to prevent animals from being annoyed and escaping because of some noise.

Local handicraft is extremely rich: wooden masks and statues, typical musical instruments, naïve local paintings, silver pendants, hard stones (especially malachite), beads jewels typical of Maasai and wonderful multicoloured fabrics. However, you had better avoid buying objects and products deriving from animals threatened with extinction, because you may be subject to controls at the customs boundaries. You cannot export to Europe: turtle shells, combs, pendants and musical instruments; ivory and elephant skin; some species of crocodile, skins and living or stuffed birds of prey; all felines having speckled fur and some types of coral.

Kenya doesn't have a real cuisine tradition, except for the coast, where an interesting regional cuisine developed thanks to a long history of exchanges with Indian Ocean lands and permanently available fish. Rice and fish, seasoned with coconuts, tamarind and exotic spices are the main ingredients. A traditional dish of the inland is Irio, a soup with beans, maize, spinach and potatoes served as a soft mixture, while Kenya main national dish is the famous 'nyama choma', that is grilled goat meat.
Actually, Kenya cuisine is made of heavy recipes stuffed with beans or meat sauce. For the local population this food is just for survival: the utmost satiety at minimum cost... On the contrary, "sambusa" are a nibble for everyone: triangular fritters, fried and filled with spicy ground meat. You can buy it at every corner of the street along with fried sweet potatoes, which is to be eaten hot and sprinkled with lemon juice and a bit of powder pepper.
Kenyans love national beer and fruit juices, especially passion fruit juice. The national drink is Chai, that is the tea drunk at breakfast and as a tonic at every hour of the day: milk, water, a lot of sugar and tea leaves are boiled and served hot.

Kenyan music boasts a vast range of traditional music tied to the numerous ethnic groups of the Country, but also many genres of pop music, in particular benga.
Traditional music usually accompanies events, religious rites, politic ceremonies, feasts, sport competitions or gives rhythm to the work in the fields. Usually some kinds of music and dance are for particular age brackets; in the Akamba group, for instance, young people engage in an acrobatic dance called mbeni, and adults' dances are different from seniors'.
Percussion instruments are the forte of Kenyan music, especially drums, typical of bantu cultures. Chordophones are quite famous: lyres, lute and particular guitars. Wind instruments, including different types of horns, flutes and trumpets, are less important, but commonly used by the different ethnic groups.
In some groups music is completely or almost completely vocal, especially where the weight and the shape of instruments would clash with an itinerant or semi-itinerant style of life. Maasai, for instance, have no instruments; complex polyphonic choirs give the rhythm.
Modern popular music first developed in areas with a strong presence of Europeans, like Mombasa, in the first decades of the XX century. In the 1950s a real local record industry was created, equipped with modern record studios, able to generate a market of pop music. In this period recordings by important guitarists from Congo like Edouard Massengo and Jean-Bosco Mwenda started to spread in Kenya. Mwenda's style, known as finger-style, influenced many Kenyan musicians. Finger-style is named after a particular technique of playing guitar consisting in plucking the guitar strings with thumb and forefinger; usually the guitar is played along with a small group of instruments, where a second guitar follows the first with syncopated rhythms on lower tonalities.
In the 1960s finger-style lost its popularity because of benga, a music joining elements of kwela and of soukous (a variation of rumba, coming from Congo). The cradle of benga music and its place of utmost diffusion was the area of Lake Victoria. Benga remained the main music also in the following decade, when it definitely gained the role of national pop music. Today, "benga" sometimes means all Kenyan pop music coming after the 1960s. In the 1970s some artists like Victoria Jazz, Victoria Kings, Continental Luo Sweet Band and Luna Kidi Band innovated this music.
From the 1970s two pop music types dominated by foreign artists gained round in Kenya: pop swahili (or swahili sound) and Congolese pop (or congolese sound). Both are based on rumba. New generations of Kenyan music players are often influenced by hip hop and reggae.

In tourist areas you can find many trendy places, discos and even private clubs. In the spots of hotels every night some entertainment shows and live music take place. If you prefer being independent, you can have fun with local people, but we recommend to be very careful.

The most spectacular event of the year takes place in July and August, for the Serengeti seasonal migration, when millions of wildebeests and zebras move looking for green lands, and go back towards south in October. This Park features the highest concentration of mammals on earth: more than 5 million animals. That is why Serengeti was declared World Heritage and Biosphere International Reserve by UNESCO.
The real national feasts in Kenya are Kenyatta Day (20th October) and the Independence Day (12th December). Obviously, the most important period of religious festivity is Ramadan, in the ninth month of the Muslim lunar year.

Close to Malindi there is the Space Centre Luigi Broglio, granted to the Italian Space Agency and to Rome University "La Sapienza". This centre is used to mark the satellites of the European Space Agency and of other agencies, including the Chinese one. The centre was built in 1964 thanks to Mr. Luigi Broglio (1911-2001), a pioneer in space research in Italy.
The movie 'Out of Africa' (1985) with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford is set in Kenya and describes the protagonist's love for kikuyu people.

1) Nairobi
2) Nairobi National Park
3) Mombasa Old Town
4) Marsabit National Park & Reserve, where many lions, leopards, cheetahs, rhinos, cow-buffalos, warthogs, zebras, giraffes, hyenas and gazelles live.
5) Lamu, a lovely city
6) Serengeti migration
7) Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya's most frequented faunal park
8) Kakamega Forest Reserve, an area of virgin rainforests
9) Hyrax Hill prehistoric site
10) Amboseli National Park, where you can see black rhinos.

Safari on camels in the tribal areas of Samburu and Turkana, between Isiolo and Lake Turkana
2) Trekking on Mount Kenya
3) Fishing off Malindi's coasts
4) Rafting on the breathtaking rapids of river Athi/Galana.
5) Diving and windsurfing near the coasts of cities like Malindi and the archipelago of Lamu.

- Tips: They are not compulsory, but widely appreciated and expected.
- Safety: A recrudescence of criminality is being recorded all over the Country.
In Nairobi, but also in Mombasa, although in a smaller number, many cases of armed robberies happen, sometimes involving tourists. We recommend to stay away from interurban roads at night-time, poor quarters and shanty-towns. Usually, it is advisable not to take buses for long trips because drivers rarely follow safety rules.
In case of robbery, do not offer resistance; be careful when you are on the beach, as you can be target of a cheat (e.g. someone may invite you to a trip in the inland etc...), do not accept any food or drink from unknown people, because they may contain narcotics, do not bring credit cards or debit cards when it is not necessary, as you may be forced to withdraw some money.

- Taxi: Taxis are available in the cities, but we recommend to haggle before accepting.

- Illegal exportations: The exportation of the following goods and their by-products is strictly forbidden: elephant ivory, rhino horns, sea-tortoise, corals, madrepores and reptile skin.

Kenya-Re Towers, Ragati Road, Upper Hill - Nairobi (Kenya)
Phone: 00254 20 2711 262
Fax: 00254 20 2719 925
E-mail: info@kenyatourism.org

Via Archimede, 164 - Rome (Italy)
Phone: 0039 06 8082 717

International House
Mama 'Ngina Street - 9th floor - Nairobi
Phone: 00254 20 247 750/2024 7696/2024 7755
Fax: 00254 20 247 086
E-mail:ambasciata.nairobi@esteri.it