I travelled to Kenya in 1993 and fell in love with the place. This website consists of pictures from my trip, some of the places I stayed and sights that I saw, along with a few useful phrases and packing tips that I found useful. Enjoy your trip!
NOTE: Since this was created as aprt of a class project the history was thrown in to make it more substantive. The fun information begins with the Places of Interest.
Kenya is an ethnic and cultural melting pot. Its present population is the result of incursions of differing groups over the past 1500 years.
Kenya has a history of invasions by tribal people, such as the Bantu and Masai migrations.
Both of these groups were organized into clans, with no centralized social or political institutions. No large, powerful Bantu kingdoms ever emerged in Kenya. Even the Kikuyu, the most numerous of the Bantu groups, remained a clan-based society. The soil in the uplands was fertile, and agriculture flourished there. The Bantu, using the terrain of the Great Rift Valley, particularly the valleys and hills of the highlands and the Aberdare Range, defended themselves from later invaders without being forced to fundamentally alter their political systems. Their societies were based on clans, and although the warrior, or muran, was a dominant figure, the Masai never had large armies. Like the Bantu, they presented few military problems to the Europeans who divided up East Africa in the 19th century.
After the 11th century, the coastal areas were dominated by traders and settlers from southern Arabia. They established the various Zenj city-states, so called because in Arabic the country was known as the land of the Zenj, or “black people.” The most important of these settlements in Kenya were Malindi and Mombasa. The Muslim entrepreneurs were content to control the interior trade, and their cities became important ports in the Indian Ocean trade system. In time a composite Arabic-Bantu culture developed along the coast, exemplified by the hybrid Swahili language, which became the trading language of East Africa.
British Rule
The British have had an nterest in Kenya since 1873, when their first consul arrived. For a time British interests in Kenya were maintained by the Imperial British East Africa Company, but in 1896 the British Foreign Office assumed direct control primarily because of the decision to build a railway from Mombasa to Lake Victoria. British annexation was not seriously contested by any of the Bantu or Masai. In 1902 all Kenya became a dependency under the Colonial Office. It became the British base of operations in the protracted East African campaign against the Germans during World War I (1914-1918).
The type of government established in Kenya was the crown colony system. The governor and the secretariat were appointed from London. Most Africans, however, continued to be ruled in some fashion by their own leaders under the general guidance of a British district officer. Tribal lands were guaranteed, but all unoccupied territory became crown land. Even before 1900 some white colonists had recognized the economic value of the highlands and had begun to settle the fertile lands adjacent to Nairobi. By the close of World War I more than 9000 Europeans were in Kenya, and much of the highlands had been reserved for continual white settlement. The government, claiming to be concerned with “native paramountcy,” actually favored the white minority. African economics and politics were closely monitored at a time when the depression of the 1930s and an expanding population showed the inadequacy of the land reserved for the natives.
The Kikuyu Revolt
The Kikuyu, denied any major additions to their reserve and never reconciled to the loss of their original lands, began an agitation after World War II (1939-1945), which culminated in the Mau Mau Rebellion of the early 1950s. Although the rebellion did not spread to the other native peoples, it cost the lives of a few Europeans and thousands of Kikuyu, and the expenditure of millions of dollars. By the end of the emergency, in 1956, the prosettler policy was abandoned in favor of one similar to that being followed in West Africa, leading to majority rule and independence. The only difficulty in this period concerned Jomo Kenyatta, the Kikuyu leader, who had been imprisoned for complicity in the Mau Mau uprising. The major Kenya political party, the Kenya African National Union (KANU), refused to cooperate fully until their leader was released. Once this was done in 1961, full cooperation ensured Kenya’s independence, which was proclaimed on December 12, 1963.
Independence
Despite the fears of white settlers, African rule proved moderate, pro-Western, and progressive. Although Kenya by 1965 was a functioning one-party state, considerable freedom was permitted within the party, and the government seldom misused its powers. Internal peace among the different tribes and nations was maintained, and land redistribution calmed much of the clamor of Kenya’s traditional leaders. Kenya became a republic in 1964, and Kenyatta was chosen its first president. He sought to maintain good relations with Kenya’s neighbors but did have some difficulties with Tanzania and with the Ugandan regime of Idi Amin. The East African Community, an economic union of the three countries established in 1967 and once considered a promising start for political unification, was gradually phased out (although in the early 1980s the community’s former members considered reviving it). Kenyatta’s moderate, stable government attracted large foreign investments. A new industrial area was established near Thika, and central Nairobi was modernized. The tourist industry, based on Kenya’s great national wildlife reserves, continued to thrive. Kenyatta was recognized at the time of his death in mid-1978 as Mzee, “the wise old one,” not only by his own people but by a wide array of world leaders.
Fears of possible civil war between Luo and Kikuyu groups when Kenyatta died proved unfounded, and his successor, Daniel arap Moi, followed the same moderate political and economic policies. However, in June 1982 he made Kenya officially a one-party state. Two months later an attempt by air force units to oust him was crushed by loyal troops. As the 1990s began, Moi reacted to rising domestic opposition by jailing his leading critics; in late 1991, however, he bowed to pressure from international aid donors by legalizing opposition parties. Kenya’s first multiparty election in 26 years was held in December 1992. Moi won the election and began his fourth term as president in January 1993. After the 1992 election, Moi’s government came under allegations of government corruption. In addition, strife developed between the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin, the ethnic group to which Moi belongs.
* Nairobi National Park
* Nairobi Market
* Giraffe Sanctuary - outside of Nairobi
* Uvumbuzi Women's Group Recycling Program
* Masai Mara Game Reserve
* Lake Nakuru- Flamingo's Galore!
* Great Rift Valley
* Elsamere Education Center- Lake Naivasha
You should read Born Free by Joy Adamson. This is the center where Elsa lived.
* Olkiria Gorge in the Hell's Gate National Park
* Lake Nakuru
*Mombasa train
While you are in Nairobi check out the Carnivore Resaurant (unless your vegan). You'll get to experience some exotic food in a great atmoshphere!
* Long Skirts
* Cool clothing -it will be warm on the equator! ( Consider packing some older clothes you wouldn't mind not having anymore. You can trade your clothes for some fabulous gifts.)
* CAMERA – an absolute must! I would recommend a telephoto lens as well.
* Baby wipes- helps keep you cool and you can wash if you don't have spare water.
* Comfortable shoes/sandals
* I recommend packing Umbro shorts- they are cool, comfortable, and dry very fast when after being washed.
The most important travel phrase:
Please, where is the bathroom?..... Tafadahli, choo iko wapi?
Numbers
Climate
Kenya is divided into two almost equal parts by the equator. The region north of the equator is hot and receives comparatively little rain. The southern region falls into three meteorological zones: The coast is humid, the average annual temperature ranging from about 24° C (about 76° F) in June and July to about 28° C (about 82° F) in February, March, and April; the highlands are relatively temperate; and the Lake Victoria region is tropical. The rainy seasons occur from October to December and April to June.
People
The great majority of Kenya's population is black African. The country also has small numbers of Asians, Europeans, and Arabs. The black Africans are divided into more than 30 ethnic groups belonging to four linguistic families—Bantu, Nilotic, Paranilotic, and Cushitic. The largest ethnic groups are the Bantu-speaking Kikuyu, Luhya, and Kamba; the Nilotic-speaking Luo; and the Paranilotic-speaking Kalenjin.
Language
Nearly all the African ethnic groups in Kenya have their own distinct languages, some of which are closely related. Since the early 20th century Swahili has become a major African tongue, and it is the official language of Kenya; Kikuyu, Luo, English, and Asian languages such as Hindi are also widely used.
Try and learn a few Swahili phrases before you go. It's amazing what an attempt at the language will get you! People's eyes just light up at a Jambo! or a Habari Yako? See the Useful Phrases section down below for some vocabulary.
Money
The currency unit is the Kenyan shilling, consisting of 100 cents (56.72 Kenyan shillings equal U.S.$1; 1996).
Definately check out these sites before you go! They've got great infotips on exchange rate, temperature, etc.
U.S.Mission in Nairobi:
P.O. BOX 30137
Tel: 254-2-334141
Fax: 254-2-340838
Embassy of the Republic of Kenya in Washington, DC
2249 R STREET N.W
WASHINGTON D.C 20008
Phone No. 202-387-6101
Fax No. 202-462-3829
E-mail: info@kenyaembassy.com
I. History
II. Points of Interest
II. What to Bring
II. Useful Phrases
Hello ..... Jambo or Jambo sana
Good-bye ..... Kwaheri
How are you? ..... Habari Yako?
Fine ..... Sana (Mzuri sana is really fine)
My name is… ..... Mimi nahitua…
What is your name? ..... Wewe unahitua nini?
Thank you very much . ..... Asante sana
No ..... Hapana
Yes ..... Dio
How much? ..... Ngapi
I would like ..... Ningependa
I would like a cold beer. ..... Ningependa pombe baridi
Water ..... Maji
Where is? ..... Wapi?
Telephone ..... simu
No problem ..... hakuna matata
Food ..... chakula
Coffee ..... kahawa
Tea ..... chai
hot ..... moto
cold .... baridi
One Mojaa
Two Mbili
Three Tatu
Four Ine
Five Tani
Six Sita
Seven Saba
Eight Nane
Nine Tisa
Ten Kumi
II. Random Info.
III. Contact Information
Links to Amy's Paris Page