Kenya
Jambo! Welcome to Magical Kenya
No other country on earth can offer the visitor as much to see and do. Within the borders of a single country, you will find savannahs rich with big game, timeless cultures unchanged by the modern world, pristine beaches and coral reef, equatorial forests and mighty snow-capped mountains, searing deserts and cool highland retreats and endless opportunities for adventure, discovery, relaxation; more than you would ever expect.
Kenya - Quick Facts
Kenya lies astride the equator on the eastern coast of Africa. It is a medium-sized country by continental standards, covering an area of about 586,600km sq. Inland water bodies cover some 10,700km sq, the bulk of this in Lakes Victoria and Turkana.
Kenya has tremendous topographical diversity, including glaciated mountains with snow-capped peaks, the Rift Valley with its scarps and volcanoes, ancient granitic hills, flat desert landscapes and coral reefs and islets.
Climate
Kenya is generally a dry country; over 75% of its area is classed as arid of semi-arid with only around 20% being viable for agriculture. Inland, rainfall and temperatures are closely related to altitude changes, with variations induced by local topography. Generally the climate is warm and humid at the coast, cool and humid in the central highlands, and hot and dry in the north and east.
Across most of the country, rainfall is strongly seasonal, although its pattern, timing and extent vary greatly from place to place and from year to year.
Getting Around
Kenya has an extensive domestic travel network, with plenty of options to suit any traveller's needs. Whether you're looking for speed, comfort, sightseeing or service you'll find something to suit as you travel around Kenya.
Kenya Safari Styles - Experience a different safari every day
Kenya offers the traveller an unparalleled range of options. The incredible diversity of landscapes, cultures, wildlife and activities mean endless opportunities. With so many choices at hand, some people find the prospect of planning a trip quite daunting. It doesn’t have to be that way.
In Kenya it is very easy to plan and prepare for a safari that is as individual as you are, and that satisfies your own personal needs and interests. If you are planning a trip, use this website to explore Kenya in advance, and decide where you would like to go, what you would like to see and what you would like to do.
Kenya's Rich Culture
Kenya has a culture born of countless sources. This region has been crossed by the paths of a long and complex history. From the prehistoric records of early man to the present day, Kenya has been a land of unending change, contrasts and diversity.
The early tribal states saw cycles of migration and shifting power, with Kenya as a meeting place for peoples from the plainlands of the south, the forests of the West and the deserts of the North.
The sea brought influences from the outside world, and the passage of the spice trade created the unique coastal culture, where lines between Africa and Arabia blurred. The open coast brought European influences into this world of change and began a turbulent struggle for control whose exotic history lingers today.
Music & Dance
Kenya Music and Dance Traditionally, Kenyan music originates from several sources. Many of the Nomadic tribes of this region share some common ground in the use of songs and chants, particularly among Maa speaking groups. Maa song has always played a large role in ceremonial life.
Art
Kenya’s culture exemplifies the art of adornment and decoration, and history shows that this has been a long and influential tradition. Throughout the country, there are many examples of rock art and cave painting by early man, and of similar designs and motifs carried through recent centuries.
Modern Culture
Kenyan Modern Culture was born of myriad sources and influences both new and old. Despite the many and varied influences that have shaped Kenyan society, the culture in Kenya has become truly and purely Kenyan.
If any one thing of Kenya speaks of this unique character, it is the modern melding of traditional societies and culture. In Kenya it is possible to leave Nairobi, a city with a thriving business heart powered by the latest information technology, and drive in just a few hours to a place where life is lived in accordance to tradition and custom, where warriors armed with spears drive cattle into thorn brush enclosures to protect them from lions at night.
In Kenya the modern and the traditional live side by side, and at times the lines blur. For many visitors to Kenya, this is evident within minutes of arrival. Among the busy urban traffic, the median strips of fresh grass along the airport road are a popular place for Maasai herdsmen to graze their cattle.
Some people lament the gradual change in lifestyles, and loss of many customs and traditions in deference to modern life and values. But much more than any other country on earth Kenya has maintained many of its traditional cultures. Indeed, in Kenya tradition and custom is not seen as being linked to the past, but as being an amorphous and evolving part of everyday life.
The result is a completely unique culture, in which it is possible to see a Maasai walking across the plains using his distended earlobes to support walkman headphones, a group of urban Kikuyu joining in a traditional wedding ritual in which a bride is sung out of her house by the grooms family, or a Samburu Business man with a traditionally beaded mobile phone cover.
The ease with which Kenyans adopt and adapt to new cultural influences has a long history. Kenyan culture is built on the acceptance and absorption of new and varied cultures, whether it was migrant nomads or sea borne traders.
The end result is a culture of endless influence and yet one completely uniquely Kenyan in character.
Information courtesy of Kenyan tourism.
