Kenya Overview

Located midway down the east coast of Africa, Kenya is one of the richest and most visited of African nations. It is a country of wildlife, vast savannahs, stark mountains and fine beaches. Kenya’s number one draw card is the many outstanding national parks and reserves where four-wheel drive safaris are very popular, while bustling seaside resorts on the Indian Ocean also feature

History and culture are also evident with many ancient towns and villages on the coast being home to the intriguing Swahili people and their traditions. The lofty capital, Nairobi, is the most sophisticated of Kenyan cities and offers the best shopping and dining, as well as being the starting point for safaris into the wilderness. Kenya’s other great city, Mombasa, lies on the south coast and is also an important tourist hub which provides access to the many coastal resorts

July to September is the best time to visit Kenya as the rain is at its least and the animals are often at their most active. This is however, also the most expensive time.

For lovers of outdoors, Kenya is a dream. Visitors will find mountains offering great hiking, climbing and trekking; unforgettable safaris; popular water sports activities on the coast and even some quality golf courses. Most of these activities can be enjoyed all year due to good accessibility and warm temperatures.

Nairobi has the best selection of tourist hotels ranging from modest accommodations right up to five-star luxury. Mombasa and the northern coastal regions offer a range of quality resort-type hotel complexes, while inland in the national parks and reserves are private luxury lodges and campsites.

Kenyan’s are friendly by nature, even in the overly tourist areas, and tribal villagers are also very welcoming. Getting about is best done by plane or by reputable bus firms and steering clear of the ubiquitous matatus is a good idea.

Kenya’s climate is both tropical and temperate, with hot and humid year-round weather on the coast and cooler, wetter weather inland and up in the highlands. Northern areas generally remain dry and Nairobi features warm summers and cool winters.

Kenya’s rainy seasons are from April to June and from October to December, therefore the best times to visit are during the boreal summer (July to September) and the boreal winter (January and February). Prices during these times are obviously more expensive but the conditions are good.

As far as temperatures go, coastal regions, Lake Victoria, and southern regions remain fairly constant throughout the year around the low 30s, while inland temperatures will be slightly lower.

Tourism has been big business in Kenya for decades owing to the vast natural resources of the land, the impressive wildlife and the beautiful Indian Ocean coastline. Arab influence is evident along the coast with many historically-rich towns and villages and some striking architecture.

Kenya hails back millions of years when Homo habilis lived in the Rift Valley. Things progressed fairly slowly until the emergence of Homo erectus and the beginning of the Stone Age in 50,000 BC. These people were known as hunter gatherers and were the forefathers of Homo sapiens.

Between 3000 and 1500 BC, other tribes began inhabiting the Kenyan region, arriving from Ethiopia and the Nile valley, while later (500 BC to 500 AD), Bantu cattle herders and cultivators arrived from West Africa and Sudan. The Bantu helped create the Swahili culture of today by marrying with Omani-Arab traders who had travelled down the east African coast in 800 AD under the Sultan of Zanzibar.

The Europeans entered the scene in the 16^th and 17^th centuries when the Portuguese took control of the Kenyan coastal trade from the Arab inhabitants. The Arabs eventually restored their control over trade, however, and in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, Great Britain, America, France, and Germany all established trading concessions with nearby Zanzibar. White people eventually settled in Kenya after the country became a British protectorate in 1895 and the Kenya-Uganda railway was constructed.

Kenya eventually became a British colony in 1919 and African political activity was developed. The forming of the KANU (Kenya African National Union) in 1944 was the unofficial start of an independent Kenya with the appointing of KANU's President in 1947, Jomo Kenyatta, and the Mau Mau uprising from 1952 to 1956.

On the death of Kenyatta in 1978, Daniel Arap Moi took over the reigns. Other political parties came on the scene shaving off KANU’s popularity but it wasn’t until 2002 that the party’s rule would come to an end.