Kenya is regarded by many as the ‘jewel of East Africa', and has some of the continent's finest beaches, most magnificent wildlife and scenery, and an incredibly sophisticated tourism infrastructure. It is a startlingly beautiful land, from the coral reefs and white sand beaches of the coast to the summit of Mount Kenya, crowned with clouds and bejewelled by strange giant alpine plants.

Between these two extremes is the acacia-studded rolling savannah, which is home to game parks such as Amboseli, the Masai Mara, Samburu and Tsavo; the lush, agricultural highlands with their sleek green coat of coffee and tea plantations; and the most spectacular stretch of the Great Rift Valley, the giant scar across the face of Africa.

Above all, Kenya is a place for safaris, and one-tenth of all land in Kenya is designated as national parks and reserves. Just about every African plains animal is present. Over 50 parks and reserves cover all habitats from desert to mountain forest, and there are even six marine parks in the Indian Ocean.

Kenya also has a fascinatingly diverse population with around 40 different tribes, all with their own languages and cultures. Major tribes include the Kikuyu, the Luyia and the Luo, but the most famous are the tall, proud, beautiful red-clad Masai, who still lead a traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle of cattle-herding along the southern border.

A mixture of African and Asian, the unique Swahili culture can be found along the balmy coast, where for centuries it became prosperous on the profits of commerce from the tradewinds that carried ocean-going dhows (sailing boats) across the Indian Ocean to Arabia and Persia.

Kenya does have some downsides as a tourist destination. There is enormous pressure to buy anything and everything, often at ridiculously inflated prices, and even taking a photograph in the local market is likely to incur a cost. But despite this, the people are friendly and the tourist trade is supremely well organised and professional. For those in search of a little adventure, this can be an ideal holiday destination.

History

According to the 1989 Census, there are 42 "tribes" living in Kenya, as well as all of the non-African people groups. As such, it is difficult to make general comments about people in Kenya.

The story of people in what is today called Kenya starts in the early to late Stone Age. In places like Olduvai Gorge archaeologists have found Earth's oldest human remains along with artefacts suggesting pre-tool making in the Lake Victoria, Highlands and the Rift Valley regions.

Later, evidence shows the introduction of the bow and arrow. Three excavations at Elmentaita indicate the later arrival of new people probably from the North who were responsible for the introduction of blade technology and new kinds of tools.

From 3000 B.C. to1000 B.C. (called the Late Stone Age), there is evidence of another set of people who were tall with narrow heads and prominent noses and chins. Archaeologists think they resemble some of the present day peoples of Somalia and Ethiopia. This group was followed in 400 AD by the migration of the Bantu peoples into East Africa.

Bantu Migrations
Their original homeland was in Central Africa, in the area between Shaba Province in Zaire and Cameroon. Various groups moved up to fill Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. Some went south to the west coast to Angola and then moved across the Congo Highlands to Lake Tanganyika. These were mostly tribes without cattle and their customs held that sons were to inherit from their mothers. A second group moved across the Sudan to the region of the great lakes and the Rift Valley, and, after some time, moved south. These were mostly the cattle owning tribes who followed the custom that the son inherits from the father. The groups that came to Kenya entered through two different directions.

The first group moved into Uganda from Central Africa. By the 15th century many of these people were living in Eastern Uganda, in between Mt. Elgon and the River Nile. These were the ancestors of the Abaluhyia, Abagusii, Abakuria. From about 1000 A.D the ancestors of the present Western Bantu-speakers started to move into the area that became present day Kenya, concentrating around Lake Victoria and Mt. Elgon.

The second group migrated from Central Africa, moving into Central Tanzania. Later they settled in the area between Mt. Kilimanjaro and the Indian Ocean coast. During the 13th century they gradually moved out in two directions: One group migrated northwards, they formed the Taveta, the Dawida and the Akamba people. The second group moved the along the coastal region northwards settling on the hilltops behind the coastline. These became the Mijikenda. Another group migrated westwards into the Kenya Highlands, and this became the Agikuyu, Aembu, the Chuka, Tharaka and the Ameru.

Cushitic Migrations
Four thousand years ago, Kenya had a lot of rainfall. Pastoralists and agriculturalists lived and practised herding, agriculture and fishing. They migrated slowly from the Ethiopian Highlands to Northern, Central and Eastern Kenya. Archeologists and linguists say that the descendants of these early Cushites do not live in Kenya anymore because they moved into Central Tanzania as the Dahalo, Mbugu and the Iraqw. Around 1000 A.D. it was believed that western Kenya was inhabited by a few food-gatherers and hunters and then the Southern Cushites.

The largest cushitic group was the Somali who later migrated from Southern Ethiopia into the tip of the horn of Africa. They lived in northern Somalia as pastoralists and spread gradually northwards, eastwards and southwards. By the 10 century AD, they reached the Indian Ocean coast and lived around Mogadishu. They then gradually migrated southwards and westwards to occupy their present homeland in Kenya, that is the north eastern part of Kenya. The Somali speakers preceded the Galla in the area between the Juba and the Tana rivers. These Somali speakers were then called the Garre. The Yaaku also known as the hunting people were originally hunters and cultivators, but turned to animal husbandry due to influence from the Maasai community. They live near Doldol northwest of Mount Kenya.

The Orma, Borana and Rendille who were pastoralists began to move into northern Kenya from Southern Ethiopia around the 16th century and by the 19th century they were firmly settled in Kenya amidst much competition for grazing land with the Somali.

The area that now comprises Kenya came under British domination in the 1890s, though it was not declared an official Crown colony until 1920. Under British hegemony (complete domination), a racially stratified economy was created, with European settlers controlling a large segment of the fertile land and managing nascent industries, while the African indigenous population worked as laborers on cash-crop plantations and in factories. Indians, occupying a status somewhere between the Europeans and Africans, formed a petty-capitalist class of artisans, clerks, and merchants. By and large, the colonial economy was characterized by settler control of farming lands (settler-economy), with tea and coffee acting as the major export crops designated for sale in European markets abroad.

Following the emergence of various nationalist movements throughout the 1950s, in addition to a series of rebellions (the Mau Mau) against British rule, Kenya was granted independence in December 1963. Under the subsequent rule of the Kenya African National Union (KANU), headed by President Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya experienced significant economic growth throughout the 1960s. Although KANU, a self-proclaimed African socialist party, pursued various socialistic policies— including government control of agricultural marketing boards, state ownership of certain industries, and import-substitution —the economy under Kenyatta was more or less mixed.

In 1980, a growing balance of payments deficit caused by declining terms of trade (international prices for agricultural commodities greatly outweighed by prices for capital goods) and high international oil prices, compelled Kenya to borrow heavily from the World Bank. The latter issued a second large-scale loan to Kenya in 1982, with both the first and second loans being subjected to numerous conditionalities (requirements). Such conditionalities centered on increasing the role of the private sector in the economy while concomitantly decreasing the role of the government. In particular, the conditionalities—collectively labeled Structural Adjustment Packages (SAPs)—emphasized trade liberalization and gradual dissolution of government marketing boards that controlled purchasing and selling of agricultural commodities.

Kenya's slow progress towards implementing agricultural conditionalities, in addition to the widespread use of public resources by government and parastatal officials for private gain (corruption), prompted many bilateral donors and the major international financial institutions to severely criticize KANU throughout the early 1990s. Inefficient and corrupt parastatals were singled out as being particularly draining to the country's treasury, and thus a major factor behind deficit and debt problems. Economic performance in the 1990s declined severely, and the average annual GDP growth rate, which stood at 6.5 percent between 1960 to 1980, fell to 2 percent between 1990 to 1999. In August 1993, inflation temporarily reached a record high of 100 percent. Five years later, in 1998, the unemployment rate soared to 50 percent.

Both the IMF and the World Bank suspended structural adjustment programs in 1997, as a result of KANU's failure to implement governance conditionalities designed primarily to curb corruption and promote sound economic policy. In July 2000, however, Kenya signed a long-awaited 3-year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) with the IMF, a development that is expected to normalize relations with the World Bank and various bilateral donors. The PRGF, a direct relative of the SAPs, sets out some of the most detailed conditions ever agreed to by a national government.

The Kenyan economy continues to be dominated by agriculture, with tea, coffee, horticultural products, and petroleum products acting as the country's major exports. Export partners, in turn, include Uganda, Tanzania, the UK, Egypt, and Germany. Tourism is the second largest contributor to foreign exchange, while agriculture is the first. Kenya's major imports include machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum products, and iron and steel, most of which are imported from the UK, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Japan, Germany, and India. Due, in large part, to the uneven terms of trade between Kenya's agricultural exports and higher value-added imports, the country runs a significant balance of trade deficit. This means that Kenya must borrow heavily to finance imports, hence the various SAPs. In 1998, Kenya's total external debt stood at US$7 billion. In addition to commercial loans, the country also receives large amounts of economic aid from various international organizations and bilateral donors. In 1997, for instance, Kenya received a total of US$457 million in aid.

The base of the mountain lies at some 5,250 feet (1,600 metres). At the 8,000-foot (2,440-metre) contour, the circumference is approximately 95 miles (153 km). Sheng is another language you may hear in Kenya. Sheng (the word coming from a combination of the words SwaHili and ENGlish) is a language that has grown out of Nairobi that is used almost exclusively by the younger crowd. It is a mix of Kiswahili, English, and the Bantu tribal tongues. Sheng is regarded almost as a secret language of the youth, and when spoken by a tourist, it is sure to impress any young adult in any big city. It is hard to differentiate from Kiswahili without knowing the language, but it can still be fun to substitute a Sheng greeting for a Kiswahili greeting if you run into a young adult. Common Sheng greetings are: “Sasa?” which is answered by “fit” or “fiti,” and “Mambo?” (or “Mambo vipi?” or just “Vipi?”), which is answered by “poa.”

What follows is a list of Kiswahili vocabulary that will allow you to have a working knowledge of the language. This could be useful to get you out of a fix, order food, or just impress a local.

Pronunciation: One of the reasons Kiswahili is not a difficult language is that it is very grammatical and pronunciation never changes from word to word.

A as the ‘a’ in ‘father’ 

E as the ‘e’ in ‘best’ or the ‘a’ in ‘hay’

I as the ‘ee’ in ‘bee’

O as the ‘o’ in ‘cold’

U as the ‘ou” in “you”

Dh as the ‘th’ in ‘this’

Ng’ as the ‘ng’ in ‘sing’

All other consonants require no explanation.

Religion in Kenya is predominantly African traditional, with significant Muslim, Hindu and Christian religious minorities. Witchcraft - cursing someone - is a criminal offense.

The main Christian denominations in Kenya are Protestant dominations such as the Anglican Church of Kenya and the Roman Catholic Church.

The Sunni path of Islam is the religion of approximately 10% of the Kenyan population, or approximately 3.4 million people. The North Eastern Province is predominantly ethnic Somali and Muslim. The Coast Province also has a significant Muslim population. Nairobi has several mosques and a notable Muslim population.

Religious Shari'ah courts, called Kadhis Courts, are given jurisdiction over certain civil matters such as divorce and inheritance under the constitution of Kenya.

Muslims have complained that they are targeted and discriminated against by the government, particularly since the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Nairobi and elsewhere

Kenya generally enjoys a tropical climate. It is hot and humid at the coast, temperate inland and very dry in the north and northeast parts of the country. There is plenty of sunshine all the year round and summer clothes are worn throughout the year. However, it is usually cool at night and early in the morning.

The long rains occur from April to June and short rains from October to December. The rainfall is sometimes heavy often falling in the afternoons and evenings. The hottest period is from February to March and coldest in July to August.

The annual migration of wildlife between Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and Maasai Mara National Park takes place between June and September.

These migrations have attracted visitors from around the world who come to the national parks to see the largest diversity of free animals in the worls.

The currency unit in Kenya is the shilling (KES), comprising 100 cents. Coins are in denominations of 5c, 10c, 50c and 1 and 5 shillings. Bank notes are in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 shillings. Importation of foreign currency is unlimited and does not have to be declared on arrival. The importation and exportation of Kenyan currency, however, is illegal.

In preparation for your journey, you may want to calculate the exchange rate from the US dollar to local currencies. There are several websites that offer a conversion engine. You can also check the Wall Street Journal for currency rate information.

• Time: Kenya Time Zone - Time = GMT+3
• Electricity: 240 Volts, alternating at 50 cycles per second.
• Country code:+254

Moving to Kenya or for that matter any country can become difficult—unless you make yourself aware of the customs regulation details in that country. After all, you do not want your belongings to be stranded in some port in the country. In some countries especially, customs regulations can be very stringent—and you may suddenly find yourself in a puddle. So, do your homework!

The customs regulations information listed on our website have been collected from several sources including information made-available-by embassies and government websites.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED

• Passport (original) – (If issued within last two years the old passport is also required)
• Work Permit for non-Kenyan citizens
• Baggage Declaration Form C-18 signed by customer
• Bank Release
• Inventory in English, valued and detailed showing the number of packages and in triplicate
• Insurance Certificate
• Invoices for electrical items and serial numbers
• Certificate of change of address

CUSTOMS REGULATIONS

• CUSTOMER MUST BE PRESENT AT CUSTOMS CLEARANCE
• Goods are subject to 100% Customs verification
• Used household goods and personal effects are duty-free for returning Kenyan citizens provided they have resided outside Kenya for a minimum of two years and effects are imported within three months of owner's arrival
• Non-Kenyan citizens (first time arrivals) are permitted to import used household goods and personal effects duty-free within three months of Work Permit being issued
• Kenyan citizens who have resided for more than two years outside Kenya are not entitled to import used household goods and personal effects duty-free
• Household goods must have been in owner’s possession for at least one year prior to import. If new, duty will be charged at the current rates.

DUTIABLE/RESTRICTED ITEMS

Alcoholic beverages
• New items (may require Import License and are subject to payment of Customs duties and taxes)
• Fabric pieces
• Trade goods or goods for sale or disposed to other persons
• Aircraft and vessels of all kinds
• Used machinery
• All computers whether new or old (except under diplomatic status) or unless imported by a student who is studying computer studies

PROHIBITED ITEMS

• Weapons, silencers, ammunitions, toy guns and explosives, including tear gas
  • Firearms require a certificate to be issued by Nairobi Firearms Bureau for import
• Plants, seeds, bulbs, fresh fruit and vegetables (unless a permit is obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture stating plants are free from disease)
• Pornographic material
• Drugs
• Political literature

MOTOR VEHICLES

• Importation highly restricted and time consuming
• First time arrivals to Kenya and returning Kenyan citizens residing outside Kenya for a minimum of two years are permitted to import ONE auto duty-free provided:
  • Auto is more than three months old and has been registered in owner's name for more than three months
  • Auto is less than 2,500 cc
  • Auto is not sold within 12 months of import
  • Owner's Work Permit has been approved for first time arrivals to Kenya
  • Owner is 18 years of age or older
• Documents required:
  • Import Declaration Form (IDF), Clean Report (IDF) and Clean Report Finding (CRF)
  • Authority to import vehicle letter
  • Log Book
  • Certificate of Registration (indicate engine and chassis number, first date of registration and engine capacity)
  • Certificate of local value
  • Passport (if issued within last two years, the old passport is also required)
  • Customs C15 Form
  • New autos require invoice bearing engine and chassis number
  • Work Permit

PETS

• Import permit must be obtained from the Veterinary Department at Kabete, Nairobi prior to shipping
• Up to date Vaccination Certificate from country of origin must be provided on arrival
• Dogs and cats are exempt from Value Added Tax but are dutiable
• Birds and bird eggs are prohibited

Getting Around Kenya

By Air:

Kenya has about 250 airports (of vastly varying quality) and plenty of airlines connecting Nairobi with Mombasa, Kisumu, Nanyuki, Malindi, Lamu, and the national parks/reserves of Amboseli Masai Mara and Samburu. While many flights are heavily booked flying around Kenya during the high season, it is a relatively safe and relatively cheap way to cover a lot of ground. Always buy your tickets in advance. If you are going on a “safari” with an organized tour, the company will usually book your tickets to the national parks for you, and the price will be included in the total amount.

By Rail:

Kenyan Railways is a parastatal corporation, presently being privatized, which runs the trains, ferries and railway restaurants in Kenya. The train is a convienient, sometimes luxurious way to move, with comfortable beds and good meals, and is by far the safest - though slowest - way to travel on the ground. A passenger line runs inland from Mombasa to Nairobi and on to Kisumu. The Uganda passenger connection has been discontinued years ago. There are further passenger branch lines to Taveta, Nanyuki and Butere (Nyahururu was to be re-opened in 2005, but has been postponed). All trains are diesel powered, but special tourist steam excursions (Nairobi-Naivasha, and occasional other directions) take place every second Saturday of the month. Prior reservation is necessary, since the steam train will only be fired if there are enough bookings. 

There are three classes: First Class, which is the most expensive. You get your own bed and get good service, with free drinking water. Second Class is mostly the same, without all the pampering and free water, but still with a bed and meals. Third Class is very cheap, but passengers have only seats, if they are lucky enough to get one. The train is a good way to get to and from Mombasa from Nairobi, although it is slow and long waits and delays are expected.

By Road (Public Transportation):

Public Transportation is very extensive in Kenya, perhaps more so than many other African Countries. Some form or public transportation leaves every hour to major cities, and even several times daily to rural areas. There are several types of public transportation. These include buses, the train, and matatus. Matatu is the general name for smaller forms of public transportation, i.e., mini-buses, vans (called "Nissans"), or box matatus, which are simply a 2-wheel drive pick-up with a shell on the back. People are then crammed inside and you're off to your destination.

Buses:

Buses are comfortable, some what reliable, and fairly cheap. They are quite slow, however. Buses usually leave every morning from major cities such as Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Eldoret. Night buses are also available to some cities. Good bus companies will not overload their buses will not allow passengers to stand. The best, safest and most reliable bus companies are

EasyBus (only Kakamega or Kisumu to Nairobi), Eldoret Express (the most, newest and quickest buses to western Kenya), Coast Bus (Mombasa to and from Nairobi, Nakuru, Kisumu and Kakamega, only nicght buses), Stallion Bus (Nairobi-Mombasa), Akamba (almost anywhere in east Africa, but it got so old and slow now), Kenya Bus Service (the public bus servis is very o.k., but oftly late) and Stagecoach (not everywhere). Buy your tickets in advance at the ticket office near the bus stage.

Passports

Visas

Visa Note

Applications to:

Working Days Required

The Mombasa Marine National Park was formed with the notion of protecting the original coral heads and their resident marine life from the risk of over fishing and trophy collection. The reserve is spread over 200 sq km.
Location: Sited in the town of Mombasa, the marine park can be reached through water boats. It is located on the coast near tourist areas and is a popular beach and snorkeling and diving location. It is the most heavily visited of Kenya's marine parks. It has coral reefs in its waters.

Kiwayu lies on Kenya's East Coast on the Indian Ocean, and forms part of the northern Lamu Archipelago. For centuries, the bay of Kiwayu has been a calling point for Arab dhows trading in ivory, carpets and carved chests traveling between Arabia, Mombasa and Zanzibar filling their "debes" with sweet water from wells.

Kiwayu is cushioned between the Kiunga Marine National Reserve, to the east, the Dodori and Boni Game Reserves to the west. The wild areas are vital to the protection of the fauna and flora of eastern Kenya. The animals that inhabit these reserves are often migratory such as elephant and buffalo. The permanent residents are lion, cheetah, serval, caracal, lesser kudu, monkeys and rare African hunting dog.

Masai Mara is Kenya's most famous and most visited game reserve. Open savannahs, rolling grasslands and undulating hills sets the scene for the splendour of the Mara. July to September sees the annual migration of wildebeests, zebras and gazelles from the plains of the Serengeti. Driven by dry conditions in the Serengeti and led by the lightning and thunder to the north, huge herds of mammals cross the Tanzanian border and rivers to reach the Mara's grasslands.

Tourists can also catch a glimpse of the traditional Masai culture. The Masa own the area toward the north. A proud and nomadic people the Masai have lived in harmony with nature for centuries.