Kenya is in the heart of African safari country and no Tarzan movie can prepareyou for Kenya’s wilderness. I chose Kenya because someday I want to go on asafari and I thought that by researching Kenya I would learn a little more aboutsafaris.
The major tourist attractions in Kenya are the safaris. No othercountry contains a greater variety of birds and animals than Kenya, home of theSafari. Kenya has about eleven different types of safaris: Wildlife Safaris,Orinthological Safaris/Bird Watching, Camel Safaris, Hot Air Balloon Safaris,Horse Riding Safaris, Cycle and Trekking Safaris, Golf Safaris, Camping Safaris,Sport Fishing, Conference and Business Tourism, Mountaineering and WalkingTrails, and Safari Circuits. There are so many different types of safaris thatdeciding how to take a safari, available on foot, by bicycle, by 4 wheel drive,by camel, by horse, by ox wagon, by balloon or by classical aerial safari, issometimes a difficult decision.
If you plan on going to Kenya and staying forless than thirty days, then a visa is not required. However, if u plan on alonger stay, you can get a visa before your trip or when you enter Kenya. Tourist visas require one application form, two passport photos, an onward orreturn ticket and the required fifty-dollar fee. Immunization for Yellow feveris recommended and Anti-malarial pills are recommended for those people who aretraveling to the coastal regions of Kenya. Anthropological discoveries indicatethat humans, perhaps the first on earth, probably inhabited southern Kenya some2 million years ago. In the Kenya highlands farming and domestic herds can bedated to 1000 BC Arab traders settled on the coast by the 8th cent.
AD,establishing several city-states. The Portuguese, who first visited the Kenyacoast in 1498, gained control of much of it but were expelled by Arabs in 1729. In 1886, under a British-German agreement on spheres of influence in EastAfrica, most of present day Kenya passed to Britain, and in 1903, after arailroad opened up the interior, the first European settlers moved in. UnderBritain, Europeans controlled the government, and Indians, who had arrivedearlier, were active in commerce, while Africans were largely confined tosubsistence farming or to work as laborers. Protests by Africans over theirinferior status reached a peak in the so-called MAU-MAU emergency, an armedrevolt against British rule. After the rebellion Britain increased Africanrepresentation in the legislative council, and in 1963 Kenya gainedindependence.
The country became a republic in 1964, with Jomo Kenyatta aspresident. The first decade of independence was marked by disputes among ethnicgroups, especially the Kikuyu and the Luo, by the exodus of many Europeans andAsians, and by sporadic fighting with Somalia over boundary issues. Daniel ArapMoi of the Kenya African National Union succeeded to the presidency afterKenyatta’s death in 1978. A stable democracy in 1978, Kenya under Moi became aone-party state and, increasingly, a dictatorship. Undermined by growinginternal opposition and international resistance to supplying aid to hisgovernment, Moi agreed to end one-party rule in 1991, but social and politicalunrest, especially tribal conflicts that Moi’s government has been accused ofpromoting, continued.
Moi was reelected president in 1992 in a multipartyelection that his opponents denounced as fraudulent. Since 1993, the governmentof Kenya has implemented a program of economic liberalization and reform. Stepshave included the removal of import licensing and price controls, removal offoreign exchange controls, fiscal and monetary restraint, and reduction of thepublic sector through privatizing publicly owned companies and downsizing thecivil service. The government has the support of the World Bank, IMF(International Monetary Fund), and other donors, and along with them thesereforms have led to a turnaround in economic performance following a period ofnegative growth in the early 1990s.
Kenya’s real GDP (Gross Domestic Product)grew at 5% in 1995 and 4% in 1996, and inflation remained under control. Economic growth slowed in 1997-98. The exchange rate from U. S. Dollars ($) toKenyan Shillings (KSh) is $1—76. 30KSh.
Political violence damaged the touristindustry, and the IMF allowed Kenya’s Enhanced Structural Adjustment Program tolapse due to the government’s failure to enact reform conditions and toadequately address public sector corruption. Moreover, El Nino rains destroyedcrops and damaged an already crumbling infrastructure in 1997 and 1998. Long-term barriers to development include electricity shortages, thegovernment’s continued and inefficient dominance of key sectors, endemiccorruption, and the country’s high population growth rate. I think that Kenyahas enormous potential for future growth. I think that if political violenceceases, the tourist industry can once more be at a high.
The government alsoneeds to address the issues of corruption. Also, once the crops that weredevastated during El Nino have been restored. a large part of Kenya’s economywill be restored. I think that in the next ten years, Kenya will have a greateconomic growth. Although Kenya is a beautiful and exciting place to go, I wouldnot recommend going there now because of all the economic and political problemsthat the country is facing. I would recommend going to Kenya in a couple ofyears when, hopefully, their economy is starting to get better.
I also hope togo to Kenya someday when it has a good economy and less political and economicalstruggles.
