Kenya is in the heart of African safari country and no Tarzan movie can prepare
you for Kenya's wilderness. I chose Kenya because someday I want to go on a
safari and I thought that by researching Kenya I would learn a little more about
safaris. The major tourist attractions in Kenya are the safaris. No other
country contains a greater variety of birds and animals than Kenya, home of the
Safari. 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 Walking
Trails, and Safari Circuits. There are so many different types of safaris that
deciding 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, is
sometimes a difficult decision. If you plan on going to Kenya and staying for
less than thirty days, then a visa is not required. However, if u plan on a
longer 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 or
return ticket and the required fifty-dollar fee. Immunization for Yellow fever
is recommended and Anti-malarial pills are recommended for those people who are
traveling to the coastal regions of Kenya. Anthropological discoveries indicate
that humans, perhaps the first on earth, probably inhabited southern Kenya some
2 million years ago. In the Kenya highlands farming and domestic herds can be
dated to 1000 BC Arab traders settled on the coast by the 8th cent. AD,
establishing several city-states. The Portuguese, who first visited the Kenya
coast 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 East
Africa, most of present day Kenya passed to Britain, and in 1903, after a
railroad opened up the interior, the first European settlers moved in. Under
Britain, Europeans controlled the government, and Indians, who had arrived
earlier, were active in commerce, while Africans were largely confined to
subsistence farming or to work as laborers. Protests by Africans over their
inferior status reached a peak in the so-called MAU-MAU emergency, an armed
revolt against British rule. After the rebellion Britain increased African
representation in the legislative council, and in 1963 Kenya gained
independence. The country became a republic in 1964, with Jomo Kenyatta as
president. The first decade of independence was marked by disputes among ethnic
groups, especially the Kikuyu and the Luo, by the exodus of many Europeans and
Asians, and by sporadic fighting with Somalia over boundary issues. Daniel Arap
Moi of the Kenya African National Union succeeded to the presidency after
Kenyatta's death in 1978. A stable democracy in 1978, Kenya under Moi became a
one-party state and, increasingly, a dictatorship. Undermined by growing
internal opposition and international resistance to supplying aid to his
government, Moi agreed to end one-party rule in 1991, but social and political
unrest, especially tribal conflicts that Moi's government has been accused of
promoting, continued. Moi was reelected president in 1992 in a multiparty
election that his opponents denounced as fraudulent. Since 1993, the government
of Kenya has implemented a program of economic liberalization and reform. Steps
have included the removal of import licensing and price controls, removal of
foreign exchange controls, fiscal and monetary restraint, and reduction of the
public sector through privatizing publicly owned companies and downsizing the
civil service. The government has the support of the World Bank, IMF
(International Monetary Fund), and other donors, and along with them these
reforms have led to a turnaround in economic performance following a period of
negative 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 ($) to
Kenyan Shillings (KSh) is $1---76.30KSh. Political violence damaged the tourist
industry, and the IMF allowed Kenya's Enhanced Structural Adjustment Program to
lapse due to the government's failure to enact reform conditions and to
adequately address public sector corruption. Moreover, El Nino rains destroyed
crops and damaged an already crumbling infrastructure in 1997 and 1998.
Long-term barriers to development include electricity shortages, the
government's continued and inefficient dominance of key sectors, endemic
corruption, and the country's high population growth rate. I think that Kenya
has enormous potential for future growth. I think that if political violence
ceases, the tourist industry can once more be at a high. The government also
needs to address the issues of corruption. Also, once the crops that were
devastated during El Nino have been restored. a large part of Kenya's economy
will be restored. I think that in the next ten years, Kenya will have a great
economic growth. Although Kenya is a beautiful and exciting place to go, I would
not recommend going there now because of all the economic and political problems
that the country is facing. I would recommend going to Kenya in a couple of
years when, hopefully, their economy is starting to get better. I also hope to
go to Kenya someday when it has a good economy and less political and economical
struggles.