Kenya is bordered by 5 countries and the Indian Ocean where the strategically important port of Mombasa is a hub of economic activity providing a cargo route for many landlocked countries in Africa. Kenya is situated in between the white sand beaches of the Indian Ocean to its south-east and the largest of all African Lakes, Lake Victoria to the west.
Kenya has a population of over 43 million residents, with 73% aged below 30 years old. English and Swahili are the 2 official languages with up to 69 known other languages spoken across the region.
The climate varies from arid in the north to tropical along the coast and temperate inland. Summer clothes are worn throughout the year as the area benefits from sunshine every month; though it is usually cool at night. The main rainy seasons are March to April and May to June with some rain in October to November/December.
Kenya is well known for its ‘Big Five’ and has large areas of land devoted to wildlife habitats. One of the most famous, the Masai Mara is home to lion, leopard, buffalo, rhinoceros and elephant but large populations of birds, reptiles and other wild animals can also be found across the regions national parks.
During June to September the spectacular annual wildebeest migration takes place which sees, amongst others, millions of wildebeest migrate a distance of 1,800 miles. Travelling in a clockwise direction from the Serengti in Tanzani to the Masai Mara in Kenya, the wildebeest are in constant search of fresh pastures of food and water.
Tourism is a big part of the Kenyan economy generating more than a billion dollars a year and providing nearly 500,000 jobs in the form of cooks, cleaners and safari guides. A much needed by-product of this tourism is wildlife protection. Whilst poaching has been rife in previous decades, Kenyans are slowly realising that their elephants are worth more to them alive than dead, as wildlife equals tourists, and tourism equals a sustainable income.
Visitors will not be disappointed by the variety of this diverse region. There are an incredible range of wild habitats from arid savannah to rich forest and freshwater lakes to coral reefs. There is also much to see and do from Kenya Safari game drives, to relaxing on breathtaking white sand beaches, hiking many different routes to the peaks of Mount Kenya and gliding gently over the scenery on an amazing hot air balloon flight.
With lots of different types of accommodation available from rustic lodges situated alongside watering holes to allow guests to watch the animal activity day and night, to luxury tented camps where you wake up to the sound of elephants, and track lions and cheetahs on game drives
, there is something to offer every type of traveller.
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