Destination Guide To Kenya

GEOGRAPHY & BACKGROUND

The land stretches from the sea level (Indian Ocean) in the east, to 5,199 meters at the peak of the snow-capped Mount Kenya. From the coast, the altitude changes gradually through the coastal belt and plains (below 152 metres above sea level), the dry intermediate low belt to what is known as the Kenya Highlands (over 900 metres above sea level).

The monotony of terrain in the low belt is broken by residual hills, masses of broken boulders and inselbergs. Settlement is confined to places where water can be found. Wildlife are masters of the greater part of the low belt. The famous Amboseli Game Reserve and Tsavo National Parks are situated here.

The Great Rift Valley bisects the Kenya Highlands into east and west. Mount Kenya is on the eastern side. The Highlands are cool and agriculturally rich. Both large and small holder farming is carried out in the highlands. Major cash crops are tea, coffee, pyrethrum, wheat and corn. Livestock farming is also practised.

The Lake Victoria Basin is dominated by Kano plains which are suited for farming through irrigation. The northern part of Kenya is plain and arid. Pastoralism is the main land use activity. However, a variety of food crops do well through irrigation.

Kenya is located approximately 8-10 hours flying time from major European cities, and about 16-20 hours flying time from North American cities.

The East African country of Kenya rises from a low coastal plain on the Indian Ocean to mountains and plateaus at its center. Most Kenyans live in the highlands, and Nairobi, the capital, is here at an altitude of 1,700 meters (5,500 feet). Even though Nairobi is near the Equator, its high elevation brings cooler air. To the west of Nairobi the land descends to the north-south running Great Rift Valley—the valley floor is at its lowest near Lake Turkana in the deserts of northern Kenya. Around Lake Turkana, scientists have discovered some of humankind's earliest ancestors—a fossil known as Kenya Man was dated at 3.5 to 3.2 million years old.

Both free enterprise and a measure of political debate helped make Kenya one of Africa's most stable nations after it achieved independence from Britain in 1963. But, more recently, corruption has been an undermining force, and the government—pressured for reform—moved to a multiparty system in the late 1990s. Barriers to progress are high population growth, electricity shortages, and inefficiency in key sectors.

Forty ethnic groups, including Kikuyu farmers and Maasai cattle herders, crowd the countryside, still home to three-quarters of Kenya's people. Intense competition for arable land drives thousands to cities, where unemployment is high.

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