Kenya Travel – Fun Facts About Kenya
Named after the second highest mountain in Africa and a significant land mark in the country, Kenya is a scenic land with plenty to marvel at ranging from pristine white sandy beaches, tracks upon tracks of undulating wilderness and savannah grasslands playing host to a vast display of wildlife; snow capped mountains; the marvelous Rift Valley which features escarpments and volcanoes, desert landscapes, coral reefs, islets, lakes not to mention the many rivers meandering beautifully across the Kenyan soil.
The country is superbly situated in the eastern part of Africa across the equator bordering Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia to the North, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west and the sapphire waters of the Indian Ocean to the East
Top in Athletics
For several decades now Kenya has continually produced the best athletes in the world with their specialty being long distance racing in which world records are continually being set and broken time and time again. The country boasts of having a record of over 75 medals in athletics and boxing.
Some of the names making headlines include Naftali Temu who won the country’s first gold medal in the men’s 10000 meters race held in 1968 in Mexico City, Kipchoge Keino, Paul Tergat, Ezekiel Kemboi, Douglas Wakihuri, Asbel Kipruto Kiprop, Catherine Ndereba, Pamela Jelimo, Samuel Wanjuri, Janeth Jepkosgei and many others.
First African Woman to Win Nobel
Kenya prides it’s self in being home to Africa’s first woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize, Professor Wangari Maathai in 2004 for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace. She’s an environmentalist, founder of the Green Belt Movement, and a human rights activist for the rights of women.
Great Wildebeest Migration
One of Kenya’s natural marvel is the annual wildebeest migration an incredible phenomenon that occurs in the Maasai Mara game Reserve earning it the title “seventh Wonder of the World” a tantalizing experience that has seen thousands upon thousands of tourist continue to flock this game reserve.
Top Safari Destination
Kenya has also earned the title of top safari destination in the world with an estimated 65 National parks, game reserves and wildlife sanctuaries for endangered wildlife species all evenly spread across the country hosting an array of wildlife some common in several parks and some unique to particular parks.
Concerted efforts to preserve the eco-system are being employed globally and Kenya has not been left behind introducing wildlife conservation into the public school curriculum.
Nairobi – Fastest Growing Capital
Kenya’s capital Nairobi is the most modern and fastest growing in East and central Africa. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural city hosting various multiethnic groups from all races. The multi-culture includes a composition of churches, mosques, temples and gurdwaras within the city. It is also the only city in the world with a national park.
Other Interesting Facts
The ethnic tribes present here are 42 in total, each unique in its own right, possessing a different cultural background not to mention dialect. The major tribes include the Kikuyu, Luos, Luhyas, Kisii, Kalenjin, Maasai and the Kamba. Vasco Da Gama was the first European of Portuguese nationality to visit Kenya in particular (Mombasa) in 1498. The Portuguese are recognized for giving Kenya the incredible coastal landmark known as Fort Jesus.
Kenya gained its independence from the British governance in 1963 and became a self governing republic in 1964 which it has remained since then.
The ancient Muslim Indian Ocean port of Mombasa, serving Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire is an important platform in the Eastern Africa community as it facilitates trade of goods between these countries with the rest of the world with an average throughput of about 8.1 million tons.
UNESCO has named several world heritage sites in Kenya namely Lamu Old town in 2001, Mijikenda Kaya forest in 2008, Mount Kenya National Park in 1997 and Lake Turkana National Park in 1997. Several others appear on UNESCO’s tentative list.
Kenya has had the privilege of having provided a superb location for some of Hollywood’s finest films dating back to the 1930’s with some being award winning films. They include The Snows of Kilimanjaro starring Gregory Peck, King Solomon’s Mines with Stewart Granger and Mogambo featuring Clark Gable and Ava Gardner; Joy Adamson’s book Born Free was made into a hit movie filmed entirely on location in Kenya; the infamous box office hit and academy award winning film in the category Best Pictures, Out of Africa in 1985’s a film adapted from Karen Blixen’s classic book; Bob Rafelson’s historical drama Mountains of the Moon; The constant Gardener, Tomb raider, Survivor Africa, Now where in Africa among others.
Kenya has played a vital role in the human evolution theory through archaeologist Louis Leaky who pioneered the study of human evolution in Africa following the discovery of Homo habilis in the early 1960′s at Olduvai Gorge.
Kenya is one of the countries in the world where the captivating Kiswahili language originated and serves as the national language. The other Kiswahili speaking country is the Neighbouring Tanzania though other surrounding countries are also embracing the language.
All religions in the country enjoy an equal right of worship with the Christianity being the majority followed by Muslims with Hinduism, Sikhism and other traditional African religions forming a small minority.
Kenya serves as a gate way between a number of African countries and the rest of the world with most of the major international airlines operating schedules flights in the country, they include Kenya Airways, KLM, British Airways, Emirates, Sabena, South African Airlines, East African Airways, Swiss air and Ethiopian airlines. These airlines fly with airline partners from all six continent of the world.
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