Flights and Travel Guide to Kenya

Overview

Kenya is looked upon by many as the magnificent ‘jewel of East Africa’, and encompasses some of the continent’s premium beaches, most splendid scenery as well as wildlife, and an amazingly sophisticated tourism infrastructure. It is an astoundingly beautiful land, from the white sand beaches and coral reefs of the coast to the pinnacle of Mount Kenya, festooned by outlandish giant alpine plants and crowned with clouds. Get mesmerized by this incredible place, book cheap tickets to Kenya now.

Geography

Kenya sits astride the equator and covers 580,367 sq km. It shares borders with Sudan in the northwest, Ethiopia in the north, Tanzania in the south, Uganda in the west and Somalia in the northeastern side. Indian Ocean coastline lies to the east which extends 480 km. There is division of four regions in this country: in the north lies the arid deserts; towards the south are the savannah lands; along the coast lays the fertile lowlands; and highlands are positioned in the west, where the capital Nairobi is located.

Climate

The coastal areas are characterized as having a tropical climate while being tempered by monsoon winds. The lowlands are generally hot but mostly dry, while the highlands are fortunate to be more moderate with four seasons. Nairobi has a quite pleasant climate all through the year owing to its altitude. The temperatures are a great deal higher near Lake Victoria and rainfall can be heavy.

Getting in

By Air

The most feasible mode of getting inside Kenya from far flung areas obviously seems to be by air. Mentioned below are the key airports for tourists assistance.

Major airport

Kenya consists of two international airports.

• Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA): This is the major point of arrival, which obtains most of the scheduled international flights.
• Mombasa’s Moi International Airport (MBA): this airport also receives a number of international scheduled flights, and is the chief point of arrival for European charter flights.

Major airlines

Despite the fact that there is a race among many airline to offer direct flights to Nairobi and Mombasa, the favorite airline remains the national carrier of Kenya, Kenya Airways (KQ). The flagship airline offers nonstop flights from London Heathrow airport to Nairobi as well as Mombasa. Kenya Airways also offers flights to many domestic and regional destinations as well.

There are frequent indirect and direct flights to Kenya by many major airlines. The national airline is known as Kenya Airways (KQ). Few of the other airlines operating in Kenya are as following:

• KLM
• Air France
• Qatar Airways
• Ethiopian Airlines
• Emirates
• Virgin Atlantic

By water

The key seaport is Mombasa, but there are currently no intercontinental ferry services to Kenya. However few cruise ships dock in Mombasa.

Travelling in and around

• By bus
  Kenya has a network of lengthy distance bus lines. 80km/h is the speed limit the highways can be quite dusty and bumpy, so be sure you choose a reputable and comfortable coach company for the long trips. Day travelling is preferable to travelling during night due to the threat of road traffic accidents and carjacking.
• By matatu
  Matatus are minibuses that are operated privately, usually for 14 or 25 passengers and operating over medium and short distances. Matatus provide a quick and quite cheap means of transport in all the chief towns and a lot of rural areas.
• By train
  The Kenya-Uganda railway begins its journey in Mombasa and travels through Nairobi to Kampala, Uganda. This is the well-known “Lunatic Express” and was also featured in the movie “The Ghost and the Darkness” casting Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer.
• By Jeep
  You also have the option to hire a jeep and drive free spirited through Kenya, though you need to be highly proficient at itinerant, since there is extremely little signage alongside the roads and one can get lost easily.

Attractions in Kenya

Masai Mara National Reserve

This world famous reserve, which stretches above 1510 sq km of grasslands, is backed by the magnificent Esoit Oloololo (Siria) Escarpment, littered with an astounding amount of wildlife and watered by the amazing Mara River. Among the family of big cats, lions are found in great prides everywhere, and it is not rare to see them hunting. Leopards and Cheetahs are less visible, but still quite common. Hippos, elephants, zebras and buffalos also exist in big numbers.

Kenyetta Conference Centre

Soaring over City Square, signature building of Nairobi known as the Kenyetta Conference Centre was designed as a blend of traditional and modern African styles. You will be accompanied by the staff up to the sigh seeing platform and helipad placed on the roof for breathtaking views over Nairobi.

Nairobi National Park

A trip to Nairobi National Park, only a few kilometers away from the city centre, is an excellent way to kill some time before you catch a plane. There’s abundant wildlife, including majority of the plains animals (apart from elephants), against the peculiar back drop of Nairobi’s skyscrapers.

Langata Giraffe Centre

Operated by the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife, The Langata Giraffe Centre is an excellent sanctuary for the unusual Rothschild’s giraffe. Here you can hand-feed, observe or even kiss the giraffes from a elevated circular wooden structure, and boy it is some experience. It’s a fine place to get the cup close photographs.

Museums

Lamu Museum

Housed in an extremely grand Swahili warehouse, the Lamu Museum is an brilliant introduction to the history and culture of Lamu Island. It’s one of the most exciting small museums placed in Kenya, with displays of the popular coastal carved doors, Swahili culture, Lamu’s nautical history, the Maulid Festival and the tribes who used to dwell in this part of the coast during the pre-Muslim days, together with the Boni, who were renowned elephant-hunters.

Swahili House Museum

If the Lamu Museum provokes your interest in thr culture of Swahili, this delightfully restored traditional house situated to the side of Yumbe House hotel will take you on a journey back in the past.

Within Swahili House Museum you’ll discover a recreation of a working Swahili home, with beds, cookware and other furniture.

Cuisines/ restaurants

The mixture of the profusion of natural produce, the enthralling multicultural Kenyan’s heritage including the influence of Middle Eastern, English and Indian cuisines is reflected in a broad variety of gourmet foods and beverages, making Kenya am excellent culinary nation.

As well as being carefully prepared and refreshing, Kenya’s national dishes are rather inexpensive to prepare and are served in munificent portions. Food differs throughout the country, mirroring the many diverse lifestyles of a variety of groups, by example people residing near Lake Victoria mainly prepare vegetable dished, fish stews and rice.

Kenya offers a collection of traditional tasty dishes which consist in chicken, beef, seafood, lamb, pork, rice, potatoes, beans, maize; herbs and species are rare.  Kenya has an extensive range of tropical fruits including pineapples, bananas papayas as well as seasonal citrus fruits

There are also quite a few types of restaurants, mainly in Nairobi and Mombasa, from fast food (mostly Nando’s and Steers chains) to some of the premium restaurants in Africa, where you will discover sophisticated buffets of customary Kenyan dishes, as well as Japanese, Brazilian, Chinese, Thai, German , Korean, and French cuisines. Food is pretty cheap in the numerous “hotelis” (local restaurants). There are a lot of restaurant serving outstanding vegetarian meals, especially from Pakistani and Indian cuisine.

Things to do in Kenya

Shopping

The town centers and city and usually have markets that put up for sale curios such as old brass African drums, carved chess sets batiks, soapstone knick-knacks and big wooden carvings of animals or salad bowls engraved from a single piece of mninga, teak or ebony. Masai items such as decorated gourds, beaded jewellery and the unique red-checked blankets used by all Masai men make pretty good souvenirs.

Kikoi, Khanga and kitenge cloths are perfect to use as sarongs (ordinary in East Africa for both women and men), and sisal made Kenyan baskets and leather are also famous. Most of the sightseer areas have plentiful stalls and markets offering these items for sale; you will be expected to bargain good-naturedly over all prices.

Nightlife

The majority of the key Nairobi’s hotels and the holiday resorts situated along the coast have dancing evenings with live bands or discos daily. There are also a small number of local nightclubs in Mombasa and Nairobi that ramian open until dawn; these can get crammed full at times.

Progressively more, modern multi-screen cinema complexes can be seen to appear are in Mombasa and Nairobi, which show mostly Hollywood movies, while in the minor towns are old colonial-style cinemas screening old Indian or Kung Fu films. Theatre is well-liked in Nairobi. There also exists a National Theatre and more than a few small groups of dramatic companies; perhaps the best recognized is the Phoenix Players. Fairly often, traditional tribal drumming and dancing is performed in the beach resorts and game lodges.

Is it Safe to Travel to Kenya?

As of now, the latest advice by fco stated that travelling to Kenya is safe with the only exception of low areas and slums of Nairobi and other towns. However it is highly recommended to recheck the latest travel advice and updates on fco website, before commencing travel.

Useful Tips

• Although Kenya is chiefly Christian and fairly liberal, there are places, for instance Coastal regions, with major Muslim influence where it is considered highly indecent to wear short dresses. This holds true in rustic Christian areas as well.
• Beachwear is adequate on the beach but not while taking a stroll around town. Even though some hotels permit nude or topless sunbathing, these are in limited areas and not so common in public areas.
• Heavy petting or kissing is frowned upon in public areas, even though Kenyan youth actively engage in night clubs.
• Homosexuality though practiced secretly, is against the law. Any obvious displays of homosexuality may, sometimes, lead to open hostility.