Kenya

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Kenya

• Gura Falls - Rift Valley Province. 305 m tall waterfall with 3 drops. Considered to be the tallest waterfall in Kenya.

Quick Facts

Social Customs

• Kenya is officially known as the Republic of Kenya.
• The two official languages in Kenya are English and Swahili, although there are dozens of other languages spoken in various parts of the country.
• Kenya is a developing country and half of the population live in poverty.

Religion:

• The Kenyan Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. Around half the population are Christians, 10% Muslim and there are small Hindu and Sikh minorities. The balance of the population follows traditional African, often animist, beliefs.

Ancestors:

• Like most Africans, Kenyans place a large emphasis on the respect and reverence of their deceased ancestors.
• This is not ancestor worship per se, but rather a belief that when someone dies their spirit lives on and must be acknowledged.
• The belief is that the person only really dies completely when their relatives no longer remember them.
• The most common greeting is “Jambo?” (“How are you?”), which is generally said immediately prior to the handshake.

Mount Kenya

• Climbing to 5,199 meters, Mount Kenya is the second tallest mountain in Africa.
• The scenery surrounding this designated World Heritage Site is breath-taking.
• It is pristine wilderness with lakes, tarns, glaciers, dense forest, mineral springs and a selection of rare and endangered species of animals.

Exotic Wildlife Species in Kenya

• The Aardwolf is a mammal that feeds on insects and burrows underground to find shelter. It is related to stripped hyenas, and its name means "earth-wolf" in Afrikaans and Dutch.

• The Sitatunga is an antelope species that is found mainly in swampy areas, and may sometimes be referred to as the marshbuck.
• What sets this antelope apart from most others is the semi-aquatic nature of the Sitatunga and its comfort in water.

History Cont...

• In 1942, members of the Kikuyu, Embu, Meru and Kamba tribes took an oath of unity and secrecy to fight for freedom from British rule. The Mau Mau Movement began with that oath and Kenya embarked on its long hard road to National Sovereignty.
• Kenya was put under a state of emergency from October 1952 to December 1959, due to the Mau Mau rebellion against British colonial rule and thousands of Kenyans were incarcerated in detention camps.
• Kenya finally gained independence on December 12, 1963.

Ngangao Mother Tree

• Ngangao Forest, which is one of the few remaining indigenous forests in Taita Hills.
• A story is told in Kenya of a tree that has prevented people from cutting it down
• The tree, locally known as Chamsidi, or The Mother Tree, is said to be several 100s of years old.
• According to John Mbori, the Taita Taveta Forest Station Manager, the tree survived after "fighting back" when other trees around it had been cut down.
• While it was being cut, it started to fall, but stopped midway and trapped the implement that was being used to cut it in the wedge.
• The legend that the tree refused to be cut down was passed from generation to generation, and each believed it, and dared not try to cut it because they feared it.

• The Swahili language then developed as a lingua franca (a language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different) for trade between the different peoples.
• When the Portuguese arrived in 1498, the Arab dominance on the coast was clipped, as the Port of Mombasa became an important resupply stop for ships bound for the Far East.
• The Portuguese gave way in turn to Islamic control under the Imam of Oman in the 1600s until another European influence came along, this time from the United Kingdom during the 19th century.

Animals Cont...

Brief History

• The name “colobus” is derived from the Greek word for “mutilated,” because unlike other monkeys, colobus monkeys do not have thumbs. Their beautiful black fur strongly contrasts with the long white mantle, whiskers, bushy tail, and beard around the face.