Empty highway road in a desert with a mountain in the distance

Kenya

Time Difference: EST + 7 hours   Current Time and Date in Kenya
Currency: Currency Converter  – Kenyan Shilling (KSH)
Travel Advisory: State Department Report Kenya
US Embassy in Kenya: nairobi.usembassy.gov

Kenya, is located in East Africa. The capital and largest city is Nairobi. Kenya lies on the equator with the Indian Ocean to the south-east, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the north-west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-east. Kenya covers 224,445 sq mi and has a population of about 44 million. The country is named after Mount Kenya, the second highest mountain in Africa.

Mount Kenya was originally referred to as “Mt. Kirinyaga” by the indigenous people. “Kirinyaga or Kerenyaga, meaning ‘mountain of whiteness’ because of its snow capped peak”; The name was subsequently changed to Mt. Kenya because of the inability of the British to pronounce “Kirinyaga” correctly. Lake Victoria, the world’s second largest fresh-water lake and the world’s largest tropical lake, is situated to the southwest and is shared with Uganda and Tanzania. Kenya is famous for its safaris and diverse wildlife reserves and national parks such as the East and West Tsavo National Park, the Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru National Park, and Aberdares National Park. There are several world heritage sites such as Lamu, and world renowned beaches such as Kilifi where international yachting competitions are held each year.

The African Great Lakes region, of which Kenya is a part, has been inhabited by humans since the Lower Paleolithic period. The Bantu expansion reached the area from West-Central Africa by the first millennium AD, and the borders of the modern state comprise the crossroads of the Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic ethno-linguistic areas of the continent, making Kenya a multi-cultural country.

Health: CDC Kenya
What to Pack
Weather: Kenya Weather
Communications: Dial 011 followed by country code 254

Travel Requirements

  • Passport
  • Visa required for all US Passport Holders, If you are not a US Passport holder, please consult the embassy in your region.

Diplomatic Missions

Kenya Mission to the United Nations
Embassy of the Republic of Kenya
Kenyan Embassy Web Site, Washington D.C.
Addresses of institutions of the Kenyan Government.
East African Community (EAC)
Kenya is a meber state of EAC, a regional intergovernmental organization.

CLIMATE

Average daily high temperature of 84°F and low of  73°F

Language: English is widely spoken

UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES

Lake Turkana National Parks (Sibiloi National Park, Central Island, South Island)

The most saline of Africa’s large lakes, Turkana is an outstanding laboratory for the study of plant and animal communities. The three National Parks serve as a stopover for migrant waterfowl and are major breeding grounds for the Nile crocodile, hippopotamus and a variety of venomous snakes. The Koobi Fora deposits, rich in mammalian, molluscan and other fossil remains, have contributed more to the understanding of paleo-environments than any other site on the continent.

 Mount Kenya National Park

Mount Kenya-Lewa Wildlife conservancy, was inscribed as an extension added to Mount Kenya Natural Park / Natural Forest. The area added to the Mount Kenya Natural Park consists of a core of nearly 20,000 hectares and a buffer zone of almost 70,000 ha. It is situated between the Tropical Montane ecosystem and the semi-arid savannah grasslands and its inscription completes the preservation of the ecological and biological processes preserved at the Mount Kenya Natural Park, which was inscribed in 1997. The extension lies within the traditional migrating route of the African elephant population of the Mount Kenya Natural Park, world renowned as the location of the second highest peak in Africa, Mt Kenya, that rises 5,199 m above the sea. The extinct volcano numbers 12 glaciers that are receding rapidly, and four secondary peaks overlooking U-shaped glacial valleys. With its rugged glacier-clad summits and forested middle slopes, Mount Kenya is one of the most impressive landscapes in East Africa.

 Lamu Old Town

Lamu Old Town is the oldest and best-preserved Swahili settlement in East Africa, retaining its traditional functions. Built in coral stone and mangrove timber, the town is characterized by the simplicity of structural forms enriched by such features as inner courtyards, verandas, and elaborately carved wooden doors. Lamu has hosted major Muslim religious festivals since the 19th century, and has become a significant centre for the study of Islamic and Swahili cultures.

Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests

The Mijikenda Kaya Forests consist of 11 separate forest sites spread over some 200 km along the coast containing the remains of numerous fortified villages, known as kayas, of the Mijikenda people. The kayas, created as of the 16th century but abandoned by the 1940s, are now regarded as the abodes of ancestors and are revered as sacred sites and, as such, are maintained as by councils of elders. The site is inscribed as bearing unique testimony to a cultural tradition and for its direct link to a living tradition.

Fort Jesus

The Fort, built by the Portuguese in 1593-1596 to the designs of Giovanni Battista Cairati to protect the port of Mombasa, is one of the most outstanding and well preserved examples of 16th Portuguese military fortification and a landmark in the history of this type of construction. The Fort’s layout and form reflected the Renaissance ideal that perfect proportions and geometric harmony are to be found in the human body. The property covers an area of 2.36 hectares and includes the fort’s moat and immediate surroundings.

 Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley (Lake Nakuru, Lake Elementaita, Lake Bogoria)

The Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley , a natural property of outstanding beauty, comprises three inter-linked relatively shallow lakes (Lake Bogoria, Lake Nakuru and Lake Elementaita) in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya and covers a total area of 32,034 hectares. The property is home to 13 globally threatened bird species and some of the highest bird diversities in the world. It is the single most important foraging site for the lesser flamingo anywhere, and a major nesting and breeding ground for great white pelicans. The property features sizeable mammal populations, including black rhino, Rothschild’s giraffe, greater kudu, lion, cheetah and wild dogs and is valuable for the study of ecological processes of major importance.