KENYA

Some say that the first time you go to Africa, you fall in love in such a manner that you have to go back.

The Squirrel and I discovered that Kenya is a small but complete country. It has a wide range of colours, ethnic, flora, exotic vegetation, diverse fauna that goes from lions, leopards, elephants, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, giraffes, gazelles, hyenas, crocodiles, and also a wide number of birds, reptiles and amphibians. All in all, it conforms the life in this African country, as well as its culture that has spread around the world taking tourists to Kenya, and people interested in its treasures and the essence of their civilization. Massai live in Kenya, and also the powerful Kikuyu, the Samburu – the bracelet and necklaces tribe, and the Luo the nice tribe. A great ethnics diversity – a total of 70- so it’s not surprising that over 40 different languages are spoken. All this enriches the landscape, together with centenary traditions that contribute to expand their love for the earth, the animals and the nature.

Nairobi is Kenya’s capital and it is situated on the Indian Ocean, but still the family and clan links remain in its rural areas. Nowadays, tourism is the main source of income, together with tea and coffee. However, agriculture has its importance in cereal growing, vegetables and fruit-trees that are grown in the high parts of the country, together with cotton, sugarcane and pine-apple crops on the lower parts.
In Kenya there are forests, jungles, valleys, savannah, deserts, coasts, mountains, lush forests and even the mythic Baobabs, trees which, according to the book The Little Prince are “trees big like churches”.

Its climate is tropical, warm and humid on the coast and the inside parts, and also very dry and mild in the North, North-East. The savannah’s climate is for instance very arid. Rain season lasts from April until May and October until November.

Wangari Maathai comes from Kenya, and she told us her philosophy and the reason she built up the Green Belt Movement: www.greenbeltmovement.org She also added that there are over 40 National Parks and 2 Sea parks in her country where hunting vetoed! It’s a good thing, isn’t it?