Kenya – The Somali Invasion

For a long time Kenya had been my first destination choice for Sub-Saharan Africa. The idea of a safari and a trip to the wildlife reserve of Aberdares National Park, and Mount Kenya, had been a dream for many years. But when I learned that you find there today half the population of Holland, Great Britain and Scandinavia, my enthusiasm dropped like a stone in Lake Victoria. At some places, they told me, there are more tourists than wildebeest. So instead of on nature, I shall focus my attention on another aspect of Kenya. Its army just invaded Somalia, for a good reason. But before describe for you details, let me first give you some background information, and news flashes.

The Republic of Kenya is bordered by Somalia to the Northeast, by Tanzania to the South, Uganda to the West, South Sudan to the Northwest, and Ethiopia to the North. It is named after Mount Kenya, second among Africa’s highest peaks. Kenya covers near 600,000 sq km. From the coast on the Indian Ocean the low plains rise to the central highlands. The Kenyan Highlands are bisected by the Great Rift Valley. Mount Kenya reaches 5,199 m and has glaciers. Mount Kilimanjaro, 5,895 m high, can be seen from Kenya south of the Tanzanian border. Mount Kenya is now extinct, but prehistoric volcanic eruptions have resulted in its association with divinity and creation among the indigenous Kikuyu tribes, the native inhabitants of the agricultural land surrounding Mount Kenya.

Kenya’s climate varies from tropical along the coast to temperate inland, and to arid in the north. It is cool at higher elevations. The “long rains” season occurs from March to June, the “short rains” season from October to December, and rain falls in the afternoons and evenings. The hottest period is in February and March, the coldest in July and August. The warm and humid tropical climate is found further inland toward lake Victoria, before giving way to forested and mountainous areas in the western region. The Northeastern regions along the border with Somalia and Ethiopia are arid and semi-arid areas with near-desert landscapes, and volcanic springs that put a significant amount of electricity in the national grid. It is famous for its safaris and diverse world-famous wildlife reserves such as Tsavo National Park, the Maasai Mara, Nakuru National Park, and Aberdares National Park that attract tourists from all over the world. Lake Victoria, the world’s second largest fresh-water lake after Lake Superior, is situated to the southwest and is shared with Uganda and Tanzania. A considerable land area is devoted to wildlife habitats, including the Maasai Mara, where up to 250,000 Blue Wildebeest participate in a large-scale annual migration in the dry season. The “Big Five” animals in the Masai Mara in particular, are – the lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhinoceros. One of the Natural Wonders of the World is the great wildebeest migration of 11.5 million over a distance of 1,800 miles from the Serengeti in neighboring Tanzania to the Masai Mara, in a constant clockwise fashion, searching for food and water supplies.