Best Time To Visit.

The best time to visit Kenya depends on your interests, particularly regarding wildlife viewing, weather conditions, and activities. Here’s a breakdown of the ideal times based on various factors:

Wildlife Viewing

 June to October: This period is considered the peak safari season. The dry weather makes wildlife easier to spot as animals congregate around water sources. This timeframe also coincides with the Great Migration, where millions of wildebeest and zebras move through the Masai Mara, providing spectacular viewing opportunities.

January to March: Early in the year, particularly January and February, is also excellent for game viewing. The weather is generally dry, and the landscape is lush from the short rains in November and December. This is a great time to see newborn animals and enjoy less crowded parks.

Weather Considerations

December to March: These months typically feature warm weather with lower rainfall, making it ideal for both safaris and beach holidays along the coast. However, temperatures can be quite high, especially in February.

April to May: This period marks the long rainy season, with heavy rains that can make some roads impassable. However, the landscape becomes incredibly lush and green, providing beautiful scenery for photography. Crowds are thinner, and prices for accommodations may be lower during this time.

Beach Holidays

December to March: The coastal areas, including Mombasa and Diani Beach, are hot and humid year-round, but December to March is particularly pleasant for be

CULTURE IN KENYA

Kenya’s modern culture was born out of a myriad of sources and influences, both modern and traditional. Despite the many and varied influences that have shaped Kenyan society, the culture in Kenya has become truly and purely Kenyan. If there is any one thing about Kenya that gives any indication of this unique character today, it is the melding of traditional societies and culture with modern norms and values.

In Kenya it is possible to leave Nairobi – a city with a thriving central business district powered by the latest information technology – and drive in just a couple of hours to a place where life is lived in accordance with tradition and custom, where warriors armed with spears drive their cattle into thorn bush enclosures to protect them from lions at night. The modern and the traditional live side by side, and sometimes the boundaries between the two blur and merge.

The ease with which Kenyans adopt and adapt to new cultural influences has a long history. Kenyan culture is built on the acceptance and absorption of new and varied cultures, be they migrant nomads or sea-borne traders.

The result is a culture of endless influence and yet one that is completely Kenyan in character.

Music

Kenya’s music is varied. Nearly every tribe has its own musical culture. Drumming has been perfected by peoples like the Akamba from Eastern Kenya, and the coast Mijikenda. Traditional instruments – like the nyatiti lyre favoured by the Luo – are used too. The Luo have a distinctive musical style known as benga, which has become an integral part of popular Kenyan music, not just among the Luo.

The Maasai and the Samburu have mastered the art of unaccompanied singing. Their sagas of conquest and prowess are sung in a series of throaty grunts, with each man singing part of the tune.

There is a strong Congolese rumba influence in Kenyan popular music.

A talented crop of youth artists, inspired by modern hip-hop, R&B, rap and reggae, blend these styles using Kenyan melodies, lyrics and rhythms.

Theatre/Cinema

Kenya particularly Nairobi theatre/ cinema is vibrant and entertaining. There is a lot you can do from performing arts to movie cinema halls as you laze in the city on a weekend. Also in 2002 Kenya was declared the winner for ‘Best Film Location’ in the ‘Originality and Creativity’ section of Annual Global Locations Expo in Los Angeles. Out of Africa, Born Free, To Walk With Lions, Mountains of the Moon, and the recent Oscar award-winning film Nowhere in Africa have all been shot on location in Kenya. In addition, Malooned has joined the list. With the latest achievement being Lupita Nyongo who is greatly talented with her latest block buster movie the she featured in Black Panther.

Cuisine

Eating out is not a national hobby, and only the Coast has developed a distinctive regional culinary style, this is due to centuries’ long exposure to the Indian Ocean trade thanks to Kenya’s long association with Indian Ocean trade. Kenya’s cuisine mirrors the variety of its diverse cultural influences. Kenyan cuisine has a strong Indian influence, dating back to the 19th Century when Indian labour was used to construct the Mombasa-Kisumu railway and most international tastes are catered for.

Traditional food has a tendency to be simple and starchy – practical eating! Ugali (maize meal cake) is the main staple, along with potatoes or rice. It is usually accompanied by chicken, beef, goat or vegetable stew, spinach, beans or fish. But also be sure to look out for a local dish knownas Githeri, a mixture of corn and beans cooked together.  A nyama choma (mutton, goat or beef, roasted over glowing charcoal) feast is a typical Kenyan experience.

Coast cuisine is a glee. Seafood including sea-perch, parrot-fish, red snapper, king fish, giant crayfish, jumbo prawns, crabs, oysters and sailfish is cooked with peppers, coconut, lime, and a numerous variety of exotic spices. Fresh fruit thus citrus, papaya, pineapples and mangoes – grow well in the coastal climate.

In Kenya’s major cities there are a glut of international restaurants namely Chinese, Italian, French, Japanese, Brazilian, American and Thai, to name just a few.

Most Kenyans outside the coastal and eastern provinces are Christians of one sort or another, while most of those on the coast and in the eastern part of the country are Muslim. Muslims make up some 30% of the population. In the more remote tribal areas you’ll find a mixture of Muslims, Christians and those who follow their ancestral tribal beliefsach activities. The sea is clear, making it ideal for diving and snorkeling.