Get To Know Kenya

Kenya lies along the India Ocean in the East African region. It’s bordered by Somalia to the northeast, Ethiopia to the North and Sudan to the northwest. Other neighbors are Uganda to the west and Tanzania to the south. The country is greatly known for her wildlife reserves. It covers an area of 580,000 sq km and has a population of close to 39 million according to the recently released national census report. There 42 ethnic groups in the country.

Kenya has a significant landmark known as Mt. Kenya and it’s the second highest peak mountain in Africa. The name of the country has its origin from three communities living around Mount Kenya. They are Kikuyu, Embu and Kamba. They used to pronounce the name of the mountain as ‘Kinyaa’ instead of ‘Kirinyaga’ and so Dr. Ludwig Krapf a missionary and explorer gave the mountain its name as Mt. Kenya. This is because he was unable to pronounce the word ‘Kirinyaga’ and heard it as ‘Kenia’ and he went ahead to record it that way in his exploration manuscripts.

Kenya was later to be renamed that way by the British colonialists because the Whites could also not pronounce the name correctly. Kiinyaa in English means a place of ostriches. This was in reference to the black and white plumage of male ostriches. When the mountain is observed from a distance the snow capped peak looks like it’s covered in white feathers of a male ostrich. The mountain that was once volcanic has now become dormant. The mountain is regarded as sacred by the local Kikuyu community.


Dickson is the Chief Tour Guide and one of the Directors of Adventure Africa Expedition, he has traveled in many countries in Africa where he built the spirit of adventure and discovered nature hidden wonders in especially tailored walking trails like in Kisoro in Rwanda and Bwindi in Uganda both for Gorilla tracking. For more information on his work please visit http://advenafrica.com/index.htm