http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/sub-saharan-africa/kenya1
The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office website (www.fco.gov.uk) gives advice to travellers thinking of going to Kenya on holiday. When I first started reading this, I wondered if I was really reading about Kenya. Was this the country I was so familiar with... one that they 'advise against all but essential travel to some areas of Kenya.'? Why they are more damning of Kenya compared to something like South Africa? South Africa's localised wealth, sugar coats the exact same problems that Kenya has, in my opinion.
The web page reads like a disaster report from a wild and menacing land. It talks of terrorism attacks on a hotel, kidnapping at Kenya's border with Somalia, sailing hostages on the Indian Ocean, aid workers being kidnapped, muggings and murders of British residents.
If I didn't know Kenya, a report such as this would put me off entirely. But how UNFAIR - this report is clearly written to travellers with no experience and no sense. It pulls out examples of such extreme cases of terror that you would think such things happen everyday. I can see why they have to dumb it down and safeguard themselves but at the same time, surely there is a middle ground, a way to explain that this country is not wild and dangerous if you respect it's culture, understand the people and behave in a way that is suitable for a country with widespread poverty.
If you choose to travel around the country on your own with no knowledge of the areas you are visiting, flashing your wealth around, making a scene, abusing the traditions of the people and the people themselves, wandering around at night, drunk or disrespectful, then you will become a target. But only in the same way as if you wandered into the back streets of New York or the poorer suburbs of London.
However, if you choose to travel with a reputable safari company, one that will explain how you should travel and behave...where you should and shouldn't go and arrange your travel in between your destinations, then you shouldn't expect any problems. Don't let the increased security that you see in the country (guards at your safari lodges with shotguns) put you off. Guns such as these are usually just to frighten off a nosey elephant. Kenya is a land of extremes but most of them unbelievably wonderful.
If you are a sensible and adventurous traveller, the words of UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office website will not put you off. You will read though the lines and see that they are telling you not to be stupid in a country where life is so different from the West. You will travel with your eyes open, lapping up and absorbing the magic of this wonderful country.
Us living quiet happily in Kenya, as we did for two years.
