KENYA - With an invitation from the Kenyan Ministry of Tourism, the Kenyan Tourism Activation Authority, the EgyptAir Holding Company and Sarova Resorts Group, a delegation recently visited Kenya in a brief tour aimed at promoting tourism between the two countries. To mark the visit, EgyptAir held a large gala in Nairobi that was attended by a number of senior officials including Eunice Miima, Kenya's deputy Minister of Tourism, members of Egyptian Embassy in Nairobi and representatives of the Kenyan media. Miima stressed that Kenya and Egypt have strong historical, political, trade and economic links, in addition to both countries sharing the waters of the River Nile and being members in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). She added that both countries had numerous attractive travel destinations, such as the Giza Pyramids in Egypt and Kenya's Maasai Mara region. “During a recent visit to Egypt, I was warmly welcomed by the Egyptian people, who are really hospitable and kind,” she said, underlying the importance of co-ordination between ministries of tourism in both countries to enhance tourism. Meanwhile, Mahmoud Tahiyo, EgyptAir's regional officer in Kenya, said that EgyptAir's Cairo/Nairobi route is one of the oldest EgyptAir routes in Africa. Nature in Maasai Mara I was lucky to receive an invitation from the Kenyan Tourism Activation Authority to tour Maasai Mara along with other travel agency representatives. Maasai Mara is one of the world's major natural tropical forests and includes many rare and distinctive animal species. Maasai Mara is a large game reserve in south-western Kenya, about 260 kilometres from Nairobi, and is named after the Maasai people, whose poulation is estimated to be around one million of population. The word ‘emara', which is the Maa (Maasai language) word for spotted, is an apt description for the circles of trees, scrub, savannah and cloud shadows that mark the area. Tourists come from all over the world to this region to enjoy the wildlife and safari trips through the natural jungles. It takes around five hours to reach by car, but by helicopter it takes only 40 minutes. The region includes seven minor airstrips made of red sand that are runways for the landing and taking off of small air carriers and heliocopters.
Flamingo flocks After three days of adventure in Maasai Mara, we visited Nakuru Lake in central Kenya, which is 160 kilometres from Nairobi. The lake is located in an open park and is visited by visitors from all over the world seeking to enjoy the natural view of rare flamingo birds
Temperature extremes Next, during our tour of the Shaba region (about 314 kilometres from Nairobi) we passed by the Equator, characterised by its high temperature, then went to an area called Nahururu, where we were froze, as it is about 2265 metres above sea level.
Life of the jungle What really attracted my notice during my stay in the Shaba region was the lifestyle of the Samboro tribes, who continue to live a primitive existence among the wild animals. [email protected]
