5 Reasons to Visit Kenya Beyond Wildlife & Safaris

Kenya is a true melting pot of culture, heritage, traditions, and some of the largest treasure of natural wonders in the world. The tourism industry has taken great advantage of this, making it a multi-million dollar economic sector. With that being said, Nairobi and other cities in Kenya offer a vast array of things to do and places to see outside of the natural wonders found in the country. Fortunately, AllTheRooms has put together a cool list of reasons to visit Kenya beyond its marvelous wildlife.

Nairobi By Sopotnicki

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Moonshine Beach Bar

It’s not everyday I sit down to write about a bar, let alone write a review about a bar far from my local. Heck, I don’t even think travel-blogs write about bars. And to add to the fact that I am more of the outdoorsy(no, it’s not a formal word) person, this just feels weird. I don’t even have any other place I could compare with for you readers to make a judgement of the place. Consider this a review of a bar from an old young man who just loves good places.

Cultural Festivals in Kenya

When we talk cultural festival you are probably thinking shirtless people running around and having fun. Well, that would be most visitors when they attend these festivals, and not the locals. Haha! Cultural Festivals have grown leaps and bounds over the last 5 or so years. The interest in these festivals has grown, with visitors coming just for them from far and wide.

These are some of the famous festivals in Kenya.

Backpacking Accommodations In Kenya

We all love to travel differently, and nothing varies from one person to another as accommodation preferences. There are those who want a quiet calm abode, there are those that want luxury and there are still those who just need somewhere to lay their heads, and more. Accommodation is one of the basics you need to sort out during travel escapades, and thus is very important. Today I will share simple backpacking accommodation options around Kenya, for when you feel like doing an impromptu affordable travel. These can also be awesome camping spots as they have open spaces.

Madaraka Express, A Lovely First

Do you go harsh on a baby or you try and let the mistakes be the teacher? I should have asked my mother this, but that lady will give me an answer that will leave me with more questions than answers. I just don’t understand her on most times. I could also have gone to twitter and asked the many wonderful mothers I follow, but you just never which side they wake up on. I know better! And so here I am, with no answer to that question but an experience I can share.

Standard Gauge Railway is the latest of Kenya’s projects. The baby that was talked much for what felt like forever. You see, for the longest time, the Kenya Railways was associated with old, rickety and slow moving trains. It was a relic to say the least. Last time I took a long distance train ride was mid 1990s, from Kisumu to Yala. And it was a ride I still remember vivid today. The hard chairs, the swaying from side to side, the horns… that was the old. ‘Madaraka Express’ is the new. Shiny, faster and with leather seats(still in doubt), it is the complete opposite of the old.

Sports Tourism in Kenya

Sports Tourism involves traveling from one country or town to another with the main purpose of watching a sporting event. While this has not been a popular form of tourism in Kenya, it is the fastest growing sector in the world generating more than $600billion annually according to World Travel Market and World Tourism Organization. There has been an increased interest in sports by most people due to the fact that it offers a different feel to the traditional attractions.

In Search Of Vitamin Sea

 

For as long as I can remember my ideal holiday begins and ends with a beach. I’m a modern day water lover and sun worshipper. I never tire of our beautiful coastline-the white sandy beaches that we are so used to speaking of and the warm Indian Ocean. It is unlike no other- with the beach boys heckling, the carts of chilli mango and the various Italian eateries littered around. Mombasa, Malindi and Diani have evolved to form havens for the party-goers, the pleasure seekers and those in search for peace and quiet. So now I ask you, why wouldn’t you want to holiday here too?

The Northern Treasures

The Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) is quickly turning its attention to the remotest, but well endowed northern tourism circuit to try and save the tourism sector that has been on the downwards trend for a few years now. This has made them advertise the Northern Tourism Circuit more.

Nairobi-Marsabit road

Too Many Hashtags? #TembeaKenya

Who still keeps tabs on all the hashtags Kenya Tourism Board has created? The keyboard warriors may be assisting in drumming support for the Kenyan tourism industry, but how many do they need? Seriously. I have stuck with #TembeaKenya,the others just do not make sense to me. We may just need to sit down with whoever comes up with these online campaign strategies to fully understand KTB.

Dear Travel Diary: Matatu Experience, The Coastal Way

So about that story I promised you about Kilifi matatus, here it is. We had travelled to Kilifi very smoothly, arrived safely and spent a good two days emjoying the coastal weather and culture. I was already speaking in that swahili twang you hear our coastal brothers have. Heck, even my skin tone was getting fairer. I was really becoming a coasterian, maybe I would have added a ‘Mwadime’ or ‘Omari’ to my name just to fit the part. However, we had to leave and get back to the 100 degrees celcius Nairobi heat(cues in Daddy Owen’s Mbona ft Denno). We all thought we were in agreement to leave that morning, we were wrong. Our Nissan Serena wasn’t done enjoying the Kilifi weather, it couldn’t start. After allowing mechanics to check on it without bearing any fruits, we decided to take a bus back. We were due to leave that morning but it was now midday and had to get seats in a bus for an overnight trip. It was not an easy job. First all the buses departing from Kilifi and Malindi were full. We thought of flying back but our budget could not allow for such an impromptu expense of that magnitude. So we ended up calling the Tahmeed bus’ Mombasa offices and booking to depart from there. That meant we had to take a matatu from Kilifi to Mombasa.

Kilifi