r,} ---~- --;;:; ;;;;;; ;;;;;i :""ii iiiiiii ii:~.. ;-n.

; ;;~~ )---~
fl
Kenya and Africa
~&a~D ·. @ _ __ _,
I

I ·Jambo' means hello and is the greeti~g always give~ by

en ans. II is usually accompanied with a broad smile
K1dy offer of help. Indeed most Kenyans seem always
:~ b::heerful, relaxed and willing to help others.
Most tourist.s are attracted by the wildlife. The
go on organised tours called safaris and vi
animal~ f~om open-topped mini-buses. Afte~: e
'Y
th
many v1s1~ors travel to the coast for a more re(:a!ari,
beach holiday. Because Kenya lies 011 the E Xing r
Yet life in Kenya can be very difficult. It is o~e of t~1e climate is usually hot and sunny throughou~~~tor, the t
untries in the world ' has few services, httle
poores t Co . . . II d e 'Year.
industry and a low standard of hvmg. It 1s ca e a Kenya also has a varied population which is
developing country and is very differ~~t from t~e UK f I f • made ll
o peop e rom several different groups or tribes. P
which is rich, has a high standard of hvmg and 1s an
example of a developed country. .
Each group has its own ethnic background with Its
Ow I . .
n anguage,_ re I1g1on and way of life. Two of the
Despite being poor in terms of wealth, Kenya is rich
best known tnbes are the Maasai and the Kikuyu,
in scenery and wildlife and has become a popular
tourist destination. Inland there are high mountains,
Kenya's two major cities are Nairobi, the capital, and
volcanoes, lakes and grassy plains. On the coast there Mombasa on the coast.
are long sandy beaches, coral reefs and tropical forest.

Jombo! A
developmg country
A Kenya is usually q,ui~e
poor liKe Kenya
SOUTH -~ L in Africa.
_,.___..._
SUDAN /< / ... -"--~ /
.... /
_.; ..... _./ \.
)
',
' '- ETHIOPIA I .;
I
I
'----._ .._/
I
II
I
UGAND A
I SOMALI
KENYA IREPUBLIC
I

Mount Kenya
5,199m
I
Key
A r~~---..... :: I
I Height in metres
\ Oover2 ,000
\
® \
\
D 1.000-2.000
'-......
D
"~',e_
500-1.000
D Under 500
Indian • Main town
Mount ~, Ocean - Main road
TANZA NIA~ n Kilimaniarol\ N
-Railwa y
v 5,895m <::1 ,

0
' ' ',
M
t @ Photo reference

78
 5 Keny a and Afric a

Activities
1 Give the mean ing of the follow ing terms. The
Glossary at the back or the book may help you.
a developing coun try b developed coun try
c stand ard of living d ethn ic
2 Look at map A opposite.
a Nam e the five coun tries that bord er Keny
a.
b Name the four main town s in orde r of heigh
t
above sea level. Give the highest first.
c How long is Kenya's coastline?
d How far is it by rail from Kisumu to
Mombasa?
e Wha t is the furthest dista nce from north
to
south?
3 Copy and comp lete quizw ord E, using the
follow ing clues.
@Ke nya' s highest moun tain
@ A line of latitude across Kenya
© An ocean off Kenya's east coast
@) A holid ay where wild animals are view ed
@ Kenya's main port
(DA tradi tiona l Kenyan greeting
@ A Kenyan tribe
Make up a clue for down ward @.

El ®
..
l
I
.. I I I
.. I I I
4 Imagine you are on holid ay in Kenya Use the
•
infor matio n on this page to help you write a
postcard home whic h describes the coun try

r~------. .
Kenya is a developing country. Although it is not
rich, it
does have a wealth of spectacular scenery and
wildli fe.

79
 f WimtffliffiilnMUIM11t@flfil:li!tml
Most visitors to Kenya lly in to
Nairobi, the
country's largest city. Nairobi
is in a region called
the Central Highlands which
millions of years ago
was an area of considerable vo
lcanic activity.
During that time huge cracks
developed in
the earth's surface. Two of the
cracks ran
lrom north to south through
Kenya and as
the land between the cracks
collapsed, a huge
rift valley was formed. Earth
movements and
volcanic eruptions are now qu
ite rare but the
cone-shaped remains of volca
noes can be seen
throughout the area. Mount Ke
nya at 5,199
metres is the highest and best
known of these.
The scenery and vegetation cha
nge dramatically
towards the coast. East of the
Central Highlands
the land is more gently slopin
g and there are
huge areas of grassland. A ban
d of lush, green,
tropical rainforest lies along
the coast where the
climate is very hot and wet.

Mount Kenya Is an old

volcano. Despite being on the
Equator, It Is high enough to
\
•
!k,
Turkana
_,,,. "'- "'-
1 The north and east of Kenya
is much flatt~r than the centre.
be snow-covered all year It There 1s Int e rainfall here, so
even has ,ts own glacier. much of 1w ·and is desert
with little .2~etation.

SOMALI REP.

The Great Rift Valley has

steep sides, is very deep
and in places IS over
60km wide. The valley
stretches almost the
whole length of Alnca. Theeast coast has long sa Y nd
--= =-- -_. .c; = beache
s Coral reefs lie st
Grassland covers much of the offshore and protect the c~ear
coastal plain. Toe National Pari Coral thrives in the warm, c
<s
in this area are nch with wildlife waters of the Indian ocean.

80

l
 the Equator which means that average I "-,1
'f3 iS on are high throughout the year. There Not all of Kenya 11 like lhl 111d AfrtQ
~ell eratures or summers as there are in Britain dry and rarely has rain F•· Th, north la h,x Ind
fllP •nters d . • 1n coast there ls plent • Urthtr IOulh
1e 110 wi erature, one ay 1s very similar to the
,re 5 of teJll~ are defined by rainfall amounts. The throughout the Y y or sunshine, high~ •LJnc Utt
,er~ season ·s usually from April to May. sea-breezes cool~~~ :~d more ratnfall, : : : : -
fie,( • season I are warm and very pl on the coast but~---
easant, --~..,..
r3lflY .0 Nairobi begins with bright, clear
ypical daY~e afternoon clouds will have built up With attractive scenery and
~.:atner. BY: be a shower of rain. In the evening it not surprising that Kenya' a cUniar.. ub lhll If fl
11
d 11ere rn and dry again, though rather cool. Increasingly popular Wllh•tocoast11ne ha,~
~,, 1 es c1ea url1t1,
beco!Tl
,a Climate graphs
.......,,
Nairobi
30 Height 1,820 metres 30
28 28L..&___-----..
26 26
24 24
22 250 22
G 20
6 20
"'OJ 18 200 -
e 1a
16
j 16 E ::i
"§
,v 14 E
150 '.:
8. 14 2?0 i
R 12 Total rainfall 958 mm :§ E 12 E
E
& 10
C: )Q ::
10
8
100 8
6
I
6 '1.):
4
50 4
2 I __JL__.-1_1.~-:--'--:--1"-;.-.L;:-"-::;--"::-'";::-'-o 2
0JFMAMJ JASOND 0

Activities
a What is the Great Rift Valley? 3 Look at the climate sra;>h for Na:..'nbi ab(,.,.
b With the help of the diagrams below. explain a Which three moo·'ls ...-e '..lie~'
how the rift ,-alle~ was fanned. b How much rafafa.'J is l.~ b Jut.."
c \\.'hat temperature \, ~.Jld }'OO ex.;:,ect m
d \\.ny do )OU L'.i.'lk ~irobi IS cooler L':an
Mombasa?
4 a Describe the ataacions for :oo.'1.1:., to ~ s
coastline. L:se the lollo\'o ing
• General \\-eaL'ier Coa1?al·bndJ~
• Jul) tempera1ure
2 Imagine that , u <.l e Iust taken photo A of Mount • July rainfall Sea cm!ilatS.
Kenya. Write a l r t on for the photo to both b \\'hen isa bad timeiotnkea~
describe and e,olain the mountain's main features. Give reasons for your allS\\U

--
Include the folk,,, 1ng:

• steep • rocky • volcano

• Equator • cold • cone-shaped Many of Kenya's most attridM ilNIIIIIIIS as,••
seen either in the Central Hi&hlaRd5 • •
• snow-covered • 5,199m high coast. Most of Kenya IS hot al,. ... , ldaf,.
can be a problem.
81