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On Monday, April 27, 2009 two men pleaded guilty for having possession of elephant tusk. The two men, one Kenyan and the other Tanzanian, were found driving a car loaded with 1,129 lbs of tusk on Saturday 30 miles from the Tanzanian border.
The Kenyan wildlife service said,
"The actual value of the ivory is incalculable bearing in mind that it was extracted from 35 to 40 massacred elephants. The haul represents unspeakable cost to our tourism industry as well as the ecosystems... This is a major setback to efforts by Kenya to recover its elephant
population after it dropped from
167,000 in 1963 to the current 33,000." The two men will face their punishment on May 4.

I personally think that this is horrible. The two men must have snuck into a game reserve and killed those poor elephants. I can't believe that anyone could do that. What i do wonder though, is when they actually got the ivory, where the elephants are, and what they had planned to do, if they hadn't been caught. I am glad that the government caught them and i hope they face punishment.

Food

Most food in Kenya is very simple and easy to make. There are different types of foods depending on your culture and the resources that you are close to. Most farmers in Kenya that live more inland mainly rely on cows and goats to get the nourishment they need. People who live closer to Lake Victoria rely more on fish and the animals they have. Wherever you live in Kenya another part of your diet would be rice, and vegetables.
A very popular dish in Kenya is irio. It is made of corn, beans, potatoes, and greens that are all mashed together. They roll it into balls and dip it into vegetable or meat stew.

Fun Festivals!

On the island of Lamu you can escape to an old town made of stone and feel at peace. The town has traditional architecture with narrow streets, curved doors, and many mosques. You can escape to this paradise at feel totally at peace, that is if you go when there isnt a donkey racing festival going on. It is a time when all of the people join together and race their donkeys. Every May the old town hold the Dugong Lamu Festival and it is very popular. It lasts about a week and during that time everything is fun. Donkeys are a main type of transportation on the island so there are a lot of them. People come from all over to witness this crazy yet fun festival.

Kikuyu People

The Kikuyu people are one of the many tribes of Kenya. They are the largest though containing about 41% of the countries population. The Kikuyu came to Kenya during the Bantu Migration. It is said that a man named Gikuyu is the founder of the Kikuyu tribe. The story is that the god, Ngai, took Gikuyu to the top of Kirinyaga and told him to build a house and live there. He also brought Gikuyu a wife named Mumbi. They had ten kids, but they said that they only had nine. This is because it is bad luck to say ten in their culture. From the nine daughters came the clans; Achera, Agachiku, Airimu, Ambui, Angare, Anjinu, Angui, Aithaga, Aitherandu. Kikuyu people are traditionally farmers and their homeland at the foothills of Mt. Kenya is highly agricultured. They are also famous for making pots, woven baskets, flat trays, arrowheads, spears, and swords. Over all the Kikuyu people are famous for keeping their culture alive by passing on their ways.

Plants and Animals

Kenya has over 80 species of animals and more than 1000 types of birds. A few examples are Lions, Cheetahs, Zebras, Giraffes, and Elephants. Many of these animals are in trouble because of poaching. Kenya also has a large array of plant life. During the dry season the grass looks dry and are a dull yellow color. But after the rains the landscape becomes very colorful. Flowers appear everywhere, and grass is now a luscious green. There is vegetation along rivers and the mountains are covered by dense forests.

Climate

The climate of Kenya ranges from tropical along the coast, arid and dry inland, and very cold down towards Tanzania. Western Kenya has two rain season, the long rains which occur between April and June and the short rains during October to November. The most popular time to go would be between September and March when it is the drier season.

Geography

Kenya is located on the coast of the Indian Ocean in East-Central Africa. It neighboring countries are; Somalia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Sudan. Kenya is about twice the size of Nevada. The highest point of the country is Mt. Kenya which is 5,199 m. There is also the Great Rift Valley, part of Lake Turkana, and part of Lake Victoria. The countries Kenyan Highlands are very successful agriculturally.

History

Paleontologists believe that the first inhabitants of Kenya lived over 2 million years ago! But as far as the records go the Arab seafarers established colony settlements along the coast of Kenya in the 700’s. In the early 1500s the Portuguese took control of the area. During the reign of the Portuguese over 40 ethnic groups resided there. The largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu, migrated to Kenya in the 18^th century. In 1890 the land became a British Protectorate, then in 1920 it became a crown colony. The British named Kenya British East Africa. The country was running smoothly until 1940 when nationalist stirrings began. In 1952 Kikuyu militants rebelled against the government. This action was called the Mau Mau Movement. The fighting lasted until 1956. Then, on December 12, 1963 Independence was finally achieved. Jomo Kenyatta, a nationalist leader during the struggle, was the first president.
Now that the country was independent Kenyatta chose to make it a one-party nation in 1964. It was ruled like that by Kenyatta and then by Daniel arap Moi. The country was ruled in this way until demonstrations and riots broke out in Kenya. Moi was forced to allow a multiparty election in 1992.
Kenya's economy did not flourish under the rule of Moi. The country also suffered through multiple disasters in 1997 and 1998. First severe flooding destroyed roads, bridges, and crops causing much trouble to Kenya. Next a Malaria and Chloera epidemic ravaged the health care system. To top it off the two main ethnic groups, the Kikuyu and Kalenjin,clashed in the Rift Valley causing much trouble to Kenya. Then, on August 7, 1998, terrorists bombed the U.S. embassy in Nairobi. 243 people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured in the bombing.
Kenya was now considered a corrupt country. It is regurly on the top ten list of corrupt countries in the world. Since being a corrupt country isnt a good thing they tried to pass a anticorruption law, which failed to pass in parlaiment in august of 2001. The parlaiment wouldn't pass the law because it was too weak and was full of loopholes. This made it much more unlikely for the country to receive international aid.
In December of 2002 Mwai Kibaki won the presidential election by promising that he would end the corruption in Kenya. At first the new president helped by examining corrupt judges and police and giving free primary school education. People were very pleased with these reforms, but it soon seemed like that was all he was going to do. By 2004 the people were becoming more and more disappointed in Kibaki. He had failed deliver a long-awaited constitution that would limit the presidents power. Then in July, 2005 the parliament passed a draft of the constitution. It was then time for the voters to decide. Everything seemed fine, but then the voters noticed a detail. The constitution would actually increase the presidents power rather that decrease it. The constitution was rekected in December, 2005.
After the constitution problem Kenya's welfare really decreased. First there was a very serious drought that ravaged Kenya causing close to 2.5 million faced starvation by January, 2006. Then Kenya descended into a state of violence and chaos after the 2007 presidential election. Kibaki won the election against Raili Odinga. Odinga had promised to end corruption and he was very popular with the poor. When the new president had been announced violence broke out between the Lou and Kikuyu tribes. In January, 2008 the fighting intensified with more than 800 people dieng across the country because of violence. The violence continued and by February, 2008 more than 1,000 people had died.
To solve this problem the government knew that Odinga needed to have a place in the government. Kibaki agreed that this was true. Odinga was then appointed as the prime minister. This was the first step to restoring the country.