Kenya

Kenya - July 4-5

Before I leave Africa, (on the blog at least, in real life I'm in Beijing!) I feel compelled to mention a few thoughts on our brief visit to Kenya, and specifically Nairobi where we went at the end of our safari. Looking at Kenya during my research for this trip, my impressions were fleeting images of the bustling city with it's Kibera slum, one of the largest in the world, and the rural tribes (esp. Masai) that lived hand in hand with the land and animals.

More recently, the news of Kenya was dominated by the botched elections and widespread violence as a result, something the press and foreign governments were taking very seriously since prior to this Kenya has had a fairly peaceful period of democracy. Clearly tensions had built up with the members of other tribes feeling that the ruling Kikuyu tribe was playing favorites, and, unfortunately, it boiled over and turned deadly for many.

With all of this in mind, Tom, Vicky (my British travel agent), and I had ruled out a visit to Kenya, even though all the safaris in neighboring Tanzania seemed to be booked up. When we finally found one that was free but started and finished in Nairobi, we decided to find ways to manage the risks and go for it as it was primarily in Tanzania so if things got worse, we could change our plans and fly instead of driving through Kenya.

We continued watching the news, and things gradually improved, greatly relieving my mind, but also peaking my interest in a place that has one of Africa's strongest economies and is clearly the transport hub for East Africa. Plus, Barack Obama's dad is from there, so it seems there's a 50/50 chance Kenya will continue to get a disproportionate amount of attention of the world stage.

Only spending one day in Nairobi, we were still able to learn a lot from our mainly Kenyan safari crew. I found particularly interesting the comparison between neighbors Tanzania and Kenya. On the surface they appear quite similar - developing countries with strong tribal backgrounds, both ruled by the British and gaining independence in the early 1960's within 2 years of each other, both with similar natural resources and beautiful coastlines. But Kenya is clearly far ahead in terms of development.

I posed this difference to Francis, our bright, young safari guide, and he offered a simple answer. From the beginning of independence, the Kenyans have mostly focused on a democratic and capitalist government, while Tanzania spend many years fumbling with socialism. Granted, everything in Kenya isn't roses, as the recent riots made quite clear, but a day in Nairobi was filled with smart looking, healthy people and a city that has a sense of a recent boom, while a day in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, is filled with a glimmer of hope, but mostly the sights of worn down people looking to the prominent NGO's to help them make any kind of progress.

That democratic history has served Kenya well, while Tanzania's socialist past seems to continue holding it back. I haven't seen too many socialist countries yet, but this is a good case study of the clear benefits of democracy. A pattern that continues, and I'll be curious to see how it develops when my trip takes me to several countries in South America that are struggling with the rise of socialism at the moment.

Not to over state things, Tom and I certainly were nervous about entering Kenya where as we cheered our arrival in Tanzania, but both turned out to be without incident for us, our fears completely overblown. Perhaps I'll look a bit deeper next time before making early assumptions.