Kenyan Culture


Religions, Culture and Traditions

Cultural Locations in Kenya

Malindi

Along the North Coast is Malindi one of the Kenya's oldest coastal towns. This is where Vasaco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer, landed in April 1498 before he sailed eastwards to "discover" India. A pillar in his memory still stands on the eastern side of the town overlooking the Malindi Marine National Park. Malindi is a popular tourists attraction and it offers a range of recreational facilities such as casinos, night clubs and bars, golf courses and hotels. It has a long curving beach ideal for surfing during the monsoon in July and August. The coastal area of Malindi is popular for deep-sea fishing where sportsfishermen are said to have caught some of the largest fish in Africa.

Lamu

One of the oldest living towns along the East African coast is Lamu town, located on Lamu Island north of Malindi. This Swahili town is said to have been founded around the 10th century. It used to be a very busy port in the 18th and the 19th centuries. The Old Fort in the centre of the town built in 1812, is today a cultural centre. The town has numerous Museums such as the Swahili house Museum, the German Post Office Museum, the Lamu Fort Environment Museum, and the Lamu Museum. Lamu Museum occupies what used to be the District commissioner's house, a house originally built for Queen Victoria's consul, Jack Haggard. This museum houses a rich collection of ethnographic material from the Swahili, Orma and Pokomo ethnic groups. On display also are the traditional Swahili craft such as the Siwa (side-blown horn), furniture and jewellery. The Island town of Lamu can only be approached by boat.

Fort Jesus

Fort Jesus was built in 1593 by the Portuguese to signify their reign on the East African Coast but the fort changed hands several times between the Portuguese and the Omani Arabs. The fort was also used by the British as a prison during the colonial period. Today it is a national monument and a popular museum which displays ancient artifacts of the coastal life. It also holds a conservation laboratory, a gift shop and a cafeteria. Part of the museum is the Old Law Court which hold a research library, coastal archaeology department and a regional centre for archaeological study.

Gede Ruins

Located about 19 kilometres south of Malindi is the famous Gede ruins, a 12th century Swahili settlement. Revealed here are the Mosques, tombs, magnificent "palace" and houses, all which occupy about 45 acres of indigenous forest rich in numerous species of flora and fauna.

Jumba la Mtwana Ruins

Jumba la Mtwana, meaning "house of slaves", represents the remains of a 13th century Swahili Settlement which was mysteriously abandoned in the 15th century and rediscovered in 1960s. Mosques and tombs stand magnificently in this site. Domestic houses decorated in carved niches and arched doorways still stand. It's location on a beautiful stretch of sandy beach, attracts both the local people and tourists for picnic.

Siyu

In the Lamu archipelago is a Swahili settlement called Siyu. Siyu has a long history and in the late 19th century it resisted domination by the Omani Arabs. Remains of magnificent tombs and mosques can be seen. Today the present village of Siyu is famous for leather craft.

Ngomomgo Villages/Kenya Heritage

A very unusual place to visit. This place, a reclaimed quarry is one with a twist: this with a collection of eleven rural homesteads, complete with permanent inhabitants in matching dress, representing the "most colourful tribes of Kenya". A fun place to be.

Takwa Ruins

Takwa ruins represent remains of a 16th century Swahili trading town located on Manda Island near Lamu Town. An interesting landmark in Takwa is the unique Friday Mosque with a large pillar atop the giblawall and little known about it. Takwa is attractive for camping and picnic.

The Tana Delta (Ungwana, Shaka and Mwana)

To the entrance of Tana River, the longest river in Kenya, is the small town of Kipini. Located within the river Delta are remains of Swahili towns and settlemnets. Furthest from Kipini are the ruins of Shaka and Mwana while the 10th century town of Ungwana is located near the Delta. Ungwana is a large town with numerous structures including tombs, mosques and domestic houses.

Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Reserve

Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Reserve is a unique reserve in Kenya located near watamu in the north coast. It is here that the rare and unique birds like the smallest owl in Africa - the endangered 15 centimeters-high Sokoke Scops Owl and Sokoke pipit live here. Other animals found here include the Golden-rumped elephant shrew, Aders Duiker, Clarke's Weaver, the endemic Sokoke four-toed mongoose and butterfly life. Remnant of indigenous coastal forest and rubber trees inhabit this reserve.

Bamburi Nature Trail

This is a private wildlife and forest conservation sanctuary established by the Bamburi Cement Company with a purpose to reclaim acres of excavated quarries during the many years of extracting raw material for cement manufacturing. It is one of the world's best examples of how man's destruction on land can be reclaimed in nature's own way. Today both exotic and local animals and trees inhabit this oasis which was once a barren treeless desert of limestone dust. Visitors can see birds, porcupines, giant tortoises, orphaned animals like buffalo, hippo, and eland. Fish and crocodile commercially farms are also run here.

Kisite / Mpunguti Marine National Reserve

The 28 square kilometer Kisite Marine National Park is located in the Mpunguti Marine Reserve in the fishing village of Shimoni, 85 kilometers south of Mombasa. Shimoni which was a slave centre is historically known for its huge coral caves where thousands of slaves used to be kept prior to shipment to Zanzibar, Pemba and Arabia. These caves can still be seen even today. From the park one can view the Usambara mountains of Tanzania about 6 kilometers away. Wasini Island is to the right with the Shimba Hills in the distance. Kisite National Park is one spectacular place in the Indian Ocean where one can dive and snorkel amongst a bewildering variety of marine life comprising a unique ecosystem - "a garden under the sea". The park offers best resorts for goggling and deep-sea fishing. Kisite is a home for Dolphins, Spotted and Indo-Pacific Humpback. The variety and abundance of fish is astounding. Blue striped snappers, Ehrenburg snappers and sweet lips with their prominent yellow colouring. Families of up to eighty parrot fish, mainly blue in colour, can be seen passing through these shallow clear waters.

Malindi and Watamu Marine National Reserve.

Malindi/Watamu Marine National Reserve is located 119 kilometers from Mombasa and extends from south of Malindi town to Watamu. It was among the first marine reserves to be established in Africa and comprises of the Malindi and Watamu Marine National parks with extensive coral reef and coral gardens which are very popular to the divers, snorkelers, and glass-bottomed boat viewers. The corals consist of myriads of brightly colored coral fish, corals and shells. Angel fish, Butterfly fish, Blue surgeon fish, Anemone, Domino, Scorpion and Parrot fish are the major species. Green turtle, Blue marlin fish, Sailfish, Giant grouper and Marko sharks can also be seen. Entertainment activities like water skiing, wind surfing, deep sea diving assisted by instructors, goggling and deep sea fishing can be organized by hotels which appear in a chain at the coastal front. Tourists can visit the Big Three Caves at the mouth of Mida Creek. These caves are a home to groupers and other fish.

Shimba Hills

Simba Hills is located 40 kilometers south of Mombasa and consists of rolling hills of grassland and remnants of tropical rain forest which together with the sea views makes it more beautiful. It makes a cool change from the coastal heat and a site of beaches. From here one can see the Usambara and Pare mountains across the border to Tanzania. Tourists can visit the Shimba Hills National Reserve and see herds of Sable antelope, Roan antelopes, Bushbuck, Bush duiker, suni blue monkey, black and white colobus, elephant, lion and buffalo among other animals. Common species of birds include the Hornbills, Turaco, Barbets, Crested guineafowl, Honey guide and many others.

What is Swahili?

Along the eastern coast of Africa from Somalia to Mozambique are a number of old Swahili towns. Visitors will see on the foreshore or on small offshore islands, their whitewashed houses of coral, a number of small mosques where men from the immediate neighborhood gather in their white gowns and small embroidered caps for prayers and outside of which they gather afterwards to discuss town affairs in measured tones. Women are rarely seen outside except in the evenings when they discreetly visit with their female relatives and friends.

The Swahili coast has a long history of involvement with the outside world, dating back to the first millennium after Christ. Trading dhow have sailed down this coast from the Arabian peninsular and the Persian Gulf following the annual northeast monsoon to trade pottery, cloth, and iron tools for African slaves, ivory, gold, timber, shells, dyes, and perfumes. Their home bound journey followed the shift of the monsoon winds to the southeast.

Although the Swahili language is widely spoken in East Africa, the concentration is in towns scattered along the coastline. Coastal Swahili speakers often stress their difference between themselves and their neighbors, emphasizing their descent from immigrants from Shiraz Persia and from Arabia who had come centuries earlier to the African coast to trade and who stayed to settle, build coral towns, live a sophisticated urban life, and rule.

The Swahili civilization dates back to at least the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. When the Europeans visited the coast in the nineteenth century, Swahili towns appeared to be products of a Persian and Arab Diaspora that had spread around the Indian Ocean. There were extensive and elaborate buildings and a large scale of imports of Islamic and Chinese pottery. These lasted until the Portuguese destroyed a number of towns during the sixteenth century in their attempt to control the Indian Ocean trade routes. This is one of the main causes for the decline of the coastal habitat of the Swahili people, a clear evidence being the towns of Kilwa and Mafia on the coast of Tanzania. Visitors can see many ruins in Mombasa (Kenya), Zanzibar and Bagamoyo (Tanzania) which are preserved by the government and which stand as a reminder of the early influences of the Arabs, Portuguese and Chinese.

Scholars claim that Swahili is a combination of a number of languages. Some have even claimed that Swahili has Arabic origin. While the term Swahili has its origin from Arabic, Sahel or Sawahel, which means coast, the language of the people, and which is referred to by the speakers as Kiswahili, has characteristics of Bantu languages. Not only has Swahili borrowed heavily from Arabic but also from many European languages. The basic sound system and grammar is closely related to Bantu languages of northeast Tanzania, Kenya, and the Comoro Islands.

Swahili is the lingua franca of Tanzania and Kenya. In Tanzania, it is used for instruction at the primary school level and some subjects at the secondary school level. In Tanzania, more than Kenya, it is the language of official government business and most formal situations. It is used in the market place, church, meetings and rallies. There is a substantial literature in the language especially novels and poems. Both the government and private news groups publish daily papers in Kiswahili exposing the language variations that exist among the Swahili speakers.

There are a few dialects which are distinct from standard Swahili. These dialects are spoken in Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zaire, and some parts of Mozambique. Because of Tanzania's involvement with refugees from countries like Zimbabwe and South Africa, Swahili dialects can be found in these regions too. of the . In addition there are some dialects spoken in mainland Tanzania and Kenya and in several neighboring countries.

Sample Swahili Text: Greetings

A: Hujambo. Hi/Hello.
B: Sijambo. Hi/Hello.
A: Habari gani? How are you (lit. what are the news)?
B: Habari nzuri (sana). Good (very).
B: Na wewe je? How about you(yourself)?
A: Mzima. Fine (lit. I am healthy).
B: Nyumbani hawajambo? Is everyone at home well?
A: Wote hawajambo. All are fine.
A: Habari za kazi? How is (your) work?
B: Kazi inaendelea vizuri. Work is fine (lit. work is going well).
A: Haya, tutaonana. O.k. we will see each other again (later).
B: Haya, kwa heri ya kuonana. O.k.,Goodbye (lit. goodbye for to see each other again).

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