KeniaAPS

The Lamu Cultural Festival was created in 2000 in more than 700 years ago, is normally maked in the old town. L amu Island annually hosts the historic Maulidi an Islamic festival held during the third month of the Muslim calendar (Rabi ul Awwal) to celebrate the birth of the Prophet Mohammed. The festival has been celebrated for more than a century and its now a permanent feature of East Africa’s Islamic festivities. The festival is usually sponsored by the National Museum of Kenya. Various community building competitions take place, including swimming, dhow and donkey races, henna competitions and tug of war with a mixture of uniquely Swahili music, and dance. 

Today we are going to talk about a famous actress of Kenya, called Lupita Nyong'o.  Lupita is an award-winning Kenyan Mexican actress. She studied in the US and went from being a production assistant to winning an ‘Academy Award’ in just a few years. Her notable talent and intelligence helped her build an impressive career, with diverse and meaningful projects that most actors can only dream of. Her ‘Academy Award’ winning part came shortly after her graduation from ‘Yale,’ in the highly acclaimed film ‘12 Years a Slave,’ directed by Steve McQueen. That was the first time a Kenyan or a Mexican actress had ever won an ‘Academy Award.’ She also delivered brilliant performances on ‘Broadway,’ in the play ‘Eclipsed,’ which was highly praised by critics. She directed a music video and appeared in box-office hits such as ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ ‘The Jungle Book,’ ‘Black Panther,’ and the horror movie ‘Us.’ She also fights to raise awareness for issues in Africa, such as serious

  The vegetation and animal life of Kenya reflect the variety of its topography and climate. In the coastal region coconut trees flourish, with occasional mangrove swamps and rain forest. The vast plains of the hinterland and the northern regions are covered with grass, low bush, and scrub, giving way in the high-lying plains to typical savanna country of open grass dotted with thorn trees, and in the more arid regions to bare earth and stunted scrub. The highland areas are in parts densely forested with bamboo and valuable timber, the predominant trees are the  African camphor, African olive, podo, and pencil cedar. Wildlife of great variety is found in Kenya, both in the sparsely populated areas and in the national parks and reserves that have been created for its protection. Elephant, rhinoceros, lion, zebra, giraffe, buffalo, hippopotamus, wildebeest, and many kinds of buck are among the large mammals that abound on the plains and along the rivers. Kenya's diverse bird species

 Kenya is one of the countries that consumes the most meat in the world. Ox, veal, goat and also lamb, pork and chicken are the most consumed meats in Kenya. They also consume cereals, coffee, sugar cane and some exotic fruits like pineapple and kiwano.A basic dish of Kenya has beans,corn, assorted vegetables and fish or meat.  A typical dish if you are hungry between hours could be the Ugali: it consist of flour balls cooked, they have a texture similar to bread.You can mix it with butter, cheese or milk. Another dish is the chapatis (like a corn flour tortillas). The last dish are samosas (rolls filled with meat or vegetables). Here's a top 3 of the most popular dishes of Kenya: 1) Nyama Choma : It means barbacued meat, it is usually goat or beef served roasted. 2) Wali wa kukaanga : It is boiled rice with turmeric, onions, oil and vegetables (carrots,peas...) 3) Githeri: Is a dish with beans and maize stewed with onions, tomatoes and sometimes with potatoes.

 Kenya is a democratic republic which the president is Uhuru Kenyatta who is head of state and head of government. It is a multiparty system thanks to the new constitution approved in 2010. Kenya became independent in 1963 from the United Kingdom. After the December 2007 elections there was a tragic episode of violence that caused more than 1,000 fatalities and half a million displaced. In August 2017, general elections were held in the country. President Kenyatta beat Raila Odinga, but the Supreme Court struck down the elections considering that serious irregularities had been committed and illegalities. The repetition of the elections took place on October 26, without the participation of the opposition candidate, who boycotted the process by considering that the necessary guarantees were not given. With a low participation of 38.8%, Uhuru Kenyatta was re-elected by a large majority and took office a month later, following the dismissal by the Supreme Court of various appeals filed t

The first inhabitants of Kenya were hunter-gatherers, later about 2,000 herders arrived in the region. Then, from 800 AD, the Arabs set sail for Kenya. Some settled and married each other and created the Swahili culture along the coast. The first European to arrive in Kenya was Vasco da Gama in 1498. Subsequently, the Portuguese ruled the Kenyan coast for two centuries and brought new crops to Kenya, maize and cassava. At the end of the 19th century, Kenya came under British control. The last years of the 1960s and 1970s were prosperous years for Kenya and agriculture developed much better. Kenya is developing rapidly and there are many reasons to be optimistic about its future. Meanwhile, in 2013, Uhuru Kenyatta became President of Kenya. In our next post we will deal with politics in the country, a very interesting and relevant topic.