Kenya is still regarded by many as the start of safari tourism on the continent , most notably because of its famous national parks and incredible scenic beauty and fascinating cultures.
The capital city of Nairobi is really just an arrival hub for travel deeper into Kenya and often we will connect out to the safari lodges on the same day. The other reason would be if you would like to be near to a Shul in East Africa, where there are hardly any open Shuls anymore. A small, yet lovely Jewish community of perhaps 100 people live and work in this city and they have regular services for Shabbat across the road from the Fairmount hotel.
Many international airlines service Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta international airport, and from there we transfer across to Nairobi Wilson airport for the small charter style aircraft that fly south into the major national parks which remain the biggest attraction for the visitor to Kenya.
Masai Mara, is by far the most famous of them all, and home to the great migration, for August and September every year Amboseli National Park, bordering on Tanzania, is famous for its amazing views of Mt Kilimanjaro, just across the border inside Tanzania.
Its the location for the popular photo of an elephant or a giraffe in the foreground, and a snow capped mountain peak in the distance. Whilst Kenya does host many more remote national parks, its very seldom our Kosher guests stay longer than a few days on a safari in Masai Mara or Amboseli.
Guests head usually across the border into Tanzania, or across to the coastal regions of Zanzibar, or perhaps go for the Gorilla trekking in Rwanda and Uganda.
In terms of Kosher catering, we have set up a few lovely temporary Kosher kitchens in Masai Mara and Amboseli, and friends of ours in Nairobi are sometimes gracious enough to free up their private Kosher chef. As a rule though, your time in Kenya is most likely only going to offer up Parev meals, and perhaps a small portion of Milchik, unless you were lucky enough to fly some Kosher meat into the Nairobi airport, in your hand luggage and its not confiscated.
The Kenyan government is not really open to importation of any forms of meat, when they feel their nation provides ample meat options. With the microscopic Jewish community in Nairobi, there is not enough need for a formal Kosher butchery or Abbatoir, so at best you might find a premade Friday night Meat meal for Shabbos is available at the Shul, supplied by the Rabbi’s kind wife, which was imported from South Africa at great expense.
As a rule, we generally recommend combining Kenya with Tanzania, for a well rounded East Africa experience if your time and budget allows.
