Wangechi Gitahi – Wangechi Gitahi Travels

Africa

Seventh Nairobi International Cultural Festival

By Wangechi Gitahi

When I found out that the Seventh Nairobi International Cultural Festival was being held on the 8th of June 2019, I hived off the date on my calendar. For the last two years that I knew about it, my diary and their calender have always clashed, but this year I wanted us to be insync. The festival is hosted annually by the National Museums of Kenya, providing a platform for citizens of all countries represented in Kenya, to present, share and engage each other on all facets of their culture ranging from music, dance, cuisine, handcrafts and fashion. The event was held at the Nairobi National Museum and was Free for all attendees. It was indeed an exciting Festival with lots of funfair and engaging experiences for all in attendance. The first element of the festival that welcomed me to the grounds was this painting of the Kenyan flag, that…

Africa

Life as a traditional Turkana lady

By Wangechi Gitahi

I saw him from across the room and I smiled at him, even though I had only seen him from a far on my last visit to Turkanaland. He seemed to sense my gaze and looked in my direction, a beautiful smile breaking from his lips, revealing white sparkling teeth. He rose and walked towards me, eyes locked on mine as if daring me to turn away. The last time I saw him, I didn’t get adequate time to look at him, learn his features, see him in his element or learn who he really is. No way was I going to let this chance pass me by and so I gawked, unashamedly. When he stood before me, I was impressed by his firm strong handshake, his confident gaze, his pronounced physical features and I noted he had a cute parting between the teeth on his lower gum. He greeted…

Africa

The animal haven that is Amboseli National Park

By Wangechi Gitahi

Amboseli National Park is found in Oloitoktok, which is in Kajiado county in Kenya. The park is famous for being home to large herds of Elephants and like Maasai Mara National Reserve, it extends into Tanzania. The park is also famous as it is located at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, thus offering guests a look at the majestic mountain, without having to climb it. I was excited as we ventured into Amboseli National Park, as I really wanted to see herds and herds of elephants, which is what the park is famous for. Elephants are indeed interesting animals everything from having great memories, to being gigantic in size but equally as soft in nature. They tend to live in communities and everyone takes care of everyone. The head of the home is interestingly, the oldest female in the group, thus making them a matriarchal society. They have been known…

Africa

Timkat Festival

By Wangechi Gitahi

Timkat is a religious festival celebrated by the Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia, on 19th or 20th January in a leap year. Timkat means Baptism and is a celebration of the baptism of Jesus in river Jordan by John the Baptist, the celebration of Epiphany. The festival occurs all over Ethiopia thus you can enjoy it in any town you may be in. I had the honour to attend the festival while in Addis Ababa and what an emotional roller coaster it was. During the festival, models of the Ark of the Covenant otherwise known as the Tabot, are removed from the Orthodox churches and carried to a designate water body by a select priest. A Tabot represents the Tablets given to Moses by God, that had the Ten Commandments inscribed on them. Every Orthodox church has one in safe keeping and it is not available for public viewing unless on…

Africa

Adventure galore in Nkhata Bay

By Wangechi Gitahi

Nkhata Bay is a port town that is found along the shores of Lake Malawi in Malawi. Lake Malawi also known as Lake Nyasa is a fresh water lake that is shared among Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique. It is the ninth largest lake in the world and the third largest lake in Africa. I assure you, once you arrive in Nkhata Bay, your whole body goes into excess relaxation due to the serene, relaxed nature of the area. Here, I relaxed and had many “first ” experiences. 1.Enjoy the beauty that is Lake Malawi: a) Be star truck by its beauty: Lake Malawi is beautiful and I couldn’t get enough of it. I enjoyed engaging in basic activities like just looking at it. The waters are clean, crystal clear and one can easily see fish and rocks without even having to snorkel. For the adventurous, please engage in water activities…

Africa

Malawi 101

By Wangechi Gitahi

1.Malawi is officially known as Republic of Malawi. 2. It is a landlocked country and its capital city is called Lilongwe. 3. It is bordered by Mozambique to the East, West and South, Zambia to the Northwest and Tanzania to the Northeast. 4. It has a population of about 18 million people. 5. The official languages is English while the national language is Chichewa. 6. Lake Malawi is the ninth largest lake in the world. It is the second deepest and the third largest lake in Africa. 7. Lake Malawi is shared by Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania and is also known as Lake Nyasi. 8. Its main income earner is agriculture. 9. The citizens of Malawi are called Malawians. 10. A Kenyan does not require a visa prior to travel to Malawi. For more on my experience in Malawi, check out Nkhota Bay: http://wangechigitahi.co.ke/adventure-galore-in-nkhota-bay/

Africa

Cultural Extravaganza in Opuo

By Wangechi Gitahi

Opuo is found in the Kunene region, to the North of Namibia. It is home to the Himba and Herero tribes, communities that still hold on to their culture. My main driving force to visit Namibia was to actually see and interact with the Himba tribe/community found in Opuo. I love cultures and knowing that there was a community here that held on to their rich culture in modern Namibia, indeed appealed to me and I had to visit. What a joy to find out there was also the Herero community. a)Himba tribe: The Himba are indigenous to Namibia and are semi-nomadic in nature. They live in communities with the eldest male being the chief/elder. The ladies will normally colour their faces and hair red, the colour made from red ochre mixed with animal fat or oil which is called odjize. This is believed to protect them from insect bites,…

Africa

Exciting Swakopmund, Walvis Bay and Cape Cross

By Wangechi Gitahi

Swakopmund locally referred to as “Swakop” is located within the Namib Desert yet also has access to the Atlantic ocean. It is the coastal town of Namibia and is located about 350km West of Windhoek. It is more like a resort town, very organized, super neat and has lots of German influence from the buildings to the main delicacies. This town is indeed a mystery as on one side of the road you could be enjoying the beaches along Atlantic Ocean while on the other you could be hiking sand dunes. We enjoyed staying here as well as exploring its neighbouring towns. Walvis Bay: Walvis Bay is indeed an exciting and interesting area to visit. I was impressed by the large number of flamingoes that we spotted in several areas like Birds paradise, to actually getting to hike the famous Dune 7. Everyone spoke so highly of hiking the dune…

Africa

Namibia 101

By Wangechi Gitahi

1.It is officially known as Republic of Namibia and its capital city is called Windhoek. 2. It borders the Atlantic Ocean, South Africa to the East and South, Angola and Zambia to the North, Botswana to the East 3. The official language is English. 4. It has a population of about 2.4 million people 5. Its main income earners are fishing, mining and livestock. 6.The citizens of Namibia are called Namibians. 7. They were colonized by Germany and later taken over by South Africa up to 1990. 8. It is the second least populated country after Mongolia. 9.It has the worlds largest cheetah population in the world. 10. Kenyans do not require a visa prior to travel to Namibia. Ensure you have your travel documents in order. For my exploits of Namibia, check out: Northern Namibia: http://wangechigitahi.co.ke/culture-extravaganza-in-opuo/ Southern Namibia: http://wangechigitahi.co.ke/exciting-swakopmund-walvisbay-capecross/

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Botswana 101

By Wangechi Gitahi

1. Botswana is officially known as the Republic of Botswana and its capital city is called Gaborone. 2.The citizens are referred to as Batswana while an individual is referred to as a Motswana 3. It is a landlocked country bordered by Zambia to the North, Namibia to the West and North, Zimbabwe to the North East and South Africa to the South and South East. 4. Botswana is mainly a desert with about 70% of it being covered by the Kalahari Desert. 5. Its main income earners are mining, tourism and cattle. It is the highest producer of diamonds by value in the world. 6. The official language is English but the most spoken language is Setswana. 7. It has the largest Elephant population in Africa. 8. It has a population of about 2 million people. 9. The Okavanga Delta is a UNESCO World Heritage Center 10: Kenyans do not…