Info from the Swedish embassy in Kenya

The crime rate in Kenya is high. Armed burglary, robbery and hijacking as well as assault and rape occur, especially in Nairobi.

If I cant sleep (witch is not very often) or just feel that I have to do some thinking, I walk. Especially in the evening I sometimes feel the urge to just walk. If I start I wont stop and so I can walk around Falsterbo for hours and hours at night. But this wont be a possibility in Nairobi, there I will never be allowed to walk around by myself, not even in the day. When I were in South Africa this past winter I remember that walking at night was the thing I missed the most with Sweden, that and *knäckebröd* (hardbread) and I was just in South Africa for 16 days. How will i survive a year? It just doesn’t exist in some countries, this walking around at night, and of course I understand why. I just have to find a new way to clear my mind so that I can sleep.

// thinking of leaving Sweden on the 20^th of August //

Republic of Kenya

Here are some random facts about Kenya, just the basics.

- The capital is Nairobi (The school I’m gone go to is just a couple of kilometers from there)

- Biggest cities are Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu

- Administrational division: 7 provinces and one area; Central, Coast, East, North East, Rift Valley, Western and the Nairobi area.

- Adjacent to Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia

- Kenya is about 580 400 square kilometers (about two and a half times the size of Brittan).

- Official language is English and Swahili (witch I will study at school and hopefully be able to learn)

- Kenya’s currency is Kenyan shilling (KES)

- Kenya has now a population of about 39 million people. The growth rate of the country’s population was for many years the highest in the world but has started to stabilize.

- 67 pers/km² (Sverige: 20 pers/km²)

- Population growth rate 2,7 % (Sweden has a population growth rate at 0,185 %)

- Total fertility rate 4,7 children per woman (Sweden’s fertility rate is 1,67 children per woman)

- 22% of the population is living in the cities (in Sweden 85%)

- There are more than 40 different ethnical groups in Kenya, the biggest being: Kikuyu 22%, Luyha 14%, Luo 13%, Kalenjin 12%, Kamba 11% other African ethnical groups 15% and not African groups (Asian, European, Arabic) 1 %.

- Religion: Protestanter 45%, Katoliker 33%, muslimer 10 %, inhemsk tro 10%, övriga 2%

- Kenya regained independence in 1963 after almost 80 years of being occupied and ruled by Brittan.

- Kenya is a republic and a multiparty democracy ruled by a “Grand Coalition” of parties.

- President Mwai Kibaki

- Prime minister Raila Odinga

- Kenya has a huge debt burden currently at nearly 7 billion dollars (about 5516 million Swedish kr). Every month Kenya spends as mush on servicing its debt as it spends on health care for a whole year.

- Highest point is Mount Kenya witch is 5199 meters

- Oldest town is Lamu (I'll visit Lamu with my parents around Christmas)

- Numbers of times Kenya didn’t win the Olympic steeplechase = None

// Seriously I don’t know anything about this country //

Nairobi’s climate

Average temperature / Rainfall (mm)/ days with rainfall

Jan 25 / 38 / 5

Feb 26 / 64 / 6

Mar 25 / 125 / 11

Apr 24 / 211 / 16

May 22 / 158 / 17

Jun 21 / 46 / 9

Jul 21 / 15 / 6

Aug 21 / 23 / 7

Sep 24 / 31 / 6

Oct 24 / 53 / 8

Nov 23 / 109 / 16

Dec 23 / 86 / 11

It might rain a lot during Mars-May and Nov-Dec but after this winter the statistics about the average temperature in Nairobi made my heart skip a beat.

// I promise that during December-January I’ll post the temperature here as often as possible… just for fun //