This post is prompted by the latest Kenya travel advisory issued by the UK and France governments.
A Brief Background to these latest travel warnings
Early last month (September 11, 2011), an armed gang raided an exclusive tourist resort in Lamu, killed a British tourist, and abducted his wife. See the full story in the Daily Nation.
Three weeks later, in October 1, 2011, another gang kidnapped a 66 year old French woman from her private home in Manda Island in Lamu. You can see this story too in both the Standard and the Daily Nation.
The minister for tourism, Najib Balala, has since then assured Kenya tourism stakeholders that the government has put measures in place to ensure such incidents do to occur again. Too late perhaps, coz the harm has already been done.
Under such circumstances therefore, the travel warnings about Kenya are somehow justified. And to be fair, the advisories only advise against traveling to Lamu and the region near the Kenya-Somali border. But I know safety is an important consideration for many people planning to come to Kenya, whether on a safari holiday or a business trip. So, is it safe to travel to Kenya? Continue reading

