Following the removal of the FCO ban on all but essential travel to Kenya on 19th January, the overall level of the travel advice remains the same however with certain changes to the areas recommended not to visit within the country. We suggest that you continue to constantly review both the recommendations of the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Republic of Ireland and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Travel Advisories in the United Kingdom. www.foreignaffairs.gov.iewww.fco.gov.ukPlease find below the Kenya Tourism Federation’s security update and advice on travel to specific geographical areas within Kenya: Nairobi: The death early yesterday morning of a Member of Parliament, Mr Mugabe Were, developed into more protests along Ngong Road away from the centre of Nairobi and at the housing estate of Kawangware as well as disturbances in the Kibera slums and in Mr Were’s Embakasi constituency. The situation had returned to normal by late afternoon and the centre of Nairobi was not affected while the highways between the airports and Nairobi hotels remained open as usual. The situation this, Wednesday 30th January, remains quiet with all access to hotels, airports etc. open as usual.These events on Tuesday 29th January, lead to appropriate warnings being placed on the British Travel Advisory. All these amendments were removed by Tuesday night.Tourist areas:The main tourist areas at the beach resorts and the safari circuit continue to receive international tourist visitors as usual and the current situation is as follows:For visitors to Nairobi it is recommended that the high density housing estates and slums should be avoided, including Eastleigh, Mathare, Huruma and Kibera, but tourists have always been advised to keep away from these areas. For visitors to Mombasa and coast: Mombasa is an island and not a beach resort and the areas mentioned below can be avoided by tourist vehicles transferring from the airport to the beach resorts on the north and south mainland. It is recommended to avoid going into Mombasa “town” at the present time including the areas of Majengo, Tonononka, and Bondeni as some sporadic. There are no problems at any of the beach resorts and the roads between Malindi, Watamu, Kilifi, Nyali, Bamburi, Mombasa, Diani, Galu, Msambweni are all open and reported to have no problems. The international airport at Mombasa is operating as normal with services flying in and there is no problem with access to the airport on the roads from the north and south of Mombasa. The ferry at Likoni is operating as normal for tourists travelling to the south coast. Demonstrations had occurred previously in this area although all has been calm and normal for over a week now. Safaris: most of the national parks and wildlife reserves are operating as normal with most camps and lodges open for business. The roads linking the parks and reserves are all open and conditions are normal with the exception of roads through Naivasha town (see below). For tourist vehicles travelling by road to the Mara, the road passing Narok town is a stretch of approximately 4 kms and is now being monitored by a permanent security patrol to ensure that there are no problems for tourist vehicles. For the past week tourist vehicles have been driving along this route from Nairobi to the Mara daily without any problem and latest reports indicate that the road is open and that traffic is moving freely. The route to the Mara is south from Narok and drivers do not need to drive north to Bomet which is within the area recommended as off-limits to tourists (see below). Areas we advise against travel to at this time: The Kenya Tourism Federation continues to monitor the security situation to ensure that any areas considered unsafe for tourists are avoided and suggest that the following areas are not visited: Naivasha and NakuruDisturbances and clashes between rival groups in and around Naivasha have been brought under control by the police and security forces. The roads were opened by police and army so that traffic was able to move in and out of Naivasha. However tensions in Naivasha and Nakuru remain and the Kenya Tourism Federation recommends that road safaris through Naivasha town and on by road to Lake Nakuru should be suspended for the next few days while we monitor the situation and until we can confirm that peace and calm have been restored once again in the area. However air safaris may continue to Lake Nakuru National Park using the airstrips in the park. The Warden of Lake Nakuru National Park has confirmed that all is calm within the park and that tourist visitors have not been affected by the clashes beyond Nakuru. Lake Nakuru Park remains secure and safe for visitors with KWS rangers on duty. Western Kenya: In addition to Naivasha and Nakuru, the Kenya Tourism Federation continues to recommend that for the time being visitors should avoid the following areas where there have been continuing sporadic incidents of civil unrest: Nyanza Province, Western Province, and the western area of Rift Valley Province including roads to the north of Narok to Bomet, Sotik and Njoro, the areas surrounding Kericho, Molo, Londiani, Nandi Hills and Eldoret. These places are not normally visited by tourists and members of the Kenya Association of Tour Operators have avoided these areas since the onset of the post-election problems. Talks between political leadershipTalks have begun in Nairobi between the political leadership of both sides with Kofi Annan mediating. Hopes are high that the talks will lead to a resolution of the political crisis and Mr Annan expressed optimism that this could be achieved within four weeks. Jake Grieves-Cook, Spokesman, Kenya Tourism FederationWith regards to air travel to, and within Kenya, we can communicate the following:Scheduled airline services to NairobiBritish Airways is still operating their daily schedules as normal from London Heathrow to Nairobi and from Nairobi International Airport to London Heathrow. There have been some revisions to both the Virgin Atlantic Airways timetable (with passengers on occasional flights moved to other dates of travel or carriers) and Kenya Airways which may not operate certain day time flights but will continue to operate their daily evening departures. For details please contact the appropriate carrier. KLM (flying via Amsterdam) advise that there may be certain route changes but its daily departures to Nairobi continue and Swiss services via Zurich and Brussels Airlines via Brussels also continue as normal.All international passengers continue to transit normally through Nairobi International Airport to onward destinations and domestic flights by all carriers continue as normal with some cancellations due to low passenger loads.
