In Search of 50 Hidden Kenyan Treasures

The central tower at the Lake Naivasha National Park is not as famous as the Fischer's Tower in the same park. Such hidden gems will be showcased through the new treasures project.

Do you know of a really unique attraction in Kenya – probably never before seen? Then you should be talking to the 50 Treasures of Kenya Trust, a charitable organisation based in Ngong, Kenya. The trust, in collaboration with the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB), the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) have embarked on an ambitious campaign to identify 50 most unique tourist attraction in preparation for the celebration of 50 years of Kenya’s independence which will be marked in 2013.

The project will be guided by veteran German photographer and honorary ambassador of tourism for Kenya, Mr Hartmut Fiebig. Hartmut, who has worked as a photographer in Kenya for the last 21 years says the project is designed so that each attraction coincides with a year of independence. The idea is to try to improve access to the largely untapped wealth of tourist resource in the country where the world only knows about 30% of what Kenya has to offer visitors to the country.

It is not clear yet where ideas for sites and attractions should be submitted but the basic process will involve naming these sites which will then be entered on a proposed list of treasures that will be used to select the final set that will be announced by an official committee early next year. This is expected to boost tourism which has been registering a steady growth compared to last year.

Meanwhile, KWS has been announcing some pretty exciting plans for the sector which it will roll out soon and in the years to come. First will perhaps be a new special security unit to add extra security around its parks during this festive season. The tourist protection unit will thwart any efforts for terrorists and kidnappers to tamper with the merry making of visitors to Kenya’s famous national parks and reserves around the country.

KWS also has plans to increase its ranger size from the current 3,500 to 5,000 by 2015. While doing this, it will also increase its fleet of vehicles 1,000 and acquire 14 light aircraft (that will be stationed at its regional headquarters in Nairobi apparently to enable faster response to emergencies). There are also plans to set up the country’s first forensic lab next year to help curb the rising cases of poaching.

The service has also been quite busy acquiring land for its park expansion programme. The latest will be plans to acquire 6,000 acres of land in Soysambu which will be used to expand the Lake Nakuru National Park hence linking it to the Naivasha National Park.

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