Tourists gearing up for the total eclipse in Kenya Share Bookmark Print Rating By SANDRA CHAO Posted Thursday, October 10 2013 at 16:12 In Summary According to KTB and travel agents, so far there are over 1,000 confirmed bookings from around the world for those who want to take advantage of the best place to view the eclipse as the moon crosses the sun’s path. SHARE THIS STORY 2 inShare Northern Kenya is an arid area with scorching sun that can go for months without a drop of rain. It is not your typical tourist destination. With its varying landscape from volcanic cinder fields to sand dunes, beautiful mountains to hidden lakes, fossil forests to a rich culture it is a place that is rarely visited. But in the next couple of weeks, all roads will be headed to there as tourists, both local and international, make their way to see the unique hybrid total solar eclipse on November 3. Unlike others before it, this will be a remarkable switch from partial and total eclipses shimmering across Lake Turkana as the moon crosses the path of the sun at approximately 5.22 p.m. Though the trajectory of the hybrid solar eclipse has been marked to transverse the north Atlantic and pass through some countries in Africa near the equator including Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Ethiopia it is in Kenya, specifically in north eastern that there shall be total darkness for 11 seconds. It is this corner of Kenya, at Alia Bay, in the Sibiloi National Park, Turkana, that has been identified as the best place for viewing the 13-kilometres of lunar shadow due to the predicted clear skies. “We can confirm that there are over 1000 bookings for the event but we expect more astronomy lovers and adventure enthusiasts to join the caravan,” said Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) managing director Muriithi Ndegwa. The new phenomenon of astro-tourism, where people travel to different places sited as the best places to view stars, meteorites and eclipses has taken Kenya by storm opening up the northern frontier as a preferred tourist destination. It has become a must-see event, especially among scientists, as eclipses are so rare that the last one was seen in 1973 and the next is predicted to occur in 2117. “There has been a lot of excitement globally about the hybrid solar eclipse. I remember getting a call from international tour operators about the packages we were having for it over a year ago,” says Kenya Tourism Federation chief executive Agatha Juma. Travel and tour operators have been quick to capitalise on the opportunity with attractive packages, most of which are by air for international travellers all through to Sibiloi and by road for those locals and foreigners who are adventurous enough to take the long trek that will pass through different tourist destinations in the country. An opportunity to see northern Kenya, a circuit whose tourism potential the government is looking to develop and tap into, especially with a resort city in Isiolo. There are also air packages where tourists can fly straight into the park’s airstrip. Yellow Wings Air Services, which operates from the Wilson Airport, is one of the companies that run private charters into Sibiloi. “The packages are designed for both local and international tourists and range from between Sh260,000 to some that are going for Sh1.3 million. The travel date will be dependent on the package a tourist will choose. There are some for as long as six days or even seven days because the tourists want to take advantage of their trip to see other parts of the country,” said Muriithi. Another variant for the packages is the itinerary and the routes being taken to get to the national park.
Posted on: Sat, 12 Oct 2013 08:57:20 +0000
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