Kenya trivia: 46 questions and answers

Nairobi. Nairobi is the capital and largest city. Mombasa is the main port on the coast, and Kisumu lies on Lake Victoria.

True. True. The equator crosses the middle of Kenya; the town of Nanyuki, at the foot of Mount Kenya, sits almost exactly on it.

Swahili and English. Swahili and English are the official languages. Most Kenyans also speak the language of their own community, such as Kikuyu, Luo or Maa.

Malindi. Vasco da Gama was turned away at Mombasa but welcomed at Malindi in April 1498. Kisumu and Nairobi are inland and did not exist as towns then.

The Portuguese. The Portuguese built Fort Jesus between 1593 and 1596 to guard Mombasa's harbour. The British took control of Kenya in the 1890s, three centuries later.

False. False. Kenya became independent from Britain on 12 December 1963, a day celebrated every year as Jamhuri Day.

The Kenya Land and Freedom Army. Many Mau Mau fighters called their movement the Kenya Land and Freedom Army. The King's African Rifles was a colonial army that fought against them, the Green Belt Movement was founded by Wangari Maathai, and the company was a British trading firm of the 1880s and 1890s.

British India. Most of the skilled labour came from British India, and many of the workers' descendants still live in Kenya today.

True. True. Kenyatta was prime minister at independence in 1963 and became the first president when Kenya became a republic on 12 December 1964. He led the country until his death in 1978.

Maize flour. Ugali is maize flour cooked in boiling water until it forms a firm dough. Green bananas are used for matoke, a different dish.

Push the week. Sukuma wiki means 'push the week' or 'stretch the week', because the cheap greens help a family's money last until the end of the week.

Grilled meat. Nyama choma means grilled meat, usually goat or beef cooked over charcoal. A bean stew could be githeri, fried dough is mandazi and sour milk is mursik.

Maize and beans. Githeri is maize and beans boiled together, often fried afterwards with onions and tomatoes.

True. True. Pilau is eaten mostly on the coast, in towns such as Mombasa and Lamu, where Arab and Indian influences on the food are strongest.

False. False. Chapati comes from the Indian subcontinent and arrived in East Africa through trade and with Indian workers who came to build the railway.

Fish, often tilapia. Fish, often tilapia, fried whole or stewed in tomato sauce, is an everyday food around Lake Victoria, the home of the Luo people.

Lake Victoria. Kisumu is on Lake Victoria, which Kenya shares with Uganda and Tanzania. The first railway from Mombasa ended there in 1901.

True. True. The name comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, after a cold stream that flowed through the swampy site where the railway depot was built.

Kilimanjaro. Kilimanjaro, just across the border in Tanzania, is 5,895 m high. Mount Kenya's highest peak, Batian, is 5,199 m.

Wildebeest. Well over a million wildebeest, with zebras and gazelles, take part. They usually reach the Mara around July and head back south around October, though the timing varies with the rains.

True. True. Lamu Old Town was listed in 2001 as the oldest and best-preserved Swahili settlement in East Africa.

Flamingos. Lake Nakuru is best known for its flamingos, whose numbers change with the water level and food in the lake.

Out of Africa. Karen Blixen lived there from 1917 to 1931 and described her life on the coffee farm in Out of Africa, published in 1937.

False. False. Nairobi National Park lies only about 7 km from the centre of Nairobi, and animals can be seen with the city's skyscrapers behind them.

Geothermal heat. The Olkaria power stations in Hell's Gate use geothermal heat from deep under the Rift Valley. Geothermal power and hydropower are Kenya's two biggest sources of electricity.

Its highest mountain. The country is named after Mount Kenya, its highest mountain. The name was made official when Kenya became a colony in 1920.

The Nobel Peace Prize. Wangari Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the Green Belt Movement, which planted trees and supported women across Kenya.

True. True. On 12 October 2019 in Vienna he ran it in 1 hour 59 minutes 40 seconds. It did not count as an official world record, because it was a special event with rotating pacemakers.

Send and pay money. M-Pesa lets people send and pay money by mobile phone, and receive it too. 'Pesa' is Swahili for money.

All pull together. Harambee means 'all pull together'. It appears on Kenya's coat of arms and is also the name for community fundraising events.

True. True. The skeleton of this Homo erectus youth is about 1.5 to 1.6 million years old and is the most complete of its kind ever found.

1,500 metres. Kipchoge Keino won the 1,500 metres by about 20 metres, and four years later he won the steeplechase in Munich.

True. True. Simba is the Swahili word for lion, which is why the lion cub in The Lion King is called Simba.

A journey. In Swahili, safari means a journey or trip of any kind. English borrowed it to mean a trip to see wildlife.

Thank you. Asante means thank you. Hello is jambo, goodbye is kwaheri and please is tafadhali.

No worries. Hakuna matata means 'no worries' or 'no problem', a phrase made famous around the world by The Lion King.

Welcome!. Karibu means welcome, and it is also the answer to 'asante', like 'you're welcome'.

An older person or someone in authority. Shikamoo is a respectful greeting for an older person or someone in authority, and the reply is 'Marahaba'.

True. True. Pole means something like 'I'm sorry for your trouble'. To apologise or get attention you would say 'Samahani'.

Nzuri, asante.. Nzuri, asante means 'Fine, thank you'. Kwaheri means goodbye, Msaada! is a call for help, and Choo iko wapi? asks for the toilet.

True. True. The Kenya Wildlife Service asks visitors to stay in their vehicles except at designated areas, keep at least 20 m from animals and never feed them.

Plastic carrier bags. Kenya banned plastic carrier bags in August 2017. Visitors may have to leave duty-free plastic bags at the point of entry, so a cloth bag is a better idea.

False. False. Kenya drives on the left, like the United Kingdom, Tanzania and Uganda.

Keep the windows up and do not feed it. Keep the windows up and do not feed it. The Kenya Wildlife Service asks visitors never to feed animals, because it upsets their diet and makes them depend on people, and to stay in their vehicles.

True. True. UK travel advice warns that photographing official buildings, including embassies, or at airports is illegal. Always ask before photographing people, too.

999. In Kenya the emergency number is 999, the same as in the United Kingdom. 000 is used in Australia, 111 in New Zealand and 119 in Japan.