"When the going gets tough, the tough get going," said John Belushi in one of his masterful performances, that of John Blutarsky aka "Bluto" in Animal House.
Speaking of us, of Kenya, today one would have to paraphrase with "When it gets hard to get there in Kenya, only those who want it hard get there."
Yes, because there is no denying that several factors are converging to dissuade tourists from choosing destination Kenya for their vacations in the months ahead. It's not all the African country's fault, mind you, although much of it is flour (corn) from its own sack. Let's look at the elements that are contributing to demotivating travelers with all-seaside and/or safari vacations in mind.
ECONOMIC CRISIS
Certainly the economy that has driven up the prices of everything, starting with that of fuel, which is essential for establishing the cost of airline tickets, is not helping those who decide to take a trip to one of the so-called "long-haul" destinations. The Russian war in Ukraine moreover has deprived Kenya of the two largest exporters of wheat (maize meal, precisely, the quintessential staple food of millions of Kenyans) and among the largest importers of tea. Among the reasons for the financial meltdown in and around Nairobi is this problem, as a result of which many rates and taxes (starting with airport taxes) are rising. It goes without saying that hotels, safari agencies, and other businesses that are used to selling their services in shillings but having certain fees in dollars and euros are also forced to raise prices, lest they risk worsening their offerings or, worse, closing up shop.
ONLINE VISA.
Here is another obstacle one must run into, in preparing to leave for Kenya. It is not the only country to accept only online tourist visa applications. Now with the dangers of terrorism and the activation of new control and security measures, it has become mandatory to be able to verify not only identity, but also to track who is traveling. And so far that may be fine, the problem is that the Kenyan immigration office developed its site during the pandemic period and did not test it for a potentially large number of daily requests. So it happens that close to the season, the site goes down and gets stuck for hours during the day and sometimes misleading messages appear, errors that are not or strange requests. Just as for a few months now, one cannot expect a visa to arrive before 72 hours.
Many are now accustomed (and fortunately, departing airlines know this as well) to show up at boarding with only the payment receipt and password to check the "work in progress" status of the visa and prepare to have the customs officers in on arrival as well. But this is also a "Belushi-like" situation.
CRIMINAL MEDIA
As if this were not enough, certain Italian press is also getting involved. The national media are now specialists in pulling the wool over anyone's eyes. They do this particularly with the Belpaese itself, exaggerating everything, so much so that the heat, which in Spain is pretty badass, does not occupy the front pages with "hellish" and apocalyptic articles as it does here. Then we are outraged if a German says that no one wants to come to Italy because it is dying of heat. Speaking of Kenya, however, it has been the political situation, with the protests in Nairobi and the Lake Victoria region in the northwest of the country, that has been in the news. There is even talk of "danger of civil war," and as if that were not enough, they are linking legitimate demonstrations that result in clashes with the police (as in France, to be clear) with some unfortunate but newsworthy events, for example, the sect of fasters who were driven to suicide "in order to see Jesus in heaven."
All of this, as with Al Shabaab terrorism, is obviously happening thousands of miles from areas frequented by tourists, but the criminals in the press do not care, they care about clicks and "likes."
Moral: Kenya is most dangerous, stay in Italy and die of heat.

Yet, unbelievable fact, despite the expensive flights, the oh-so-hostile online visa and the fears instilled by some in the media, the influx in August will be more than satisfactory, the camps and lodges in the savannah have been booked for months, and even the beach destinations are filling up, with a good number of Kenyans moving from the interior of the country to Mombasa, Malindi, Lamu and Diani.
Even we, who are notoriously die-hards (partly because we are used to the heat...) are gearing up for an obstacle but winning season, like the Kenyans' 3000 steeplechase race at the Olympics.