The time for holidays in Kenya has reopened and will last, with alternating periods of medium, high and very high season, until more or less next Easter. Many international tourists will arrive on the Kenyan coast, including, as is traditional, thousands of Italians, especially in Watamu and Malindi.
The light-heartedness and sense of freedom that accompany holidays, combined with the enthusiasm of being in Africa, can lead one to lower one's threshold of attention and respect for certain rules that elsewhere we would define as normal, plus in Kenya one comes into contact with novelties of which one is not always aware.

Here are 10 tips from malindikenya.net on actions to avoid.

1. DON'T DO WHAT YOU WOULDN'T DO IN YOUR HOLIDAY IN ITALY: With the Internet and globalisation, the gap between the Western world and certain African countries has narrowed considerably. In this case, appearances are deceiving, because poverty is very evident and not hidden as in other places in the world, and the simplicity of the people, mistaken for submissiveness, can easily be misunderstood. In short, it may seem that on the Kenyan coast everything is allowed. Not so. If in Malindi, Watamu and Diani you respect the same rules as you would in Santa Margherita Ligure, Fregene or Riccione. This applies to the highway code, for example: seeing four people on a motorbike does not automatically mean that you can do it too.
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2. DON'T GO AROUND WITHOUT DOCUMENTS! When you are away from your hotel or holiday accommodation, always carry an identification document with you, i.e. for foreigners your passport or a photocopy of the same where there is also the visa for entry into the country and its duration. Not being able to prove that you are regularly in Kenya is considered an offence and you can be taken to the police station for investigation and lose precious hours of your holiday, as well as risk falling into the ‘trap’ of being asked for a bribe by corrupt police officers. Don't forget that Kenya is one of the countries in Africa where petty corruption is rife.
    
3. NO SELFIE WITH STARFISH! As we have already written several times, beautiful starfish are an endangered species and taking them out of the water for even a few minutes can result in their death. Not only should you avoid the stupid starfish selfie fad, you should also explain to the local population (tour leaders, beach operators) that this is to be avoided.
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4. NO CANDY FOR CHILDREN! When you come into contact with local children and kids, they will be the ones to ask you for ‘sweets’, sometimes in Italian, or in their language, Kiswahili, ‘Peremende’. It is normal for a child to want candy, but if you think about how many tourists every week cannot resist this call, more or less in the same areas, and how much candy these children eat, you will understand why in the last twenty years in Malindi and Watamu caries problems have appeared that the coastal population had never had and, above all, that they do not have the money to cure. A fruit is always better, but the best is to give them 125 cl milk minibrik. Protein and calcium, to strengthen their teeth, not destroy them.
    
5. DON'T HOPE: Just a few days ago I heard the dialogue of an Italian tourist on the beach boasting to a Kenyan ‘friend’ that he had paid ‘only’ 800 euro for his new i-phone because he had taken advantage of an offer. There are many such episodes, which are absolutely diseducational and also disrespectful to the people you meet.
   The fact that many Kenyans in tourist places present themselves to you in a designer t-shirt and branded sports shoes, and that they speak fluent Italian, does not make them people of the same social and economic status as you. Many of them (and you will realise this when you are invited to their village) still live in mud or tin huts and earn in a year (or more) what you can spend on a holiday in Kenya.
    
6. DO NOT POLLUTE: Kenya from the point of view of the ‘global challenge’ is certainly one of the most advanced countries not only in the Dark Continent. Plastic bags have been abolished two years ago and from next year plastic bottles will also be banned in parks and beaches. Try to respect Nature, too, by using as little plastic as possible and not dispersing it in the environment, despite the lack of waste bins and the lack (for a short time yet) of separate waste collection.
    
7. DO NOT PHOTOGRAPH POLICE OR MILITARY PERSONNEL! Taking photographs of uniformed citizens or armed soldiers is strictly forbidden in Kenya. Penalty: immediate arrest and confiscation of the camera. It is also forbidden to photograph police stations and government offices.
    
8. NO TOPLESS OR SHOOTING ON BEACHES: Despite the tropical climate and the sense of abandonment and freedom on the beaches of the Kenyan coast, there is an absolute ban on women exposing their naked breasts in the country. In the same way, the national law punishes those who indulge in excessive effusions with their partners in public places. Sometimes a simple prolonged ‘petting’ is enough and you risk prosecution.
    
9. GAYS AND LESBIANS, DON'T SHOW IT IN PUBLIC: Despite great strides made in recent years by the nascent LGTB activist movements, homosexuality is still discriminated against in Kenya.
   Declaring or showing oneself publicly is considered a provocation, hence a crime punishable by up to ten years imprisonment.
    
10. DO NOT NOTIFY YOUR DEPARTURE DATE: If possible, avoid telling anyone the exact date of your departure. It is a good rule (as recommended by the Kilifi County Prefecture) not to give too many details to people you have just met about your whereabouts and the date and manner of your return to Italy. Most robberies and burglaries that occur during the high season (fortunately not many, but there are some) happen just before departure and often the perpetrators are people you have given this kind of confidence to.
    
    CLICK HERE IF YOU WANT TO KNOW OTHER IMPORTANT RULES TO FOLLOW