Kenya
-- Sports, Entertainment and
Recreation
Soccer
is a very popular sport and
spectator entertainment. Teams
are formed by ethnic groups,
such as Gor Mahia, a Luo team,
the armed forces, the police,
and by corporations and parastatals,
such as Kenya Breweries and
Kenya Posts and Telecommunications.
Boxing is another popular competitive
sport. For the more affluent
in Kenyan society, clubs offer
many kinds of sports to their
members, including squash, swimming,
tennis and cricket, which is
a popular sport outside of clubs
especially among the Indian
community. Safari rallies are
also very popular, if infrequent
sporting events; over Easter
Kenyans can enjoy the Marlboro/Epson
Safari rally. Sunday afternoon
in Nairobi can be spent at The
Ngong Racetrack watching and
betting on horse racing. Secondary
schools offer many sporting
competitions for their students
and both girls and boys take
advantage of this opportunity.
Kenyan
runners have become famous in
international competition, especially
in the long distance events
and have won gold medals in
the Olympics.Bao, a game involving
a wooden board with a number
of cups holding seeds or stones,
is played throughout Kenya but
it is most popular on the coast.
There are annual national Bao
competitions to determine the
best players.Going to the movies
is very popular among young
people. Kenya's large cities
have theaters that show international
films. Martial art and action
packed movies are the most popular,
but Indian movies also attract
large audiences. In recent years,
entrepreneurs have set up "movie
houses" in living rooms
or kiosks with a television
and VCR in many rural areas,
especially in and around market
areas.
These
homespun movie houses are doing
much business.Discos are also
very popular among young people.
Most cities have several discos
and the major cities such as
Nairobi and Nakuru boast very
sophisticated discos. Some of
the more famous discos in Nairobi
include Bubbles, Carnivore and
Florida 2000. Here too, rural
entrepreneurs with simple stereo
equipment produce dances.Music
is an important part of life
in Kenya. There is a lively,
informal music production and
distribution of foreign and
domestic tapes. Radio stations
many hours of music programming
with a variety of European,
American, and African music.Visiting
friends and relatives is the
most important form of entertainment,
especially on weekends. Urban
family members may visit their
rural homes and exchange food
for money or material goods
from the cities.