Bomas of Kenya

The people of Kenya hail from different ethnic groups. Bomas of Kenya offers you “Kenya in a miniature.” It lets you see the wonderful diversity of cultures that make up Kenya.
It is reported that, the Government in 1971 at the Langata Forest started the Bomas of Kenya Limited. The Company was established to preserve and promote Kenyan Culture and to do this through cultural entertainments programmes for Tourists visiting Kenya and residents including school children.

The word “bomas,” meaning “homestead,” are displayed on your tour of the grounds, each represents one of Kenya’s major ethnic groups, and is built to the original traditional specifications as built by the ancestors. You can view traditional villages representing the lifestyle of ethnic groups such as Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luhya, Taita, Embu, Maasai, Kamba, Kisii, Kuria, Mijikenda, and Luo. You experience different aspects of Kenyan culture. Displays include living styles, crafts, music and dancing.


Performances Dancing, drumming, singing, storytelling and other folk arts are presented in an amphitheatre in the afternoon. The Bomas world famous Harambee Dancers who have been trained and choreographed to perform a cross - section of all the authentic traditional dance songs of Kenya perform daily in a unique spectacular theater which seats 3,500 spectators. You will have the opportunity of seeing a colorful cross- section of the people of Kenya dancing to the pulsating beat of Coastal drums and other traditional instruments. Dancers from all the tribes in Kenya move across the stage in a vibrant kaleidoscope of rhythm and the hue. Proud Maasai warriors vault skywards as they woo their maidens with chanting and twirling spears. Having experienced it myself, I can tell you that the experience is thrilling.


Some Other Facilities In addition to the traditional dances and the villages, Bomas of Kenya offers the following:

• Two separate halls and a large amphitheatre with a sitting of 4,000 persons


• An enclosed open space with amenities ideal for picnic functions


• A large and well equipped children's playground


• A car park for over 3,000 cars
• Equipped kitchen and manned bar with trained cooks, waiters, & barmen
• Traditional African dishes can also be ordered

Some tourist excursion companies charge as much as US $40 per person for a 3-hour tour. But, from my experience, you are going to need a longer stay than that if you are to experience everything.


How to get to Bomas:

Bomas of Kenya is a centre of Kenyan cultural activities situated 10 km from the city centre on the LANGATA / FOREST EDGE ROAD. It is about 1 km past the main entrance to the Animal Orphanage and Nairobi National Park. Bomas of Kenya is adequately served by public transport i.e. Kenya Bus Services and Matatus Services. The Public can board the buses at the Central Bus Station. Bomas is open daily but for more accurate and up-to-date information contact them directly: The General Manager, Bomas of Kenya Limited.



A Point of Reference
A site called Twilight Bridge offers marvelous experiences through his “African Dance” section that the Bomas Harambee Dancers are featured through his numerous albums of exquisite photos.

The webpage designer is Dr. Manaan Kar Ray who professes to be a Psychiatrist from India currently in Oxford, U.K. At his site, it is written:

“To him every photograph is a challenge, a challenge to immortalize a moment in time, not just what the eyes see but also the unspoken emotion that goes into the CLICK as the shutter falls. In his won words: In a world full of chaos, photography is the recess of peace and sanity.”

Here at All About Kenya we thank him for following that Still Small Voice and sharing the fruit of its leadings.