Kenya looks to cash in on Obama pilgrims!!

[Kramer]

Forget the Maasai Mara reserve and the "big five", snow-capped Mount Kenya and palm-lined Indian Ocean beaches. The hippest tourist spot in Kenya these days is "Obamaland".

Nestled in the hills tumbling down to Lake Victoria, the modest village where the new US president's father was born, is not your typical destination for a holidaymaker's once-in-a-lifetime African safari.

But a steady flow of tourists -- from US Obama afficionados on pilgrimage to their hero's ancestral land to Kenyans brimming with pride for the home boy -- have gone out of their way to visit Kogelo in recent months.

And after a slow start, a cohort of local entrepreneurs, tour operators and tourism officials are making plans to cash in on "Obamamania" and turn Kogelo into a key new attraction.

With his flowery shirt, shorts, sandals and pocket camera, Los Angeles resident Brian Coulson has become a familiar sight in Kogelo but he looks a little lost exploring Senator Obama secondary school by himself during class.

"I couldn't find much about Kogelo before actually travelling," said Coulson, who spent half a day on a bus from Nairobi and needed a taxi from Kisumu, the nearest major city, to get here.

:lol: money hungry kenyans!!


http://news.my.msn.com/lifestyle/articl ... id=2156056