Bulletin No 1                                                                  updated January 2008

KENYA ROWING AND CANOE ASSOCIATION
5th Africa FLATWATER Canoe-Kayak Championships
1st Africa SLALOM Canoe-Kayak Championships
29th Olympic Games (Beijing, China)
1st Africa Canoe-Kayak Continental Qualification REGATTA
 MASINGA DAM -TANA RIVER, KENYA

24-27 January 2008

1.0             Kenya- Summary; Kenya is situated in East Africa from latitude 4 N to 4 S latitudes; 34 E to 41 E. The country is bisected from North to South by the Great Rift Valley and from east to West by the Equator .The Kenya landscape covers a great range of terrain, from Sea level at the Coast to 5,199m on the snow-capped peak of Mt Kenya. This is one of the most geographically diverse countries on Earth. With vast expanses of savannah, highland ranges, equatorial forests, extinct Volcanoes, and series of fresh water and soda lakes, alpine glaciers and arid deserts, and tropical beaches all within Kenya. The great diversity of habitats is equaled by remarkable variety of Species of flora and fauna, These include large grazing herds of Zebra, wildebeest, gazelle, large mammals such as Elephants, Lions, Cheetahs, Buffalo, Rhinos, and leopards. Kenya’s World famous wildlife is protected in 48 National parks, Reserves and marine parks as well as private parks and sanctuaries.

1.1         Culture; Kenya fascinating cultural history goes back over 4.5 million years, with some of the earliest known evidence of early man uncovered on the shores of lake Turkana.Kenya has 42 different and unique cultures and languages, 70% of Kenya are of Christian faith while about 30% are of Muslim faith. The population of Kenya is about 33 Million, Kenya has 8 provinces and the largest City is the capital city is Nairobi (3 million), Mombasa (1million) is the 2nd largest city. Kenya‘s neighbors are Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania. The main languages of Kenya are Swahili and English with several ethnic languages.

 1.2              Masinga Dam–Summary; Masinga Dam is the venue of the above championships ,it is the largest man-made fresh Water Dam in East and Central Africa; it is fed by the largest river in Kenya, Tana River.

Average length; 45Km from Dam wall to Tana Bridge
Average depth; 55m.
Average width; varies from 10m to 5 km
Altitude 1100 m above the sea level

Sunrise and Sunset: Approx Sunrise 6:09, Approx Sunset 18:15
Average Sunshine:  12 hours
Daily average Rainfall for 5 years (1999-2003) average for November; 126mm
Wind Speed for 5 years; Average; 1.298 m/s
Air Temperature 16°C – 30°C
Air humidity; Approx 80 %
Water Temperature (November 2003); max 30.5 °C; Min 16°C
Water pH; 7.6, Neutral and soft but colored water containing good amount of mineral matter. It is of fair organic purity. 

1.3          Transportation/ Distances by road; Masinga Dam is situated 160km (2 hrs) from Kenya’s Capital City Nairobi in a north Eastern direction. The road to Masinga Dam is fully tarmac. All Team should arrive at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi and will be provided Transport to Masinga Dam Resort, which will be  the Championships HQ.

1.4          Accommodation; Accommodation will be in the following accredited Hotels;
Masinga Dam Resort; 500m from Dam
Ndallas Hotel; 40Km from the Dam.

Hotel Facilities/Services; A fully operational Masinga Resort Hotel is 3 minutes walk from the Masinga Dam, which has Swimming pool and  Laundry services

1.5          Food/catering; Very nutritious meals- will be provided to all Athletes/Coaches/Team Officials; Halal meals will also be available.
Lunches will be served at the Championship Venue in Masinga Dam Resort Hotel.
Dinners will served at the respective Hotels

1.6         Technical-Equipment; ICF approved Kayaks and Canoes will provided 

1.7          FLATWATER Course; A suitable 1000m course will be established.

1.8          SLALOM course; Slalom Course will be established on the Natural River Tana about 2 km from the Masinga Dam Hotel. 

1.9         Sightseeing /Tourism;
Several sites are available near the venue for visits for tourism activities.
Nairobi National park
Mwea National Reserve;
Chania Waterfalls
OL donyo Sambuk National park
Fourteen Falls Tourist Site. 

River TANA, Kenya - Course for 1st Africa Canoe-Kayak Slalom Championships >>

1.10      Medical; One Nurse  and First Aid services will available at the Masinga Dam Resort on 24 hrs service from 30th October to 6th November

1.11      Security; Security service will be provided by Organs of Government of Kenya.     

1.12      Wildlife; Masinga Dam being a very large Dam, is habituated in certain areas by Wild Animals, it is therefore not recommended to go swimming the Dam or the Tana River or go walking in during the night.  

1.13      Media; These Championships will receive wide TV coverage from National and International TV and radio Networks. 

1.14     Entry Requirements/ VISA; Visitors from certain African countries  require VISA to enter Kenya and should be applied to the Kenyan Embassy in your respective country for countries where there is no Embassy prior arrangements must be made in advance for the VISA to be issued on Arrival in Kenya. Single entry Visa a fee is 50 US dollars.

 1.15      Currency; Kenyan Shilling-Ksh.
Rates; As at 1st August 2006;
1 US$= Ksh 73/--
1 British &= ksh 135/-
1 euro- Ksh 92/-                                            
Due to Fluctuating Exchange rates kindly confirm the latest rates by internet.

1.16          Kenya Airways (KQ) flies direct to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi from the following African Countries; From Africa; Abidjan-Cote D’ivoire, Accra-Ghana, Addis Ababa-Ethiopia, Bamako-Mali, Blanytre-Malawi, Bujumbura-Burundi, Cairo-Egypt, Cape Town-South Africa, Dakar -Senegal, Dar as Salaam –Tanzania, Entebbe- Uganda,Doula-Cameroun , Freetown- Sierra Leone Harare-Zimbabwe, Johannesburg-South Africa,  Kinshasa-D.R. Congo, Kigali-Rwanda,  Khartoum-Sudan,  Lagos-Nigeria, Lusaka-Zambia, Maputo-Mozambique, AND From Europe- Amsterdam- The Netherlands, Paris-France, London-UK, Frankfurt-Germany.

1.17        Schedule of events
1st January 2007            Release of 2nd Bulletin.
1st June 2007                Release of Final bulletin
1st August 2007             Deadline for Hotel reservation
15th September 2007      Deadline for Final Numerical entry
17th - 23rd January 2008 Start of SLA and FWRTraining   Camp
23rd January 2008          Team managers meeting, welcome dinner
                                  CAC Board meeting

24th January 2008           1st Day of Competition
                                   FWR- 500m and 1000m Heats
25th January 2008          2nd Day of Competition
                                   FWR-500m Finals, 1000m Semi, 200m heats, OQ FINALS.
26th January 2008.          3rd Day of Competition
                                   FWR- 1000m Finals, 200m semis/Finals, 5000m finals.
                                   OQ FINALS.
                                   CAC Congress
27th January 2008           4th Day of competition
                                   Slalom 1st and 2nd Run OQ Final.
                                   CAC Executive Board Meeting

1.18 Venue: MASINGA DAM
Course Width ………………120m - Available water for training- unlimited
Number of Lanes…………..6 Lanes - Beyond the start line………… 1200 m
Course Length……………..2.000 m - Beyond the finish line ……….. 800 m
Course Depth ……………… 55-60 m

1.19; Events
Boat Class;Juniors, seniors.
MEN Flat water; K1, K2, C1,                                              Men; SLALOM; K1, C1 & C2
Women Flat water; K1, K2                                                 Women SLALOM; K1 

KARIBU KENYA –WELCOME TO KENYA
We hope you have an enjoyable stay in Kenya
May the best Athletes Win!

For any further information contact
Kenya Rowing and Canoe Association
Po Box 99233-80107, Mombasa, Kenya
Email; rowing@africaonline.co.ke, dobura@africaonline.co.ke
Tel; 254-722-421577, 254-733-851656,
http://www.kraca.kk5.org