Here is the link to the latest incident;

reuters.com/article/2011/11/04/uk-kenya-atta…

Very sad for Kenya's tourism industry.

-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-

This post has been removed at the author's request. The author may repost if desired.

Posts on the TripAdvisor forums may be edited for a short period of time. Once the edit period has expired, authors may update their posts by removing and reposting them.

To read more about editing your posts, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/help/how_to_edit_your_posts

This really makes me nervous. Both reports are in areas we plan to visit.

Do things like this happen all the time?

What a trauma.... but this says it all .....................a "very bitter lemon" was turned into "the most delicious lemonade."

Well done for carrying on with your holiday

Volunteerohio

I've been to the Isiolo area several times on the way to Samburu. There is a lot of security in the area due to the large number of Somali refugees in the area. There have been occasional incidents but it certainly has not put me off going back to that area. Given the thousands of people who visit it is highly unlikely you would have problems. However there is always an element of risk in visiting the remoter parts of any African country. Personally I believe it to be less of a risk than walking through downtown areas of many European and American cities. As always be sensible and take reasonable precautions.

Kenya is a beautiful country and the vast majority of people are welcoming and happy to see you but as in all countries there is a "bad" element.

Thank God you were returned home safely! Hard to even imagine the fear and subsequently, relief when freed.

really sorry for your ordeal, it must have been terrifying.but you seem to be coping exceptionally well.

As for the other incident in the link in post #2. Cross-border raids from rustlers and bandits after cattle and goods are common in the area.

As recently as last Saturday lots of families fled their homes for the safety of Isiolo Town to escape from violence between pastoralist groups.

nation.co.ke/News/…index.html

This is nothing new, it is a known risk, this area is specifically mentioned in the newspaper debates that pre-date the Somali conflict.

My personal view is that it was extremely unlikely that the vehicle was targeted because it had tourists in, I think they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Based on the number of tourists visiting Kenya and the frequency of such banditry attacks I would say the chance of being involved in one as a tourist are well over 1 in a million.

So sad!! Thank God you're sound and safe!

Given the nature of the robbery ("We were robbed of cell phones, cameras, laptop computer, cash, jewelry, shoes and clothing and other stuff that we are still discovering to be missing.") it seems to me that this was a targeted incident, rather than infighting between pastoralist groups. But what do I know . . . nothing other than how it appears to me.

It is very unfortunate and I'm glad that folks survived such a scary ordeal.