Nairobi  - For a long time, Rosemary Agutu idolized US actor Robert Redford, who played the character of Denys Finch Hatton in the movie Out of Africa.

Agutu is a museum guide at the Karen Blixen Museum and Redford can no longer compete with her latest idol.

"Barack Obama, of course. His election victory has given us a big lift," says the 26-year-old. Agutu now hopes that the tourist industry in her country will benefit from the "Obama effect."

Nowhere else in the world does US president-elect Obama have so many relatives as Kenya - his father's birthplace.

Rosemary knows almost all of them. "After all, I was born in Kogelo where Obama's grandmother Sarah lives," she says.

But the question uppermost on Kenyan minds nowadays is: "When will Obama pay a state visit to Kenya?"

Meanwhile, Kenya is basking in the "Obama effect", according to Ongonga Achieng of the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB).

Achieng says he receives enquiries almost every day from tour operators who wish to organise trips to the country. The titles of the tours vary from "Presidential Heritage Safari" to the "Obama Wildlife Tour."

"And it's not only Americans who are coming. Europeans such as the Germans, English and French are also travelling to Kenya. There is also an increase in interest from China and Japan," says Achieng, adding, "We can breath a sigh of relief.".

In early 2008, Kenya's biggest source of foreign currency, the tourist industry, collapsed. Images of the bloody inter-ethnic conflict that hit parts of Kenya were broadcast on television screens worldwide.

But peace has returned to the country which has become a by-word for safari tourism.

Tourists are returning not only to the tightly-secured seaside "holiday fortresses" at Lamu, Malindi and Mombasa, they are also visiting Kenya's many wildlife reserves in strong numbers.

"We have already seen three of the Big Five," said the German holidaymaker Martin Hauptmann during his visit to Tsavo East National Park with a view of Mount Kilimanjaro.

"We photographed lions in the Masai Mara, rhinoceros in Laikipia and the famous red elephant here in Tsavo. Hopefully we will see buffalos as well, and with a little luck, a leopard too."

Anyone visiting during the dry seasons from December to March and from July to September are bound to see similar sights in Kenya's national parks as well.

In those seasons, the animals are forced to visit the watering holes near the lodges where guests stay. Vegetation is also low making it far easier to spot the animals.

But even if you decide to visit the country in the inexpensive rainy season, you are bound to experience the romance of a stay in Kenya.

Although watching the sun set over Lions Rock in Tsavo could prove a wet experience, the sun is guaranteed to shine every day.

The rainy season is also the time when evenings at the lodges in the cooler Highlands are especially comfortable.

The capital, Nairobi, has plenty to offer visitors who wish to spend a day or two there.

A visit to the Karen Blixen Museum is a must for most tourists as well as a trip to the David Sheldrick Trust where orphaned elephant and rhinoceros-calves are cared for until they are old enough to survive in the bush on their own.

Visitors to the trust can take part in midday feeding and learn more about poaching in Africa.

Outings to the Giraffe Centre near Nairobi National Park are gaining popularity and visitors are allowed to hand feed the long-necked animals with food pellets while standing on a three-metre high platform.

Nairobi is just 110 years old and has many commercial buildings built in the Anglo-Indian colonial style lining Jomo Kenyatta Avenue.

For a long time, the capital was nicknamed "Nairobbery" as theft was widespread, but security has improved in the past years.

If you travel by taxi or by tour bus, you can safely experience Nairobi's nightlife where you will repeatedly encounter Barack Obama's image.

Hotels are using oversized billboards with his picture in their advertising campaigns and DJs in Nairobi's discos and bars play rap and reggae songs are extolling Obama as Kenya's patron saint - often at the request of visitors.

And when it all gets a little too hot, holidaymakers can often be seen cooling down with an "Obama Beer" in their hands.

Internet: www. magicalkenya. com (dpa)