Kenya’s capital Nairobi has a bad reputation. In 2018, Lonely Planet called it “Nairobbery”… But here in 2023, they now named it on the Best in Travel list for 2024.
So what’s it all about? Besides the cheap plane tickets and easy visa access (more on that disaster later) is Nairobi changing into a new cultural destination?
WHAT TO DO IN NAIROBI
Nairobi is a new city. Mombasa on the coast used to be the main city until about 100 years ago. Then the railway came. And as with so many other places in the world, it changed everything. The little town along the railway grew. Today it’s the capital with millions of people and the largest city in East Africa.
On the two days, I spent in Nairobi i did not see one other tourist (that I could recognize as one) outside the hotel. Here we meet another Danish family – Danes just love to travel with their kids. Maybe everyone just goes straight on safari and skip the capital?
SIGHTS IN NAIROBI
Nairobi doesn’t have many of the typical institutions a cultural traveller like me goes for. There are only a few sights, but they are definitely worth the time. One includes a very famous, adventurous Dane.
I will also include some of the sights I didn’t see for myself, but would visit if I come back some day.
National Museum
The museum began during the colonial administration, but has since underwent several updates. It consist of several exhibitions: The Cradle of human kind; The Story of mammals; The History of Kenya; Cycles of life; Numismatic exhibition and Asian African Heritage gallery.
One artefact, that caught my eye was a Sambu – a monkey cloak. The cloak is made from a mix of Sykes monkey skin and the rare Colobus monkey’s beautiful white and black tufts (I saw a live Colobus monkey by the coast, but that’s another story). The cloak showed the high status and age of the owner. Nowadays, they are not made anymore, since poaching is illegal.
The best part of the museum is the cradle of mankind exhibition. Kenya is recognized globally as a the hotspot of archaeological discoveries contributing to the story of human evolution. The country has fossil evidence which tells almost the entire human evolutionary story.
What an incredible collection of early man! Here you can marvel at the Turkana boy – a 1,6 mio. year old skeleton of a child and one the world’s most complete skeletons ever found. Or how about 7 mio. year old remains!
The National Museum was the place in Nairobi where we meet most tourists, which was otherwise scarce and almost non-existing. Many had a tour guide, but you can easily walk around by yourself. The museum has a nice cafe with a view of the park and 2 shops. I bought a necklace made by locals.
It’s important to mention, that just like all other state museums in Kenya, you can ONLY buy an online ticket and ONLY with the omnipresent e-citizen account. It’s the same account, that you need to get a visa. Without an account, we had the surprising and stupid problem that we couldn’t get into any museums – unless a friendly local bought the tickets for us. Which they luckily did. Also sometimes you need to show your passport and have a Kenyan phone number.
Karen Blixen Farm
The absolute highlight for me in Nairobi was another place: The farm of Danish author of “Out of Africa” Karen Blixen.
I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills.
Going on a 12-hours bus trip through Zimbabwe 10 years ago, I heard the entire audiobook. And not too many years ago, I visited Karen Blixen’s stately home in Denmark Rungstedlund. Coming here to her actual farm was a big wish for both me and my husband.
Paying the entrance (which our driver did because we still don’t have an online account), you are assigned with a local guide. Our guide was named Eric and he was of the Kikuyu people. The Kikuyu people are mentioned in her book and several Kikuyu worked for her. They call it Bogani House – “the house in the woods”.
Eric was excited to meet someone with a lot of knowledge of Blixen and asked many questions about her, which we could luckily answer. Eric told us that for him and the Kikuyu people, it was not about her books and fame, but the stories about Karen passed down from his ancestors, that was most valuable.
I was happily surprised to see the farm contains many original furnitures. Including the dining area with Danish porcelain and the menu that was used when Prince Edward of Wales dined with her. My favourite part was the sitting room with her typewriter and the gramophone that Finch Hatton bought for her. Sigh!
Unfortunately, you’re not allowed to take pictures inside (which I strongly protested against as a museum professional myself, but it didn’t help).
Some of the movie “Out of Africa” was filmed at the farm. The bed for instance is not original, but was used as a film prop for the movie. I even saw a pair of pants that Robert Redford wore.
The vast piece of land once part of the estate was first sold to the British and then to the Danish government. Now, it’s a quiet and upper-class suburb called Karen. Despite the school next door, the villas and the road, you can easily imagine sitting in the backyard looking at the distant Ngong Hills where the wild animals roared and feeling far away from everything.
What an experience – almost moving.
Downtown
Everyone talks about the traffic in Nairobi. Walking the streets of the busy city and squeezing through traffic to cross the roads is an experience in itself. Do it with confidence. Some days are worse than others, but don’t expect the taxi to move faster than you can walk. On the other hand, that gives you plenty of time to enjoy the decorated buses and at least there’s no honking.
Our hotel was close to Moi Avenue which is one of the oldest road and named after the second President (as we learned in the museum). Fittingly, it’s here the government buildings are and the impressive National Archives. Moi Avenue is also full of shopping centers, small shops and a few restaurants. Here we found a well assorted Canon store where we bought a zoom-lens for the upcoming safari. On a side street you’ll find the Jamia Mosque.
Walking the streets, you’ll see a lot of beggars. Studies show an extreme inequality in Kenya and as usual it’s most obvious in the cities. We were also approached by people trying to sell us safari tours. Stories surf the internet of travellers taking a street seller up on his offer and being ripped off. But a polite no thanks is sufficient. Everyone we met on our trip was very friendly and helpful.
Just walking around a city getting a sense of the atmosphere is usually one of my favourite things, but in Nairobi I didn’t really get the vibe. I have never booked a guided city tour, but maybe it’s an idea here.
Giraffe Manor & Centre
Close to Karen Blixen Museum lies Giraffe Manor. I know it from Instagram – a hotel where the giraffes peep through the window while you’re having breakfast. I considered staying her – until I saw the price…
But the place is also a conservation center for the Rotschild Giraffe and anyone can visit.
It’s a not a big place, but you get close to the giraffes and you can feed them. I had already tried feeding giraffes at the zoo and this was only slightly better, but it’s great for kids and if you’re not going on safari.
The Giraffe Centre started in the 1970s when a Kenyan-American couple wanted to save the endangered Rotschild giraffe and adopted a giraffe called Daisy. You can discover more about the conservation, the breeding and the giraffes in a small exhibition space. We got to hold the leg bone of a giraffe: it’s heavy! It can do some damage to a lion if it kicks it.
The site has washing stations, so you can wash before you feed the animals as not to get them sick, and again afterwards to remove all the drool from the long tongue wrapped around your hand.
More sights in Nairobi
If we had had more time or I will come back, there are few more sights I would go to.
If you haven’t had enough, you can continue your Karen Blixen tour. I know I would. Begin in Nairobi at the Railway Museum to see the train carriage from the movie, then go to the farm and afterwards climb the Ngong Hills and get a guide to show you the apparently unkept burial site of Denys Finch Hatton. End your literate daytrip at the colonial Muthaiga Country Club for a drink.
After Nairobi, we went on to the Masai Mara, but a cheaper and quicker stop is the 133 km2 large Nairobi National Park just at the outskirts of the city receiving great reviews. Get close to the elephants, zebras and lions with the skyscrapers in the background.
Or head to the elephant sanctuary Sheldrick Wildlife Trust rescuing and rehabilitating orphaned infant elephants. It’s nickname is “The kindergarten of Nairobi”.
Nairobi is supposed to have a dynamic fashion and art scene. We saw a great contemporary exhibition at the National Museum, but I would like to have visited one of the many art galleries.
Where to eat & drink in Nairobi
Well, this time I travelled with my husband and son, whom has autism. This means he doesn’t like to go anywhere. So unfortunately, we had most of our meals at the hotel. It was good enough with above standard Indian menu, but I definitely think we missed something of the Nairobi hype here.
We spend an hour trying to find the beer garden at the Nairobi Cinema mentioned in Lonely Planet (2018), but gave up. I would probably team up with a local to get the good spots next time.
Our hotel was better than expected being only 3-stars.
Best Western Meridian Plus
LOCATION
Perfectly located close to shopping and the National Museum and close to major highways but on a quiet sidestreet.
STYLE
Basic rooms with weird layout, but surprisingly nice roof top terrace
Price
With the roof top terrace and the restaurant: it's a good 3 star hotel
The hotel was perfect for our needs – especially the location and I would stay here again. Book it here (affiliated link: you pay the same, but I get some of the profits for travelling)
Good things to know when planning a trip to Nairobi
- Most travellers need a visa to Kenya. You can easily create an e-citizen account and then apply online from the government’s website. But we never managed to create an account despite taking completely new profile pictures and getting a real scanner. With only 10 days left before takeoff, After 3 days, we had to pay iVisa 300 USD to help us!!! Expensive, but it worked! Even with a visa, immigration at the airport took more than an 1 hour despite it was in the middle of the night and our plane was the only one.
- Most people fly in, but you can take the express bus from Arusha in Tanzania. A transfer from the airport to downtown is about 35 USD.
- We visited in late October to the beginning of November. The weather was 32 degrees and sunny when we came, but 17 degrees, windy and rain when we left.
- People are very friendly and will help you out if say your transfer at the airport doesn’t show up. (Which obviously happened)
- You can pay with credit card and USD, but I would still recommend having Kenyan shilling.
To summarize: I wouldn’t recommend avoiding Nairobi. In some ways Nairobi remind me of Harare – the capital of Zimbabwe which also has great wildlife. But is it the next hot cultural destination? Not in my opinion. It might take a few more years. Or maybe you just need a local to get beneath the surface.
What’s your favourite capital?
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