Nairobi

Libraries and Museums

Nairobi is home to a number of libraries and museums. The national archives are kept in the old Bank of India building, located in the central business district on Moi Avenue across from the Hilton Hotel. Apart from housing important historical documents, it features photographs and craft exhibits.

The McMillan Memorial Library is also located in central Nairobi near the Jamia Mosque. This library is distinctive for its two large stone lions that guard its entrance steps. Inside is a display featuring the furniture of writer Karen Blixen, famous for her novel Out of Africa. The library has an extensive collection of books and newspapers. It also houses the parliamentary archives. For a fee, people can become members of the library and check out books.

The Kenya National Museum has an excellent exhibit on pre-history based on the work of the famous Leaky family of anthropologists. There are also exhibits on insects, animal life, and Kenyan culture. The museum houses a display of Joy Adamson ' s (naturalist and author of Born Free) paintings. Film screenings and public lectures sponsored by the museum are very popular. Across from the Kenya Museum is the Snake Farm, which features live specimens of snakes, lizards, chameleons, tortoises, turtles, and crocodiles found in Kenya.

For people interested in trains, the Railway Museum, located near the Nairobi Train Station, features a display of locomotives that have operated in Kenya since the railway was built. A well-known part of Kenyan history is represented in the form of a carriage in which a man-eating lion killed and dragged away a railway worker during the line ' s construction. In December 1898, lion attacks brought work on the railway to a halt 194 kilometers (121 miles) from the coast in what is now Tsavo National Park. Lion attacks, which usually consisted of a worker being dragged away from his tent in the night, resulted in a number of deaths. A major labor dispute threatened to erupt as the largely Indian workforce demanded to be returned home. Construction of the line was held up for three weeks as the lions were hunted and killed.

Karen Blixen ' s house, located in the fashionable suburb that bears her name, has been turned into a museum in her honor. Not far away is the Langata Giraffe Center, which is mainly for children. The center is supported by the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife and is home to a number of giraffes that visitors can feed from raised wooden platforms. In addition to the giraffes, the center contains warthogs, bushbuck, and dikdik. The trees and shrubbery at the Giraffe Center are an ideal habitat for birds, and there are over 160 species. For those interested in bird watching, the Langata suburb is also home to a private bird sanctuary. Appointments must be made in advance, and all visitors are accompanied by an ornithologist.

The Bomas of Kenya features performances of traditional songs and dances from Kenya ' s various ethnic groups. It is located two kilometers (one mile) past the gate of Nairobi National Park in the Langata suburb. On the grounds is an open-air museum that depicts the traditional lifestyle of Kenya ' s African ethnic groups.