Nairobi is a completely modern, colonial creation and almost everything here has been built in the last 100 years. Until the advent of locomotive transport in the late 19th century, Nairobi was just a boggy waterhole for the Maasai people and of little interest to the European colonialists.
Nairobi City
Nairobi City
It is a place of enormous energy, a tireless and thriving bustle of people, and a city of differences. Assorted races, tribes and origins are all a part of its make-up. Rural immigrants and refugees are drawn by the hope of wealth and opportunity, international businessmen are attracted by profitable business prospects, and tourists are promised the makings of the perfect safari.
The city centre buzzes with the energy, aspirations and opportunism of moneychangers, safari touts, would-be thieves, food vendors and trinket sellers, prostitutes, shoppers, security guards, and sharp-eyed shoe shiners assessing the footwear of the hurried throngs. Among them are the disillusioned faces of the unemployed, the beggars and the destitute.
Kenyatta Avenue is the city’s favorite tourist image, a broad avenue fringed by trees and flowers that was originally designed to allow a twelve-oxen team to make a full turn.
There are several museums and places of interest in the centre, including the National Museum and Snake Park. There are numerous markets selling traditional crafts, especially the appealing Masai market. Just outside of the centre is the Nairobi National Park, and the nearby Bomas of Kenya host performances of traditional dancing and singing both for Kenya residents and those on Kenya safaris.
The Langata Giraffe Centre offers visitors the chance to hand-feed the Rothschild giraffes who inhabit the area. Is is also the safari capital of Africa and a good base for travel in Kenya.