Nyeri Museum

Nyeri Museum

 

Historical Background  

Nyeri Museum is housed in a National monument which was once used as a “Native law court”. It was built in 1924 and started functioning in 1925. Its main objective was to deal with customary law cases, previously dealt with by clan elders in the villages. As these cases increased, one courtroom could not handle the volume and thus another hall was built.

Thus, the cases were divided among the two courts, with court one dealing with civil cases like pregnancy and debtor cases, and court two dealing with criminal cases like theft and murder. The first law court is unique in the sense that the seats are inbuilt and concrete, with those on which the judges used to sit on being slightly raised, giving a sense of authority.

Tambach Museum

Tambach Museum

 

Geographical Location and Historical Background

Tambach Museum is located in Tambach Town, Elgeiyo/Marakwet County, approximately 42 kilometres from Eldoret Town.
Tambach lies at an altitude of 6,500 feet at the top of the Elgeiyo Escarpment. It has a spectacular view of the Kerio Valley, the Tugen Hills, and the Kerio River.
HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM
Tambach is one of the oldest towns in Kenya. It was established in 1920s as a British colonial center of administering Elgeiyo and Marakwet people For much of the colonial period, the town grew from a tiny village to a busy urban center.By the end of 1950s, Tambach developed into a very pretty little town.
British colonialists constructed a number of buildings that included; administrative offices, the prestigious Government African School, A church, detention camp and hospital. Today, the historical buildings and the cultural landscape are treasured monuments and form part of the heritage of the Elgeiyo/Marakwet County. Currently, Tambach and Iten form Iten-Tambach Town Council, a local authority in greater Elgeiyo/Marakwet County.
The idea of establishing a museum at Tambach was conceived by the National Museums of Kenya in 2002. The museum was established to safeguard the Tambach heritage site and the culture of the Keiyo and Marakwet people.Tambach has a rich cultural heritage. It is famous for the Sirikwa Holes constructed by the Sirikwa people in the 17th & 18th centuries.
It also has a rich colonial history.In 2003, NMK renovated the former District Commissioner’s residence, a seven roomed bungalow to create an exhibition space for ethnographic and archaeological collections of the Elgeiyo/Marakwet County.Tambach Heritage Town Exhibition is the premier exhibition for this Museum and was funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Kenya through the efforts by AFRICOM (International Council of African Museums).
It is the first museum exhibition in the entire county and is anticipated to promote heritage activities and form part of the North Rift Circuit as a major tourist attraction in this area.This exhibition highlights the development of Tambach town during the colonial and independence period and factors which influenced its growth and decline and now renewed growth.The exhibition also explores the culture (past and present) of its inhabitants-the Keiyo and the Marakwet.
It looks at their lifestyle, livelihoods and traditions in the context of the surrounding- the Keiyo Valley.The museum plans to engage in the collection, documentation, research, education and exhibition of the cultural heritage of the local community.The museum was officially opened on 31st March, 2012.

Wajir Museum

Wajir Museum

 

Geographical Location and Historical Background  

The Wajir Museum was officially open on 19th April, 2011.

The main objective of this museum is to give you a glimpse of the rich cultural, historical and natural heritage of Northern Kenya and its interaction with the world.
The Wajir Museum houses an exhibition that reflects traditions and the customs of communities living in this Northern part of Kenya.The theme of the exhibition is "A Window to Northern Kenya".
It is a part of initiatives to open up Northern Kenya to the tourism industry forming a part of the tourist attractions that will offer distinctive products in the region.
History of Wajir
Wajir was occupied in 1912, to prevent the Boranas from being driven away from the Wells which originally belonged to them by other tribes. British Officers arrived at Wajir in 1913.
In 1921 the military took over the administration of the district until September 1925, when it reverted to civil administration in 1928, the boundary was shifted North of Modo Gashe to the line of Uaso Nyiro and Lake Dera. unitl 1917, Bulsesa was a sub-district of Wajir but in 1918, Wajir became a district of its own.
The headquaters of Wajir was evacuated in 1940 during the Italian invasion. save for that period, Wajir has remained a full district since 1918.
Communities of Northern Kenya
The following nine communities form the northern part of kenya: Borana, Rendile, Turkana, Elmolo, Pokot, Samburu, Somali, Dasanach and Gabbra.
They live a nomadic way of life in a semi arid environment which supports camel, cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys.The Elmolo are fishermen while the Dasanach prectice agro-pastrolism.
Attractions
Wajir town is a host to several other Sites and Monuments among them the Wagalla Massacre Site, Yahut dam, Shaletey wells, monumental buildings, the british bunkers and Orpahey wells.
Historical Sites:

• Old homes build by Italian Prisoners 
• Old court house 
• British/ Italian War Bunkers
• Orahey wells

Rabai Museum

Rabai Museum

 

Historical Background and Geographical Location 

Rabai is well known in the annals of history as the place where Christianity and modern learning in Kenya started well over 150 years ago.  In 1994 the Krapf Memorial Museum was founded to give formal and a perpetual reminder to monumental events during the advent of early missionaries. Stories about the first missionaries were passed on by word of mouth and are still told today.

Built in 1846 as the first Church edifice in Kenya, Rabai is situated about 25 km north-west of Mombasa, off the Nairobi-Mombasa highway on Mazeras-Kaloleni road, about half an hour?s drive from Mombasa. 

Narok museum

Narok museum

 

Historical Background 

The National Museums of Kenya has setup a Museum in Narok with exhibitions of pictures and artifacts to preserve the beauty and strength of the rich traditional culture of the Maasai and other speakers of the Maa language.

The Maa speakers in Kenya comprise the Maasai (Narok and Kajiado district), Samburu (Samburu, Laikipia district), Njemps (Baringo district) and groups of Ndorobo neighboring the Maasai.

The Maasai are believed to have originated from North Africa and entered Kenya near L. Turkana, spreading south through the Rift Valley, which provided extensive grazing grounds for their cattle. Today they occupy parts of Kenya and Tanzania.

The Maasai are noble, aristocratic people with an impressive physical appearance and a technology appropriate to the harsh environmental conditions of tropical savannah.

The Maasai live in a cycle constituted by a chain of ceremonies that involve the community as a whole. After childhood (inkera), initiation into adulthood (emorata), and adulthood. Girls marry and boys become warriors (ilmoran). Elders look forward to an age of responsibility and continuous involvement.

Gallery exhibitions include 24 reproductions of Joy Adamson?s paintings, depicting the traditional lifestyle of Maa speakers. This collection is selected from vibrant ethnographical portraits, taken from her legacy of over 6,000 painted between 1949 and 1955.

Inside the gallery, 8 black and white photographs taken by Joy Adamson in 1951 in Maasailand (Narok, Loita and Amboseli) add to the historical value of the exhibits. The collection of cultural artifacts forms the heart of the exhibition. The Museum of Maa culture will also be a living museum, a place where contemporary issues receive as much attention as well. Where todays art is exhibited alongside yesterdays artifacts, where the education of young Maasai students is as important as the state-of-the art research and conservation.

Geographical Location

The Maa Museum was formerly a Community hall, which was transformed into a museum comprising an office, collection room and exhibition gallery. The Maa Museum is located in a West-North-West direction 141 km from Nairobi at the entrance of Narok town.

Kabarnet

Kabarnet

 

Historical Background 

Kabarnet museum opened its doors to the public in 1996 in the former District Commissioner Residence. It has four main public galleries featuring the Rift Valley people, their culture, its environment, indigenous knowledge and science for education.

The main attraction include, the exhibits especially on the culture of the Keiyo / Marakwet, Samburu, Pokot, Nandi and Kipsigis. In addition an overview of the history of the district, from pre-colonial, colonial and post-independence era are on display. While the playground, homesteads and park provides visitors with attractive outdoor scenes.

Kabarnet's location is in close proximity to various attractive scenes, which include Lake Bogoria, Baringo and the Tugen hills.

Other attractions include Paleontological, archaeological and ethnographic sites in the district,

Kabarnet

such as the Chesowanja, Tabarin, Kipsaraman and Sirikwa holes near Moiben. Kerio Game Reserve Park and Flourspar Mining Company, which are not far from Kabarnet, are some of the beautiful sceneries one would not wish to miss while in Kabarnet.

Geographical Location

Kabarnet museum is located in Kabarnet town, Baringo District in Rift Valley province some 265-km northwest of Nairobi. Kabarnet Museum falls within Grid Reference 056 547 on the 1:50,000 sheet 104/1 Kipkabus.

Hyrax Hill

Hyrax Hill

 

Historical Background 

Located within Nakuru town, Hyrax Hill Museum depicts the lifestyle of seasonal settlement by prehistoric people at least 3,000 years old. The Museum is a former farmhouse ceded to the  monument in 1965, by the Late Mr. A. Selfe. A small museum was opened here where artifacts from the Hyrax Hill site and other sites in the Central Rift Valley are displayed.

Numerous sites around the hill belong to different time periods with the earliest finds dating back to the Neolithic period. There is evidence in the form beach sands that a fresh water Lake once extended right to the base of the hill; turning the hill into a peninsular or even an island. The mighty prehistoric lake is believed to have covered the valley from Nakuru to Lake Elementaita about 8,500 years ago. Traces of it have been found at Hyrax Hill, the Wakumi Burial Site, Gambles cave and amongst other places.

Hyrax Hill Museum Gallery

The hill was named after hyraxes which are found in abundance, living in cracks within rocks found in this area.As a region of archaeological interest, the East African Archaeological Expedition of 1926, led by L.S.B. Leakey, first noted Hyrax Hill. In 1937, Mary Leakey undertook some archaeological surveys on the hill. Since then, research has been intermittent with major undertakings in 1965 by Ron Clarke.
The Kenya Government gazetted Hyrax hill as a National Monument in 1943, four years after the first archeological excavation on the hill. Since then Hyrax hill has been a renowned archaeological research area and a reference point for investigations of the prehistory of East Africa. Some sites have been excavated and left open for public viewing. 

 Other attractions within the site include:

• Picnic Site
• Camping Site
• Nature Trail
• Picturesque View of Lake Nakuru
• Tortoise Pit

Geographical Location

Hyrax hill lies in the middle of Kenya's Rift valley, about 4 km from Nakuru town. The site is close to the Nairobi-Nakuru highway. It is about 150 km away from Nairobi. From Lake Nakuru, the hill is about 4.5 km with its base about 100m above the Lake.

Meru

Meru

The creation and further the establishment of Meru museum as one of the regional museums of the National Museums of Kenya was catapulted by a need to conserve the culture and traditional practices of the locals, the Meru speaking people.

Meru museum originated in 1974 in an old historic building that was vacated by the District Commissioner, whose office it had been since the colonial days. The building housing the Meru museum dates back to 1916. In the colonial era it served as an administrative node in the Mount Kenya region. The museum was a joint effort by the Meru Municipal and County Councils, together with the National Museums of Kenya in creating an attractive and formative center useful to the local people and to visitors.

Aspects of the cultural and diverse history of the Meru people are well illustrated by the numerous displays. Two rather unusual amenities of the Meru museum are a garden of indigenous medicinal shrubs and herbs together with a theatre. A compound of traditional huts has been constructed on the grounds, which are included in tours of the museum. An outdoor platform for dancing and musical programs along with sales kiosks complete the exterior construction.

The exhibitions serve largely in stimulating particularly among the young generation awareness of and appreciation for their cultural heritage and that of other communities as well as serving as an introduction to the region for visitors.  

Njuuri Ncheke Council of Elders 

Thirteen kilometers north of Meru town is Njuuri Ncheke the traditional high court for the area. Construction of the building began in 1962 on the site where elders met under trees, but due to differences between the Meru County Council (which was responsible for its construction) and the constructor, the building was abandoned before its completion.

Nonetheless, it was and is  still used once a year by a Meru Council of elders as the venue for settling disputes arising within Meru communities which could not be resolved by the smaller traditional councils(njuuri). The smaller njuuri houses nominated their members to Njuuri Ncheke, the high court of the Meru people, which catered for the entire Meru community.

The Njuuri Ncheke house is located in Nyambene District, near the road leading to Meru National Park. Its shape is oval representing the traditional Meru architecture. In 1989, the building was entrusted to the NMK. The name Njuuri Ncheke is derived from the ritual oath that was taken by all the members of the traditional council; only the elders (judges) of the court knew this sacred and secret oath.

There are several njuuri houses (as they were popularly known) within one sub- location, and they deliberated over local cases within that area. These smaller njuuri were widely spread all over the former Meru District (currently Tharaka Nithi District), Nyambene and Meru Central Districts. Today the small njuuri houses are active only in Nyambene District.

Some of the cases dealt with by the sub-locational (smaller) njuuri houses were farm boundary disputes, personal debts and small theft cases. The members of the court decided on what type of punishment was to be imposed, and these ranged from ritual sacrifices to even death. The cases deliberated by the smaller njuuri houses were normally settled to the satisfaction of both parties. If one of the parties was not satisfied, he was allowed to appeal to the wider njuuri system: some members of all the njuuri houses in the location could be nominated to sit and listen to the appeal.

Njuuri Ncheke members met once a year to make new laws or review the old ones; it also determined bride prices. The smaller njuuri houses also used these laws, and it ensured uniform judgements throughout Meru. It was also the duty of the njuuri to bring rains.

Kapenguria

Kapenguria

 

Location and Historical Background 

The Kapenguria museum was opened in 1993. It is located in Kapenguria town, at the site where the six most influential leaders in the struggle for independence were detained. To preserve the history of the struggle for independence, the National Museums of Kenya with financial support from the Dutch funded Arid and Semi-Arid Lands project in West Pokot preserved and rehabilitated the prison.

The Kapenguria six were the founding fathers of the Kenyan Nation - Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Kungu Karumba, Mr. Fred Kubai, Mr. Paul Ngei, Bildad Kaggia and the Hon. Ramogi Achieng Oneko. All of them have passed on although their legacy will always remain alive.

Displays in the Museum include books and documents in a memorial library in honour of all heroes who participated in the struggle for independence.

The cells, the ethnographic galleries and the Pokot homestead provide the foundation of Kapenguria museum. The Pokot gallery houses artifacts and photographic collections on the Pokot people. The creation and establishment of this gallery is credited to Mrs. Anny Mulder, an anthropologist who carried out work in this area among the Pokot people.

Other sections of the museum are the political development exhibits, a section containing exhibits revealing pre-colonial Kenya, slavery, the arrival of Europeans, African resistance to colonial rule and activities of pioneer nationalists.

Gede

Gede

 

Historical Background
Gede ruins are the remains of a Swahili town, typical of most towns along the East African Coast. It traces its origin in the twelfth century but was rebuilt with new town walls in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. This rebuilding is connected with the emigration of many citizens of Kilwa to Mombasa, Malindi and other places along the coast.

With its numerous inhabitants, the town became wealthy and it reached its peak in the fifteenth century. This enormous wealth is evidenced by the presence of numerous ruins, comprising of a conglomeration of mosques; a magnificent palace and houses all nestled in 45 acres ofprimeval forest. But in the first half of the seventeenth century the last
families left the town.

Gede's eventual abandonment to nature is believed to be as a result of a number of factors. Namely, the Wazimba raid along the East African coast in 1589. The removal of the Sheikh of Malindi and the Portuguese to Mombasa in 1593. The falling water table as shown by the deepening of the well outside the Great Mosque and finally the overhanging menace of the Galla, a hostile nomadic ethnic group from Somalia. Gede remains the first intensively studied site on the coast. It was first visited by Sir John Kirk, a British resident of Zanzibar in 1884. Over forty years later in 1927, it was gazetted as a Historical Monument. Two years later in 1929, it was declared a "protected monument" and in the late thirties, the Public Works Department carried out work on preservation of its crumbling walls. Gede was soon after the repairs in 1948 declared a National park and an Archaeologist appointed as warden. Thus, the first archaeological work at Gede began under the direction of James Kirkman followed by the first publication of the site. In 1969, Gede's administration was taken over by the Museum Trustees.

Currently the Monument is under the care of the National Museums of

Gede Ruins

  Kenya and in addition to being avery important archaeological site; Gede indigenous forest is a sacred site for traditional rituals and sacrifices for the surrounding community.

Kariandusi

Kariandusi

 Historical Background

The Kariandusi archaeological site is amongst the first discoveries of Lower Paleolithic sites in East Africa. There is enough geological evidence to show that in the past, large lakes, sometimes reaching levels hundreds of meters higher than the Present Lake Nakuru and Elementaita, occupied this basin. 

Dating back between 700,000 to 1 million years old, Kariandusi is possibly the first Acheulian site to have been found in Situ in East Africa. Dr. Leakey, a renowned paleontologist, believed that this was a factory site of the Acheulian period. He made this conclusion after numerous collections of specimens were found lying in the Kariandusi riverbed.
This living site of he hand-axe man, was discovered in 1928. A rise in the Lake level drove pre-historic men from their lake-side home and buried all the tools and weapons which they left behind in a hurry. The Acheulian stage of the great hand-axe culture, to which this site belongs, is found over a very widespread area from England, France, and Southwest Europe generally to Cape Town.
Tourist attractions within the site include:

• Camp Site
• Nature Trail
• Archeological Site
• Museum
• Picnic Site
• Diatomite Mining Site
• Caves
• Monumental Church Building

 

Geographical Location

Kariandusi lies on the eastern side of the Rift Valley, about 120-km north north west of Nairobi; and about 2 km to the East Side of Lake Elementaita. It is situated at 0°, 28s, and 36° 17E. The site rests on the Nakuru-Elementaita basin which occupies the width of the Rift valley, flanked by Menengai crater on the north and the volcanic pile of Mount Eburru, on the south.

Desert Museum

Desert Museum

 

Geographical Location and Historical Background
Located on top of a hill, with a backdrop of the picturesque Lake Turkana, also known as the "Jade Sea", the Desert Museum, Loiyangalani was opened in June 2008.
The National Museums of Kenya in realizing the unique cultures in this region and following its mandate to preserve and promote Kenya's rich cultural and natural heritage, presents you with rich heritage of the eight communities living around Lake Turkana.
Loiyangalani is a small town located on the southeastern coast of the lake. The name Loiyangalani, means "a place of many trees" in the native Samburu Language and is also home to the El Molos, an almost extinct community.

Desert Museum Exhibition

The town was formed from a freshwater spring and can be termed as an Oasis in the desert. It is fast becoming a tourist attraction due to the unique desert environment coupled with the rich cultural lifestyle of the peoples of Lake Turkana. Some of the amenities in the town include:

• Airstrip
• Post Office
• Fishing Station
• Campsites
• Lodges

The communities living in this area include the; El Molo, Turkana, Pokot, Rendile, Samburu, Gabbra, Watta and Dassanach.
Activities and attractions:

• Desert Museum
• Rock Art
• El Molo Village Tours
• El Molo Shrines
• Lake Turkana
• Beach
• Local Market
• Camping

 In a bid to promote both local and international tourism, the National Museums of Kenya in collaboration with other patners, organize the Lake Turkana Festival, a cultural festival held annually in Loiyangalani, to celebrate the culture in this region.

Kitale

 Kitale

 

Historical Background 

The museum was the first of the Inland museums to be developed in Kenya. It used to be known by the name the Stoneham Museum. It got its name from an amateur naturalist who lived in Kitale, by the name Lieutenant colonel Hugh Stoneham. He had a collection of insects, other animals and books from 1894 when he was only five years old. He continued his collection until 1966 when he died. Mrs. Linda Donley a peace Corp volunteer was the first curator in 1974.

In 1926, he founded the Stoneham Museum, a private museum and later willed his collections as well as funds for a new museum building to the Kenya Nation. A new building was erected on five acres of land on the outskirts of Kitale town. In December 1974, the National Museums of Western Kenya was opened and became the first regional museum in the Kenya Museum Society.

The Kitale Museum has a lot of ethnographical materials collected from surrounding ethnic groups in addition to Stoneham's collections.

The museum now practice environmental conservation. It has a nature trail and Olof Palme Memorial Agroforestry - center, which was started in 1983. Its aim (the center) was to promote agroforestry in West Pokot district.

Kitale Museum

The museum's nature trail was worked on beginning in August 1977. The work involved building bridges and cutting steep sides of the stream bank through which the trail runs.

The period from July 1974 until June 1975 had been spent in acquisition of materials for the museums exhibits. In April 1987, the museum acquired 30 acres of a natural riverine forest. The forest has been used for conservation of various plant species and wild animals.

From Col. Stoneham's extensive Lepidoptera collection, scientists in Western Kenya specimens can access them in study given the excellent manner and organization that they have been handled with.

The Education department in Kitale museum has been organizing programs for Secondary schools and colleges where various people have given lectures and relevant films have been screened.

Kisumu

Kisumu

 

Location and Historical Background 
Kisumu Museum is located in Kisumu town along the Kisumu - Kericho highway. It was opened to the public in 1980. The museum stores and disseminates information on cultural and scientific issues with emphasis on Western Kenya. Exhibits include cultural history. The museum provides educational services to schools in its neighbourhood.

Striking features of the museum include a diverse collection of flora and fauna species. The most notable animals are reptiles and amphibians, collected from Nyanza and neighbouring provinces. A traditional Luo homestead and other traditional Luo artifacts constitute part of the exhibits the museum keeps.

Kisumu Homestead

Research activities also feature prominently. In recent years, the Kisumu museum has participated in multinational investigation on limnology (a scientific characteristic of fresh water lakes) of Lake Victoria conducted from the International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) at Mbita in Kisumu.

Kisumu museum is also a gravity point for seminars and workshops both international and local. Attached to Kisumu museum are a number of sites and monuments of historical significance including Fort Tenan, Songhor, Thimlich Ohinga and Rusinga Islands.

Malindi Museum

 Malindi Museum

 

The building was bought from the Bohra community for 2,000 English Pounds after a longer period of occupation by the Medical Department who had used the building to serve as the Malindi Native Civil Hospital. The exact date of construction is not known but when Thomas Alfree was buying the property from the Bohra community, as discussed in his undated autobiography, even the oldest Bohra who was then more than ninety years old could not remember when it was built. We can, nonetheless suggest a date of construction perhaps the last quarter of the 19th century, a time bracket that saw these type of building style fashionable especially in the old towns of Lamu and Mombasa.
Thomas Alfree bought the house from a grant to the Marine Division of the Fisheries Department for purposes of establishing a Kenya Marine Fisheries Station in Malindi. Unfortunately, Alfree in his autobiography is silent on the date he signed the lease agreement of 99 years but definitely must have been during the first half of British Colonial period in Kenya.
After occupation by Fisheries department, the building became the office for Kenya Wildlife Services before it was handed over to the National Museums of Kenya in 1999. On 10th May 2004 the building opened its doors to the general public as Malindi Museum.

Description of the Building
The building is a charming old double - storey structure with a roof terrace covered with roof tiles and is situated along the seafront, on an excellent site, some few meters from Malindi jetty and Fish Market. It is a veranda building, a building type of the 19th century with features identical to the Malindi District Commissioner?s Building. It is rectangular measuring Ca. 12.9 x 18.7 metres and 12 meters to the highest point of the roof. The perimeter walls are ca. 65 cm thick made of plaster over lumps of coral set in lime mortar.

The building has four entrances. Two of them are on the east façade reached through a colonnade of 5 rounded pillars on square pedestal. One entrance is fitted with a Gujerati 9and the other with a Swahili carved door. The third entrance is on the northern façade at the N/W quadrant reached through a flight of a masonry stairway. It has a small trap door of the Indian type serving both the ground and the first floor of the building. The fourth entrance, exclusively for the first floor, is on the southern façade and is reached through an exterior wooden staircase, which evidently is a secondary addition to the building. The door to this entrance is simple and opens onto a balcony supported by the rounded columns covered with a roof resting on dressed wooden supports.

From the balcony, a door leads into the first floor unit through a corridor with two rooms on both side organized in such a way that they are directly opposite one another with beautifully carved Bajuni doors.
At the back of the corridor is another door opening onto the back of the first floor level where a landing to the terrace, circulation space and toilet facilities are organised. From the landing there are two staircases; one leading up to the original terrace (now the library); the second staircase leads down to the ground floor or out of the building through a side entrance organized at the N/W quadrant of the north façade, discussed as the third entrance above.

Onversely, the original plan might have divided the building into two separate units all entered through the front facade. The ground floor unit was perhaps exclusively through the Indian door which opened onto three parallel long rooms one behind the other (probably used as a shop and store); while the first floor unit was through the Swahili door opening onto a corridor of two room deep leading to a masonry staircase and up to the first floor of the building and the terrace (the residential area). If this was the situation, then the idea that the exterior wooden staircase and the two doors along the south façade being secondary addition to the building is valid.


The museum currently houses temporary exhibitions. The museum also doubles as an information centre where visitors are able to find more information on attractions and happenings in Malindi. It is all about Malindi under one roof.

Lamu Fort

Lamu Fort 

Lamu Museums are located in the Lamu Archipelago on the N. Coast, one of the most beatiful & serene locations on the African continent and a World Heritage Site
The isolated island, with streets so narrow such that donkeys provide almost the only mode of transport makes the town quite unique.

Historical BackgroundThe construction of Lamu Fort commenced in 1813, shortly after Lamu's victory over Pate and Mombasa in the battle of Shela. This major building task was reputedly undertaken with the cooperation of Seyyid Said, the Sultan of Oman who was then cultivating a promising new alliance with Lamu.

Upon its completion in about 1821 the fort marked the Southern corner of the traditional stone town and served as a garrison for Baluchi soldiers sent by the Sultan of Oman. Its protective presence encouraged new development around it. Thus confident Merchants erected the 19th century shopfront and buildings. By 1900 the Fort had become the image of the community, a role which it still plays to date.

Lamu-German Post Office Historical Background

German nationals Clement Denhardt and G. A. Fisher first made contact with the Lamu hinterland in the late 1870s. They soon struck a friendship with Ahmed Abdullah Simba, the Sultan of Witu, who at the time was having problems with the rulers of Lamu and Zanzibar and so welcomed a new ally. Shortly afterwards, Witu became a German protectorate.

 Lamu Fort Historical Background
 The construction of Lamu Fort commenced in 1813, shortly after Lamu's victory over Pate and Mombasa in the battle of Shela. This major building task was reputedly undertaken with the cooperation of Seyyid Said, the Sultan of Oman who was then cultivating a promising new alliance with Lamu.

Upon its completion in about 1821 the fort marked the southern corner of the traditional stone town and served as a garrison for Baluchi soldiers sent by the Sultan of Oman. Its protective presence encouraged new development around it, for example it was at this time that some Lamu merchants erected the 19th century shopfront and buildings. By 1900 the Fort had become a central to the community, a role which it still plays today.
It served as a prison from 1910 to 1984 to both the British colonial regime and the Kenya government, before it was handed over to the National Museums of Kenya in 1984. Efforts to turn the Fort into a museum were started with technical and financial assistance from Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). With its inception as a museum with environmental conservation as its general theme; Lamu Fort is basically a community center for the people of Lamu old town.

The courtyard is available for weddings, meetings and theatre productions. At the ground floor there is a large exhibition space, which most recently hosted the first Environmental Museum in Africa. Upstairs there are administrative offices, laboratories, a workshop and a rooftop with impressive views over the town. There is also an excellent conference facility that is available for hire.

Lamu Fort is a massive two storey stone structure located in Lamu Old town, Lamu District. It lies about 70 meters inland at the main jetty within Grid Reference 114 498 on the Lamu 1:50,000, Kenya Survey Map sheet No. 180/1.

Fort Jesus

Fort Jesus

 

The Portuguese built Fort Jesus in 1593. The site chosen was a coral ridge at the entrance to the harbor. The Fort was designed by an Italian Architect and Engineer, Joao, Batista Cairato. The earliest known plan of the Fort is in a manuscript Atlas by Manuel Godinho de Heredia - dated 1610 which shows the original layout of the buildings inside the Fort.
Fort Jesus was built to secure the safety of Portuguese living on the East Coast of Africa. It has had a long history of hostilities of the interested parties that used to live in Mombasa. Perhaps no Fort in Africa has experienced such turbulence as Fort Jesus. Omani Arabs attacked the Fort from 1696 to 1698. The state of the Fort can be understood from the plan of Rezende of 1636 and other plans by Don Alvaro? Marquis of Cienfuegas and Jose? Lopes de Sa - made during the brief reoccupation by the Portuguese in 1728 - 1729. In the Cienfuegas plan, the names of the bastions are changed.
Between 1837 and 1895, the Fort was used as barracks for the soldiers. When the British protectorate was proclaimed on the 1st of July 1895, the Fort was converted into a prison. The huts were removed and cells were built. On the 24th October 1958, Fort Jesus was declared a National Park in the custody of the Trustees of the Kenya National Parks. Excavation was carried out and the Fort became a Museum in 1962. The Fort is now an important historical landmark in the East African region.

Fort Jesus Inside

The Fort Jesus museum was built with a grant from the Gulbenkian Foundation. The exhibits consist of finds from archaeological excavations at Fort Jesus, Gede,Manda, Ungwana and other sites. Other objects on display were donated by individuals notably Mrs. J.C. White, Mr. C.E. Whitton and Mrs. W.S. Marchant. The Fort has lived through the years of hostilities and a hush climate and is structurally well - maintained. Open Daily at 8:00am - 6:00pm.

Karen Blixen

Karen Blixen

 

Location and Historical Background
Karen Blixen Museum was once the centre piece of a farm at the foot of the Ngong Hills owned by Danish Author Karen and her Swedish Husband, Baron Bror von Blixen Fincke. Located 10km from the city centre, the Museum belongs to a different time period in the history of Kenya. The farm house gained international fame with the release of the movie ‘Out of Africa’ an Oscar winning film based on Karen’s an autobiography by the same title.
The Museum is open to the Public every day (9.30 am to 6pm) including weekends and public holidays. Visitors areencouraged to be at the Museum by 5.30. Guided tours are offered continuously. A museum shop offers handicrafts, posters and postcards, the Movie ‘Out of Africa’, books and other Kenyan souvenirs. The grounds may be rented for wedding receptions, corporate functions and other events.
The Museum was built in 1912 by Swedish Engineer Ake Sjogren. Karen and her husband bought the Museum house in 1917 and it become the farm house for their 4500 acre farm, of which 600 acres was used for coffee farming. Their marriage failed after eight years and in 1921 the Baron moved on and left the running of the farm to Karen. Karen lived at the house until her return to Denmark in 1931. The house farm was bought by Remy Marin, who broke the land into 20  acre parcels for development. Subsequent development created the present suburb of Karen. Records indicate that a Lt.Col.G. Lloyd, an officer of the British Army bought the house in 1935 and lived there until his death in 1954, when it passed to his daughters, Mrs. G. Robersts and Lavender Llyod. A transfer of title to Mrs. J.P Robson and Mrs L.B. Hyde is in City Hall records in 1956. The house was sporadically occupied until purchased in 1964 by the Danish government and given to the Kenyan government as an independence gift. The government set up a college of nutrition and the Museum was initially used as the principal’s house. In 1985 the shooting of a movie based on Karen’s autobiography began and the National Museums of Kenya expressed acquired the house for the purpose of establishing a Museum. The Museum was opened in 1986. Karen also known by her pen name Isak Dinesen was born at Rungstedlund in Denmark on 17th of April 1885 as the second child of Wilhelm and Ingeborg Dinesen’s five children. She came to Africa in 1914 to marry her half cousin and carry out dairy farming in the then British Colony of Kenya. Her husband had however changed his mind and wanted to farm coffee. Her uncle Aage Westenholz financed the farm and members of both families were share holders. The coffee farm did not do well, suffering various tragedies including factory fire and continuous bad harvest. After her divorce,  Karen was left to run the financially troubled farm on her own, a daunting task for a woman of that generation. She fell in
love with an English man, Denis Finch Hatton, and his death in Tsavo in 1930 coupled with the failed farming left Karen little choice but to return to Denmark. She turned to writing as a career following her departure from Africa and published to increasing acclaim such works as Seven Gothic Tales(1934) Out of Africa(1937) and Babette Feat (1950). She died on her family estate, Rungsted, in 1962 at the age of 77.
The Karen Blixen house meets three of the customary criteria for historical significance. First, it is associated with the broad historical pattern of European settlement andcultivation of East Africa. Second, it is associated with the life of a person significant to our past as the home of Baroness Karen Blixen from 1917 -1931. As such, it served as the setting and basis of herwell known book Out of Africa, written under the pseudonym Isak Dinesenand as a gathering place for other well known personalities of the period. Third, the building embodies the distinctive characteristicsof its type, period and method of construction. The house's architecture is typical of late 19th century bungalow architecture,including the spacious rooms, horizontal layout verandas, tile roof and stone construction typical of scores of residences built throughout European suburbs of Nairobi in early decades.
The chronology of the house begins with its construction in 1912 by the wealthy Swedish civil engineer, later honorary Swedish consul to Kenya, Ake Sjogren. It served as the main residence on his Swedo-African coffee company , anestate of over 6,000 acres. The house was soon visited while on safari by the Danish count Mojen Frijs, who upon his return to Denmark persuaded his cousin to seek their fortune in Kenya.Baron Blixen acquired part of the estate in 1913 and the remainder in 1916. Karen Blixen called the house "Bogani" or "Mbogani" meaning a house in the woods, and
occupied it until 1931.By1985, with renewed interest in Karen Blixen occasioned by the film production of Out of Africa, an agreement was reach with the collage for the house to become part of the National Museums of Kenya. Many pieces of furniture that  Karen Blixen sold to Lady McMillan on her departure were acquired back and constitute part of the exhibition in the Museum. The Museum house remains a serene environment that seems to belong to the past, surrounded by a tranquil  garden and indigenous forest, with a splendid view of Karen’s beloved Ngong Hills. She honours the hills with the phrase‘I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills’.

Nairobi Gallery

Nairobi Gallery

Historical Background
Located at the intersection of Kenyatta Avenue/ Uhuru Highway in the heart of Nairobi City is the Nairobi Gallery.

Built in 1913, this was the Old PC's office building fondly referred to as 'Hatches, Matches and Dispatches' because of the births, marriages and deaths that were recorded here.

Today, the building is a National Monument and serves as a museum holding temporary art exhibitions.

The Nairobi Snake Park

The Nairobi Snake Park

 

Historical Background
The Nairobi Snake Park was started in January, 1961 to meet a popular attraction and to provide a research facility on reptiles, breeding of snakes. Live snakes were exhibited on experimental basis at the entrance of the Museum in 1958 which later became a popular attraction.When the popularity was noted, a portion of land in front of the Museum and down to the Nairobi River was acquired by the Museum Trustees for the development of Botanical gardens and exhibitions on live snakes. This idea was developed further in 1959, when money was made available for a combined facility, Snake Park and Snake study centre surrounded by a botanical garden and war memorial garden on one end.

By the end  of 1960, the Snake Park was almost completed using funds made available by the War Memorial Committee. The Snake Park was opened to the public in January 1961, as a centre for snake study before it transformed into a shelter for resqued reptiles and amphibians. It attracted a lot of interest from the public, researchers, conservationist and educators. Following its closure in August 2008, the snake park reopened a year laterafter undergoing a major lift. During the 2009/2010 financial year, about 123,000 visitors attended the park. In a bid to serve our visitors better, public programmes like octopus exhibition, interactive sessions with harmless reptiles and amphibians, exhibition on the birds of the Snake Park and feeding of crocodiles with live fish. Audio Visual transmissionof information on exhibitions, are under way. The aquaria have been modified with a classy touch of beautiful art work for their finishing. It is your world class tourist destination!
Currently the Snake Park exhibits major groups,
- Invertebrates like Giant Snails, Baboon Spider ,Mombasa Train Millipede, Crayfish, Freshwater Prawns.
- Vertebrates like Fishes both Marine and Fresh water, Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds and Mammals.It is also offering services such as rescue and rehabilitation centre for reptiles (abandoned, confiscated, illegal collection), dissemination of information on aquarium fishes and reptiles as well as specialized talks on the same. To date, Snake Park has continued assisting the city residents of Nairobi in rescuing their residential areas by removing spotted house snakes and as well as giving advices on how to reduce possible snakebites within their homesteads. Snake identification service is also provided.

Located at a serene environment with a spacious compound, the Snake Park is an ideal place for relaxation by our visitors to enjoy the cool breeze.

Nairobi National Museum

Nairobi National Museum

The Museum aims to interpret Kenya's rich heritage and offers a one stop for visitors to sample the country's rich heritage both for education and leisure. In addition to the museum, visitors are treated to a variety of shopping and dining facilities, as well as botanical gardens that offer a serene environment. 

The museum is open on all 356 days throughout the year from 0830hrs -17300hrs.Nairobi National Museum is located at the Museum Hill, approximately 10 minutes drive from the Nairobi city centre accessible both by public and private means. Built in 1929, this is the flagship museum for the National Museums of Kenya, housing celebrated collections of Kenya's History, Nature, Culture and Contemporary Art. Historical Background
The Museum was initiated in 1910 by a group of enthusiastic naturalists under the then East Africa and Uganda Natural
History Society [currently the East African Natural History Society (EANHS)], who needed a place to keep and preserve
their collections of various specimens. The first site for the museum was at the present Nyayo House, which later
became too small and a larger building was put up in 1922 where the Nairobi Serena Hotel stands today.
In 1929, the colonial government set aside land for a museum construction at Museum Hill which was officially opened in
September 22nd 1930 and named Coryndon Museum in honour of Sir Robert Coryndon, one time Governor of Kenya. In
1963 after independence, it was re-named the National Museum of Kenya (NMK).
On October 15th 2005, the Nairobi Museum closed its doors to the public for an extensive modernization and expansion
project the outcome of which was an impresive and magnificient piece of architecture that puts it in competition with other
world- class museums. The museum later re-opened in June 2008 as the Nairobi National Museum, and continues to
draw visitors from all walks of life in appreciation of Kenya's rich heritage.
The artworks and materials used in the fabrication of outdoor sculptures, the landscaping and the botanic gardens, link to
the four pillars of Kenya’s national heritage i.e. nature, culture, history and contemporary art.
In addition to offering visitor's with Kenya's rich heritage, the museum is also well known as a unique events venue, for
the appreciation of Kenya's heritage amidst workshops, cocktails, conferences and other functions. For more information
visit
Attractions
- Art Gallery
- Temporary Exhibitions
- Botanical Gardens and Nature Trail
- Shopping and dining facilities
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