Nairobi

I

INTRODUCTIO

N

Nairobi, city in south central Kenya, the capital of the country,

located just south of the equator. The city’s name is derived from

a Masai word meaning “place of cool waters.” One of the largest

and fastest growing cities in Africa, Nairobi is Kenya’s principal

economic and cultural center.

II

DESCRIPTIO

N

The city of Nairobi covers an area of about 680 sq km (about 260

sq mi) at an average altitude of 1,675 m (5,495 ft) above sea

level. The city center—and the area around it to the east and

south—is a relatively flat plain, while the area to the west and

north is hilly. Nairobi has many varied neighborhoods and

suburbs, some bearing European names and others African

names. The important commercial and administrative areas are

located in the city center, which is ringed by residential areas.

The main industrial area is located to the south, beyond which is

Nairobi National Park, a wildlife preserve and major tourist

attraction. A large market is located near the city center, and

smaller open-air markets fill many of the city’s open spaces.

Surrounding the large, central City Square are Nairobi’s city hall;

Kenya’s parliament building; the Kenyatta Conference Center; the

law courts; and the mausoleum of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s

founding father.

Nairobi’s residential areas still reflect the city’s colonial past,

when residence was determined largely by race and income.

Racial barriers disappeared after Kenya became independent

from Britain in 1963, but the city’s residential pattern continues to

be determined by income. In general, Nairobi’s wealthier

residents live in neighborhoods to the west of the city center,

while the least wealthy residents live in the east. In addition,

temporary shantytowns have grown up adjacent to some of the

residential areas, most notably in the Mathari Valley, east and

north of the city center. Like many cities in developing countries,

approximately 80 percent of Nairobi’s residential land houses less

than 20 percent of its population.

Nairobi’s altitude produces relatively cool temperatures despite

the city’s proximity to the equator. The average annual

temperature is 17ºC (63ºF). Nairobi’s average annual rainfall is

790 mm (31 in), with most of the rain falling in two rainy seasons,

March to May and October to December.

III

POPULATION AND

CULTURE

Nairobi has experienced a huge, relatively steady increase in

population since Kenya became independent in 1963, as Africans

have migrated to the city from Kenya’s rural areas. The

population nearly doubled between the 1962 and 1969 censuses,

growing from 266,794 to 509,206 residents. Nairobi’s population

at the 1989 census was 1,324,570, and in 1999 the city had an

estimated population of 1,810,000.

From the time of its origin, Nairobi has been home to a diverse,

multiracial population. Africans have long made up the majority,

but Asians (primarily Indians and Pakistanis) and Europeans also

account for a small portion of the city’s residents. There are far

fewer Asians and Europeans than there were in 1962, when they

constituted 40 percent of the population of Nairobi. The change is

largely explained by the departure of many Asians and

Europeans, and the large influx of Africans, after Kenya gained

independence. About one-third of the city’s African population are

members of the Kikuyu ethnic group, followed by smaller

percentages of Luo, Luhya, and Kamba peoples. The Masai, who

inhabited the region before the city existed, now constitute less

than 1 percent of the residents. The majority of Nairobi’s people

are Christians. There are also significant numbers of Muslims and

smaller communities of Hindus and Sikhs.

Nairobi is Kenya’s cultural center. The Kenya National Theatre

stages plays, concerts, and dance programs in the city. The Kenya

National Archives houses historical photographs and documents,

as well as Kenyan art and artifacts. The National Museum is

known for its displays on prehistoric African humans and also

contains an extensive ornithological collection and a

contemporary art gallery. Other cultural institutions in Nairobi

include the McMillan Memorial Library, the Sorsbie Art Gallery,

and several private art galleries. The University of Nairobi (1956),

the Kenya Polytechnic (1961), the Kenya Conservatoire of Music

(1944), and Kenyatta University (1972) are the leading

educational institutions in the city and its outskirts.

IV

ECONOM

Y

Nairobi is East Africa’s most important commercial,

manufacturing, financial, and tourist center. Since independence,

Nairobi has practiced import substitution—that is, the production

of goods that formerly had to be imported. Important industries

include food processing; motor vehicle assembly; and the

production of beer, cigarettes, auto parts, paper, textiles, and

clothing. The railways also employ a significant percentage of

Nairobi residents. National and multinational banking and

insurance companies have headquarters in Nairobi. The city also

receives significant revenues from tourism.

Nairobi is a regional hub for air, road, and rail travel. The city is

linked to the Kenyan coast, the Lake Victoria and Mount Kenya

regions, and neighboring Uganda by rail and all-weather roads.

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, located southeast of Nairobi,

is the nation’s largest airport, while Wilson Airport to the south

serves charter and private flights within the region. Population

growth severely taxed Nairobi’s public transportation system in

the 1990s, and the proliferation of small private taxis, known as

matatus, has caused traffic congestion, especially in the city

center. Many of the city’s streets and highways are regularly in

poor condition and subject to floods in times of heavy rainfall.

Downtown Nairobi

Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, was founded in the late 1890s and

has since become one of the fastest growing cities in Africa. The

Kenyatta Conference Center, left, dominates the city’s skyline.

Liaison Agency/Peter Jordan

Mount Kenya

Mount Kenya is an extinct volcano in central Kenya. At 5,199 m

(17,057 ft) tall, it is the second tallest mountain in Africa.

The ‘Green City in the Sun’ is an attractive city with wide tree-

lined streets and spacious parkland suburbs. Its pleasant nature

together with judicious investment in facilities such as the

Kenyatta Conference Center has made Nairobi an important

center for international business and conference activities.

However, despite the capital’s appearance, urban crime is on the

increase and visitors are advised to take precautions such as

avoiding certain areas, or walking anywhere at night (travelers

are advised against walking alone through Uhuru Park at any

time). There is a full range of shopping opportunities, from

purpose-built American-style malls to African markets, and a

variety of restaurants and nightclubs. There are open-air

swimming pools at the Boulevard, Jacaranda and Serena hotels –

non-residents may pay to swim.

Other places of interest in or near Nairobi include the Bomas of

Kenya, a short distance outside the city center, where displays of

traditional dancing are put on for visitors; the Kenya National

Museum with its particularly good ethnographic and

archaeological exhibits (this is where many of the earliest

human remains, discovered by the Leakeys at Olduvai, Koobi

Fora and other well-known prehistoric sites, are displayed); and

the Snake Park, opposite the museum, which houses snakes

indigenous to East Africa and a few from other parts of the

world. Adjacent to Snake Park is a collection of traditional mud

and thatch huts and granaries containing tools characteristic of

different tribes. In the suburb of Karen, the Karen Blixen

Museum occupies the farmhouse made famous by the author’s

book, Out of Africa.

Excursions

Although it is just 8km (5 miles) from Nairobi city center,

Nairobi National Park still seems a savage and lonely place

during the week (carloads of city-dwellers invade at the

weekend). It was Kenya’s first national park and today still

looks much as it did in the early photographs – wild, undulating

pasture dotted with every kind of East African plain-dwelling

animal except elephants. At the gates to the park is the Animal

Orphanage where young, sick and wounded animals are cared

for. Also near here, the Langata Giraffe Center offers the

enchanting opportunity of hand-feeding the resident Rothschild

giraffes.

North of Nairobi, the road climbs steadily through the suburb of

Thika and rich agricultural lands, offering excellent views of the

Great Rift Valley. The eastern wall of the Rift is made up by the

Aberdare Mountains, while further east still looms the vast bulk

of Mount Kenya. Between the two are several attractive small

towns such as Nyeri; Nyahururu, home of the Thomson’s Falls;

Muranga’a, whose cathedral tells the story of the Mau Mau

rebellions in a series of colorful murals; Nanyuki and Naro

Moru, both acting as starting points for those wishing to climb

the mountain.

Game Preserve in Kenya

A giraffe towers over zebras on the savanna of a Kenyan game

preserve. Home to many endangered species of wildlife, the

African republic of Kenya shelters its wild animals in game

preserves and national parks. Kenya outlawed hunting in 1977,

but poachers continue to hunt many of these commercially

valuable animals. Tourists can observe and photograph the

animals in safaris through the parks and preserves.

Thatch House, Kenya

Inhabitants of a village in southern Kenya put the finishing

touches on a new circular thatch dwelling. To build these houses,

thatch must be attached in layers to a frame made of wood. The

floor inside is mde of dried mud.

Traditional Dress in Kenya

These members of a Nilotic tribe in Samburu, Kenya, are wearing

traditional clothing. The men wear solid bright red fabrics; the

women have vivid designs on their clothing and collars made of

roped beads. Jewelry plays an important role in traditional African

dress.

Tea Farm, Kenya

These Kenyan farmers tend fields of tea, one of the country’s

main cash crops. Tea and other crops grow well in the fertile soil

on the highlands of southwestern Kenya. Most Kenyan farms

average only 1.0 hectare (2.5 acres) in area, but some

agricultural estates cover 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) and

specialize in cash crops such as tea and coffee.

Rift Valley

Rift valleys are long, deep valleys bounded by parallel faults. They

form where Earth’s crust is being pulled apart. Rift valleys can

appear on land or beneath bodies of water.

Great Rift Valley in Africa

The Great Rift Valley is a geologic depression that extends from

Syria in southwestern Asia to Mozambique in southeastern Africa.

It takes the form of a series of valleys and bodies of water that

are bounded by parallel fault lines. The Great Rift Valley is

widening slowly but surely, in the process causing many volcanic

eruptions and earthquakes in the area.

Climate in Kenya

The climate in Kenya is predominantly tropical although the

geography of Kenya is varied. Kenya remains warm all through

the year. Droughts are common in Kenya periodically mainly

due tot the delays in the start of the rainy seasons. Climate in

Kenya has proved to have a profound effect on settlement

patterns as evident from the concentration of settlement in the

wettest areas of Kenya.

Kenya is hot and humid at the coast, temperate inland and very

dry in the north and northeast parts of the country. The average

annual temperature for the coastal town of Mombasa (altitude 17

metres) is 30.30 Celsius maximum and 22.40 Celsius minimum,

the capital city, Nairobi (altitude 1,661 metres) 25.20 Celsius

maximum and 13.60 Celsius minimum, Eldoret (altitude 3,085)

23.60 Celsius maximum and 9.50 Celsius minimum, Lodwar

(altitude) 506 metres) and the drier north plain lands. 34.80

Celsius maximum and 23.70 Celsius minimum. Kenya gets

abundant sunshine all the year round. However, nights and early

mornings are slightly cold.

Most parts of Kenya get seasonal rainfall. The coast, eastern

plateaus, and lake basin experience two rainy seasons: the "long

rains" extends roughly from March to June, and the "short rains"

lasts from approximately October to December. The highlands

of western Kenya have a single rainy season, lasting from March

to September. Between June and September, the annual

migration of wildlife between Serengeti National Park in

Tanzania and Maasai Mara National Park in Kenya takes place

This spectacular moving scene of the migration of almost two

million wildbeasts and other species have always been the

delight of tourists and filmmakers.

Flight Expenses

Ludhiana (LUH) to Nairobi, Kenya (NBO)

Mix &

Match

Airlines

Kingfisher

AirlinesJet Airways

Emirat

es

Indian

Airlines

Direc

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1 stop

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2+

stops

from

Rs.46235 from Rs.46235 from Rs.4623

5

from Rs.512

65

from Rs.529

50

Note: Prices are per person for roundtrip travel; they are e-

ticket prices and include all flight taxes and fees. If your

itinerary requires paper tickets there will be an additional

charge. These results cover a metro area with several

airports. Review your choices carefully.

There are two main ways to fly into Kenya, the most popular

option is to fly into Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in

Nairobi and the other entry point is Moi International Airport in

Mombasa.

Airports in Nairobi and Mombasa:

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi currently

handles an estimated 3.4 million passengers each year, making it

Africa’s third busiest airport after Johannesburg and Cairo. In

recent years, over $75 million has been spent on giving it a

complete makeover; with a state of the art security system now

in place, a new car park, duty free shops, and updated check in

and baggage handling systems.

Direct flight from Europe also goes to the other main

International Airport which is in Mombasa (Moi International

Airport) which has also had impressive renovations done in

recent years.

Domestic Flights and charter flights within Kenya:

As well as the main International Airport, there is another

smaller airport called Wilson Airport, which deals with domestic

and charter flights. Most safari destinations (e.g. Masai Mara,

Amboselli, Tsavo, Samburu etc) and coastal destinations (Lamu,

Malindi and Diani) have their own airstrip so flying in a small

plane to your safari destination is quite a common thing to do. If

you’re flying between Nairobi and the coast, (or vice versa)

make sure you know which airport you’re flying from.

Flying between Mombasa and Nairobi:

The main airlines flying between Nairobi and Mombasa are

Airkenya (Wilson Airport) Kenya Air and fly540.com (Jomo

Kenyatta International Airport) also find out about your luggage

allowance before leaving, as some of the smaller planes only

allow 10-15kg per person.

Getting to your hotel from the airport:

There are money exchange desks inside the departure building.

You walk right past them as you disembark. There are Taxis

right outside the exit doors of the departure terminal and they

will be marked with a broad yellow stripe down the side. They

come in a variety of shapes and sizes, so pick the one that is best

for your needs and then try haggling for a good price (the first

price they give is guaranteed to be more than you will need to

pay). Don’t get into an unmarked vehicle as they’re not

registered vehicles and may not be safe.

Kenya getting around - Taxis and car hi...

You’re comprehensive Guide to Everything Kenya

Public transport

Public transport is not usually by

tourists to get around, with the

exception of the Nairobi-Mombasa

train which takes 12 hours and is a

nice way to travel (although the train is rather run down these

days).

Matatus are the local minibuses, which offer cheap public

transport, and there are also local buses. These are often

uncomfortable and cramped and are not recommended for

mainstream tourist travel.

Guided Tours

Many people like to book onto a tour if going on a safari, and

these range from very low budget to top of the range luxury

travel. Almost all tours will offer a custom designed safari

vehicle, which will be at your disposal, and it will come with a

knowledgeable driver/guide. Your guide will have an excellent

local knowledge and a fabulous understanding of where to find

various animals; whether it be a camouflaged leopard lying low

in the top of a yellow fever tree or a pride of lions nestled in the

long yellow grass in the heat of the day. Most people feel that

their guides greatly enhance their safari experience and are

happy to give a tip at the end of their tour.

Shuttle buses

At the large hotels, transport is usually provided to meet guests

at the airport. In Mombasa, courtesy buses are very often

available to take guests to nearby places of interest.

Tuk-tuks are found at many of the coastal resorts and are

cheaper way to get around than taxis.

Taxi firms:

Kenatco Transport Company

Nairobi: Tel: (+254) 020 230771/316611

mobile: 0721-830061/0734-699991

Mombasa: Tel (+254) 041 2313402/2227503

Email: info@kenatco.co.ke, mombasa@kanatco.co.ke

Jatco Taxi’s Ltd

Nairobi: Tel: (+254) 020 4446096/4448162

mobile: 0722-648383/ 0722-725131/0733-701494

Email & website: jatco@jatcotaxis.com, www.jatcotaxis.com

Jimcab

Nairobi Tel: (+254) 020-7122565 /7120344/ 7121205

mobile: 0722-711001/ 0722-714246/ 0733-735499.

Fax No: (+254)-20-7122565

Email & website : info@jimcab.co.ke, www.jimcab.co.ke

Car hire

Hiring a car in Kenya is useful for some tourists especially if

you will be staying at a rented house/cottage perhaps in

Mombasa or Naivasha.

If you plan to hire a car to go on a safari, careful planning is

required and you will have to be confident about driving on poor

roads. A 4-wheel drive is essential and anything less than

1300cc will have a hard time coping with the rough roads in the

game parks. Landrovers, Toyota, Suzuki and Pajero’s are

commonly used and are easy to find parts for on the road if

anything breaks and needs replacing! To hire a car, you

generally need to be over 23 and hold a full driving license (but

not necessarily an international driving license). Check out the

insurance carefully as some companies offer a collision damage

waiver which can lead to very expensive damage expenses even

for the smallest accident. Make sure you thoroughly look over

the vehicle before departing and ensure that you have a tool kit,

jack and spare tyre. Also ask if there’s a special key/tool for

undoing any security locks on the spare tyre.

Driving is on the left. SatNav does work in Kenya and is

expanding its database so is becoming a useful tool for getting

around in Nairobi and even in many of the game parks.

Driving on some of the rough roads in Kenya, and being “off

road” can be great fun if you have a reliable vehicle!

Car hire companies:

Budget: carrental@budget-kenya.com

Hertz Rent

a car:

rajay@sharsafaris.com,

www.hertz.co.ke

Avis: info@avis.co.ke, www.avis.com,

avis.Kenya@gmail.com

Hotel Holiday Inn Nairobi - Nairobi

(Self-classified there is no official body operating a star

rating scheme for accommodation in this city and therefore this

hotel has been classified by the property itself.)

CNR Parklands Road - Nairobi

Tel:0044 203 027 7155

Book by phone0044 203 027 7155

Check-in: 24 Sep 2010

Check out: 26 Sep 2010

Persons: 2

Rooms: 1

MODIFY

AVAILABILITY & RATES (Tax included)

About Hotel Nairobi, Holiday Inn

Exterior The Holiday Inn

Nairobi Hotel is located in the residential suburb of Parklands

near the city centre and just 12 miles from Jomo Kenyatta

International airport.

Just a short distance away, guests can visit the national museum,

Muthaiga Golf Club and the United Nations.

The hotel offers quality facilities and services including fitness

centre, outdoor pool, and beauty salon, and entertainment,

business centre, meeting rooms, restaurants and bars ensuring a

pleasant stay in this Nairobi hotel.

Book now

Location of Hotel Nairobi, Nairobi

map - how to reach

Rooms at Nairobi (Holiday Inn)

Double room The Holiday

Inn Nairobi Hotel offers comfortable rooms equipped with all

the necessary to ensure a pleasant stay in Nairobi, Kenya.

In-room amenities include satellite TV, tea and coffee making

facilities, high-speed and wireless Internet access, desk, and

direct dial telephone, safe and ironing facilities.

The hotel also has connecting rooms and one disabled-accessible

room.

Coffee and tea maker

Desk

Facilities for disabled people

Hairdryer in each room

High speed Internet access

In-room ironing facilities

Safe

Satellite TV

Wireless Internet access

Hotel Facilities

Beauty salon

Laundry service

Banqueting service

Business Center

Meeting Room

Fitness Center

Outdoor swimming pool

Private parking

Entertainment

Bar

Restaurants