Nairobi
-meaning “ Sweet Waters” a modern city .
With an estimated population of 1.4 million people it is the capital of Kenya,
situated in Nairobi District, at an elevation of about 1660 m (about 5450 ft)
in the highlands of the southern part of the country.
Located in an area once frequented by the pastoral Masai, Nairobi was founded
in the late 1890s as a British railroad camp on the Mombasa-to-Uganda railroad.
From 1899 to 1905 it served as a British provincial capital. In 1905 the city
became the capital of the British East Africa Protectorate (called Kenya Colony
from 1920 to 1963). In 1963 Nairobi became the capital of independent Kenya
and annexed neighboring areas for future growth. During the early 1990s, Nairobi
suffered from civil unrest because of the growing popular opposition to Kenyan
President Daniel arap Moi.
---> Visitors can find things not so common in other parts of Africa, such
as nice theatres showing the latest films, expensive restaurants serving every
type of food, as well as E-mail facilities, faxes and any other sort of modern
technology you may want to use. The city is constantly alive, especially at
night.
Besides being a convenient place to take care of administrative matters and
contact people back home, Nairobi has much to offer to travellers. If you
want to hang out, there is a wide array of restaurants, clubs, pubs and discos
to choose from. While in Nairobi, be sure to visit the City Market, the National
Museum, the Arboretum (excellent collection of East African flora) and the
superb Kenya Railway Museum. Exhibits about the period leading to independence
can be seen at the Kenya National Archives. There are casinos at the Safari
Park Hotel and the Inter-Continental Hotel and there’s also Sunday-afternoon
horse racing.
Nairobi is Kenya's principal economic, administrative,
and cultural center and is one of the largest and fastest growing cities in
Africa. Manufactures include processed food, textiles, clothing, building materials,
and communications and transportation equipment. The city also has a large tourist
industry. The University of Nairobi (1956), Kenya Polytechnic (1961), and Kenya
Conservatoire of Music (1944) are here.------------------------------>
