On Valentine’s Day 2015, my friend Kirstin and I met George in front of the Hilton hotel in downtown Nairobi. It was not a kinky Valentine’s arrangement, but rather a very informative and entertaining walking tour of the Nairobi CBD.
From the Hilton, we walked to Kimathi Street, where a statue of the war hero, General Kimathi, stands. When this statue was erected, there was a great controversy as to whether Kimathi was worthy of a statue or not. After a year of deliberations he got his place. Kimathi was a leader of the Mau Mau rebellion, which some Kenyans have seen as the great rebellion that gave Kenya its independence and other Kenyans as a group of rogues who caused unnecessary trouble while more formal efforts were under way.
We then head onto Kenyatta Avenue, where the impressive Sarova Stanley Hotel overlooks. Inside the hotel is the Thorn Tree Cafe, where an acacia used to be. The acacia tree had a message board where the settlers left messages for each other. Nowadays, you may have heard of Lonely Planet’s online travel forum called “Thorn Tree” – that’s where the name comes from!
Also at this intersection, there used to be a statue of Lord Delamere. It marked the division of Nairobi: to the west of Delamere was the side of the city for white colonialists and to the east was the rudeness of Indian merchants and Kenyan vendors. Even today you can see the difference between the east and west sides of the city.
Along Kenyatta Avenue, we stopped to admire Cameo. Not because it is a popular nightspot, but because it is the oldest building in Nairobi at over 100 years old. Ironically, Nairobi’s newest store is located inside: Subway, the sandwich chain has made a foray into the Kenyan market. Next door is the Bank of India, which has had quite a bit of history. It has been the House of Parliament, before the current Parliament was built, and also the National Archives before they were also relocated to their current home on Moi Avenue.
As we exit Kenyatta onto Wabera Street, we find the McMillan National Library. It is not difficult to find anything if your address is Wabera Street, as the street is only 100 meters long! Next to the library is the Jamia Mosque and continuing next to the mosque until the end we arrive at the Chai House and the City Market. The market sells everything from meat and fish to vegetables and souvenirs. Yet despite all the shops, the market was empty of customers. Out there though, the rose sellers were doing a flourishing Valentine’s Day trade!
Our last stop was the Kenya International Conference Center (KICC), the tallest building in Nairobi at 28 floors. The second floor from the top was a revolving restaurant, but the large empty space was today a place for young couples to hang out. There is a helicopter landing pad on the roof, and for a fee, you can walk around to enjoy 360-degree views of Nairobi.
On the weekends there is an open air market that George offered to take us to for souvenirs. But it had started to rain and Kirstin and I thought this would not be our only chance to buy souvenirs, so we skipped it and went to a cafe. Over a cup of tea, we learn more about George, who had been fostered by the Mathare Children’s Fund (MCF) as a child and was supported by the community organization to complete school. MCF also provided him with training to become a city tour guide, facilitated by the National Museums of Kenya. George also attends college, studies economics, and mentoring allows him to earn some money to help him in school.
MCF has trained several young people to be guides on walking tours of the city. Even though I have lived in Kenya for over four years, there were many things we saw on the tour that I had never noticed before (even if I had been there a dozen times!). And things that he had noticed, of which he did not know. The tour lasts two hours (not including the cup of tea at the end!) And costs 1000 Kenyan shillings (approximately US $ 10) per person plus 400KES to climb to the top of the KICC.