Richard Quest: Nairobi, past and future

Having spent the first couple of days of my trip looking at Nairobi’s contemporary, dynamic side, today I delved a little into its past.
Our day began before sunrise, driving out to the Giraffe Manor resort to experience one of Kenya’s famous Big Five at close quarters. I had not expected that this trip would involve lip-to-lip contact with a giraffe, but with a food pellet in my mouth to temp the elegant creature in for a kiss, I was reminded that every experience has a price.
Giraffe Manor is a surreal place, a luxurious resort that also performs a valuable role in animal conservation, in a building that is the quintessential colonial relic. It is beautiful. However, at the end of the day, it is also an experience reserved for the wealthy.
We drove on to Uhuru Gardens and the monuments commemorating Kenya’s hard-won independence. It began to rain a little as I walked quietly around the 20th anniversary monument, looking up at the statues of freedom fighters lifting the Kenyan flag.
It is inevitable, as a visitor from Britain, that I must reflect on the difficult shared history between our two countries. Standing beneath the statues and contemplating what they represent was pause for thought. The past should not be forgotten; but today, with an eye on the future, I also celebrate the close ties between the UK and Kenya.
Our next stop, the Nairobi Railway Museum is an essential one for any visitor. Nairobi didn’t exist before the railway. Looking at these old, slightly decaying, beautifully engineered steam trains in the centre of the city, with Nairobi’s modern skyline growing around them, was almost as incongruous as my breakfast with the giraffes.
Amid the hardship and misery endured by those who built the East Africa Railway, there is an incredible story of achievement. Their immense sacrifices literally created Nairobi.
The Railway Museum is a monument to that time and those people, and also a reminder of the power of transport to change our world and, ultimately, bring us together.
I will be thinking of those steam trains as KQ’s Dreamliner takes off for New York on Sunday.
Post a Comment