7/21 -- Explore Nairobi

Part of our group took a tour through a slum, which they reported was great, but we opted for the walk around the city. Security was very tight because of a big UN meeting near the Parliament building and we were warned not to take any photos in the central area until we got to a small park. There were also military men with assault rifles all around and many stores had guards posted to wand you before you could enter. 

Flowers on a tulip tree that led to lifting the photo ban,
at least temporarily.

We were surprised to learn that Nairobi wasn't settled until 1901 or so, that the original capitol was Mombasa.We saw monuments to Jomo Kenyatta and a beloved rebel leader name Kimathi. He was associated with the Mau Mau movement, that we remember from our childhood as being vicious terrorists, but are seen here as freedom fighters.

As we walked past Nairobi University, we saw a couple signs announcing that this was a corruption free zone, but our guide just laughed when we asked him about them. We eventually walked to a restaurant on the Nairobi River and had lunch there when the other half of the group arrived. 

Inside the restaurant parking lot on the locked gate. Locked
driveway gates are common here.

This was followed by a tour of the Nairobi National Museum, led by the same guide who had shown us around in the morning. We spent some time looking at the famous fossils of hominids that have been found in Kenya (no longer on display to better preserve them -- what you see now are casts of the fossils). We also went through a couple of rooms documenting the colonial history of Kenya and its movement to freedom. 

I learned that they had a room of birds, so as soon as we were on our own, we hustled up to see if we could find examples of the birds we had taken photos of and forgotten the names. We took pictures of both birds and descriptions, so soon I hope to make corrections on naming birds. We also walked through a mammal room and saw a stuffed klipspringer, which are smaller than I thought.

Klipspringer, the goat we only got a blurry photo of.
Look at the tiptoes!

Aardvark -- about the only big mammal we didn't see that resides
in the south.

 Driving into and out of town, we saw dozens of huge storks in the trees, and on the way home, Jim actually managed to get a photo of one on a post.