Nairobi

Known as the safari capital of the world, Nairobi lives up to the reputation by having its spectacular national park bordering its city; the only one of its kind in the world, where prides of lions, herds of giraffes, and over 400 species of birds can be admired a stone’s throw away from the central business district. It is an almost-peculiar, infinitely-interesting combination, as Nairobi itself is not only the epitome of the consumerism and capitalism that is only just beginning to thrive and grow in East Africa, but also a stellar representation of the beautiful natural landscapes and gorgeous wildlife of the region.

As the capital of Kenya, Nairobi possesses a distinct mix of multicultural influences and has settlements of diverse communities, particularly from its neighbors Somalia and Sudan, and fellow colonized countries India and Pakistan, from where many immigrant workers first came to help construct the Kampala-Mombasa railway. There is also a very strong British presence, a souvenir of colonial days, as evidenced by the number of English place-names such as Hurlingham and Highridge. Because of this, a wealth of churches, temples and mosques can be found in Nairobi, including the Jamia mosque, quite oft-quoted as one of the most beautiful mosques in the world with its tall twin minarets and resplendent silver domes. Nairobi also houses a number of museums, with the National Museum of Kenya being among them.

The focal point of Kenya’s arts and social scene, local and international music, literature, and film flourish here. The most famous book (turned Academy Award-winning movie) set in Nairobi is “Out of Africa”, written by Karen Blixen in 1937 at the end of the colonial era there. More contemporarily, “Kwani?” is Kenya’s pioneer literary journal, an annual publication that began in 2003, the purpose of which is to showcase up-and-coming Kenyan literature. The benga and genge music genres (fusion jazz and an offshoot of hiphop, respectively), both extremely popular genres of music within East and Central Africa, were also developed in Nairobi. In recent years, a number of supporting infrastructure for the arts has also been developed, such as the Kenya National Theater and the Kenya National Archives.